Ceiling Cracks

fkerr

I have a horizontal crack running along approximately 1 metre along the cornice in my flat which is about 3mm thick, it seems that the crack is increasing in length and thickness. How much will it cost for someone to come out and carry out a repair and am I able to claim this cost on buildings/household insurance?

Fraser

ormus

probably just needs filling and painting. say 100 quid ish.
do not contact the insurance company. your excess will be more than that anyways.

buildings insurance is not there for fixing wear and tear. and maintenence.

cyclonebri1

ormus wrote: »

probably just needs filling and painting. say 100 quid ish.
do not contact the insurance company. your excess will be more than that anyways.

buildings insurance is not there for fixing wear and tear. and maintenence.

Or £1.50 for a tube of stretchy filler.

Owner owned or rented?

Leif

It's not hard to 'fix', just scrape out lose material, fill with Easi-fill or similar, sand, and paint. If you know the ceiling paint, just buy a tester pot of the same brand, and use a mini roller to apply. BUT ... the crack is probably opening for a reason e.g. flexing joist, so if you fill, it might just reappear. Maybe flexible filler (caulk?) works better, though I doubt you would get an invisible fill as you can't sand it.

domcastro

Fill it in with fine crack Polyfiller then when it's dried, borrow a sander and sand it down. I had the floor upstairs fixed and the kitchen ceiling cracked loads and the "plugs" over the nails came out. I just used the polyfiller, sanded and painted - good as new. The sander was originally £30, the polyfiller about £3 and then just white emulsion paint. Then keep an eye on the crack - see if it reappears

tony6403

It is best to rake out the crack with a shave hook as below (£2) to a depth of about 5/6mm, then fill and sand. Your repair will have a much better chance of standing the test of time.

Leif

tony6403 wrote: »

It is best to rake out the crack with a shave hook as below (£2) to a depth of about 5/6mm, then fill and sand. Your repair will have a much better chance of standing the test of time.

I raked out one crack, and found 2mm below the surface the scrim tape. I would assume that you do NOT want to tear the scrim tape, as that takes up some of the tensile stress.

cyclonebri1

Leif wrote: »

I raked out one crack, and found 2mm below the surface the scrim tape. I would assume that you do NOT want to tear the scrim tape, as that takes up some of the tensile stress.

Yes, ironically it's intended to stop the crack in the 1st place.
Fill up to/through it as you suspect.;)