Is it realistic to expect a newly plastered wall to be completely crack free?

tagtag

I recently replastered 2 rooms in my 1930s semi detached house.

After 2 months I have noticed a few cracks: 2 of them following the top edges of what used to be fireplaces; 1 very thin crack right in the middle of the wall coming down 2/3 of the way from ceiling to floor.

I have had 2 plasterers in my home. One that charged me very little money to plaster a box room and left an entire wall full of micro-cracks (I have been told by 2 other people that this was not normal and it was a result of poor timing when applying the plaster). The second plaster charged me a lot more money to plaster other 2 rooms, but seemed to be a lot more professional. There are no micro-cracks on the walls he worked on, but there are long thin cracks in some of them. He did tell me it was normal to have cracks... but is it really normal? Or was he just trying to cover himself for a potential mistake?

Any advice would be much appreciated. :T It is very hard when you don't know what to believe.

Many thanks.

rustyboy21

IMO, you should be willing to accept minor cracks in plaster work. You have had 2 fireplaces removed , so that would have gone right down to the brickwork. The area most probably was then bonded and then plastered, so both layers will dry out differently so may cause cracks.

I had my hall/landing/stairs plastered. I have a few cracks which have opened up over a period of time. I would not say it is the plasterers fault, my house most likely has moved a bit ( Victorian semi )

With the weather ( rain/floods etc) we have had , I would not be surprised if that is the cause.

There are plasterers who post on here, but I suspect they will say similar.

macman

A few minutes work with some filler and glasspaper is normal before you paint or paper a recently plastered wall.

Leif

If it was just a skim, then no it is not normal in my experience to have cracks. But, if there was undercoat plaster applied, or a hole or two filled, then yes you can have cracks. I have had quite a few where holes were blocked up with breeze blocks. Fine ones can be filled with emulsion paint, bigger ones need filling first. Use powdered filler, it's easier/better than ready mixed.

keystone

Was it skimmed over existing plaster or plasterboard or was it a full plaster from brick/blockwork outwards to a finish?

If the former it would have been dry inside 48 hours so 2 months later theres a good chance that the problem is associated with movement of the property.

If its the latter then it will have taken at least 6 weeks to dry out properly so it could be down to the plasterer UNLESS you/someone tried to make it dry too quickly by artificial means rather than naturally.

Got any pics?

Cheers

Innys

keystone wrote: »

Was it skimmed over existing plaster or plasterboard or was it a full plaster from brick/blockwork outwards to a finish?

If the former it would have been dry inside 48 hours so 2 months later theres a good chance that the problem is associated with movement of the property.

If its the latter then it will have taken at least 6 weeks to dry out properly so it could be down to the plasterer UNLESS you/someone tried to make it dry too quickly by artificial means rather than naturally.

Got any pics?

Cheers

This is interesting.

Does that mean that if I have an extension built and want the newly plastered walls to be painted, I should wait 6 weeks for it to dry before they are painted?

keystone

Yes. 'Fraid so if you've had a couple of undercoats followed by a topcoat. If you don't let it dry completely naturally and try to heat the room to speed it up it will crack. Cracks can be repaired of course. Yes you should let it dry out properly before painting. Otherwise you seal the moisture in.

Cheers

ListysDad

Plaster cracking is very much luck of the draw. I've no doubt someone somewhere will have deduced the conditions under which nothing cracks, but being pragmatic it's much more random.

A bit of time and some good quality filler and it always settles down - unless it's symptomatic of a different problem...