Should I worry about this 'Crack'

aj9648

Hi

I moved into my new place a few weeks ago. A few days ago I opened one of the cupboards and to my horror saw the following crack on the ceiling -



a bit !!!!!! that the surveyor missed it !!! Should I be worried or is it just a natural movement?

Thanks

Norman_Castle

Put some dry filler in it and write the date on it to see if there is still movement. If its inside a rarely decorated cupboard it could be years old.

ValHaller

Look at where the crack should continue outside the cupboard

anotherbaldrick

As you say, its on the ceiling and does not link to a structural wall crack. Fill and forget.

Jonesya

Why not monitor it?

Get a ruler, position it over the crack to give you the width and take a photo, do it in a couple of locations.

Forget about it for 6 months and then repeat.

Leif

In case you are not aware, ceilings are usually made from plasterboard screwed onto the joists, and skimmed with plaster. They are decorative (and to varying degrees sound and heat insulating) and not load bearing. Your crack is odd as it is ragged. Usually they go along the joins between adjacent plaster boards. It's a cupboard, who cares.

aj9648

Its a fairly old house (1930's) and the ceilings are made of 'lath plaster' (I think thats what the builder said)......just had the dining room ceiling down and that is what was under it.

martinthebandit

aj9648 wrote: »

Its a fairly old house (1930's) and the ceilings are made of 'lath plaster' (I think thats what the builder said)......just had the dining room ceiling down and that is what was under it.

If that's the worst crack you have in a 1930's house with lathe and plaster ceilings I think you should count yourself lucky.

As others have said fill and forget, although to be honest I would probably go with 'shut the cupboard door and forget'

keystone

Leif wrote: »

In case you are not aware, ceilings are usually made from plasterboard screwed onto the joists

unless they are L&P which it turns out that OPs are.

Your crack is odd as it is ragged.

Actually its not odd at all. It looks worse than it really is because the ceiling paper has torn. If the paper is peeled back then the physical crack will be a lot smaller. So many 1930s properties in the SE have cracks like this due to bomb damage during WWII. Additionally I've seen a lot of cracks like this which appeared following the 1987 "hurricane" when lots of roofs (particularly those with no soffits/fascias and exposed rafter feet) had their roofs lifted (albeit by a small amount) and then dropped by the wind that Michael Fish forgot to tell us about. OP - there is no reason for the surveyor to have mentioned it actually. Its of no import.

It's a cupboard, who cares.

Quite.

Cheers

Leif

keystone wrote: »

unless they are L&P which it turns out that OPs are.

Yes I know, that's why I did not say all. But it is still non structural.

keystone

Leif wrote: »

But it is still non structural.

Indeed the crack gives every appearance of not being related to any structural defects in the building whatsoever. You summed it up brilliantly in two little words previously.

Cheers