New worrying crack

verytired11

I am seriously panicking as I have just found this new worrying crack under the front window behind the radiator. Does it look serious? I can't see how far down it goes - but it goes as far as I can see.

AdrianC

Impossible to say from that. It may just be the plaster.

Anything on the outside of the wall?

verytired11

AdrianC said:

Impossible to say from that. It may just be the plaster.

Anything on the outside of the wall?

Nothing on the outside of the wall. Could it just be expansion/ contraction from damp and the radiator? Just turned the heating off a week ago.

AdrianC

Tap the plaster either side of the crack. Does it sound hollow?

verytired11

AdrianC said:

Tap the plaster either side of the crack. Does it sound hollow?

I don't know. One side sounds higher than the other but it sounds similar to when I tap in other places.  What does hollow sound like?

stuart45

verytired11 said:

AdrianC said:

Tap the plaster either side of the crack. Does it sound hollow?

  What does hollow sound like?

If you tap a solid bit of plaster it will sound a lot different to a bit of blown of hollow plaster.

verytired11

stuart45 said:

verytired11 said:

AdrianC said:

Tap the plaster either side of the crack. Does it sound hollow?

  What does hollow sound like?

If you tap a solid bit of plaster it will sound a lot different to a bit of blown of hollow plaster.

I don't know if it's just because I am having a really bad day and overloaded with anxiety, but although I can hear differences when I tap in different parts of the room, I honestly can't tell what sounds hollow.  I might have to ask a friend over to see what they think.  The plastering is 20 years old and maybe it is just blowing out in lots of different places at the same and causing all these new cracks.  And of course I am hyper alert to it all because of selling the house.  Today I feel like I never want to do this again.

alt80

Just the vertical crack? Nothing corresponding on the outer face? Equal width as appears in pic? How wide? Ultimately it’s impossible to say from a pic and not assessing the area/ defect holistically but from what I see it’s likely just thermal and no big deal. 

stuart45

Plaster often cracks behind the rads. Just fill it as best you can. It often gets a bit crumbly there as well, or blows completely.
There is a scientific reason for this due to the rising air of convection, heat from the rad and heat loss below the window, but don't ask me to explain it as I couldn't follow it from the boffins.

verytired11

alt80 said:

Just the vertical crack? Nothing corresponding on the outer face? Equal width as appears in pic? How wide? Ultimately it’s impossible to say from a pic and not assessing the area/ defect holistically but from what I see it’s likely just thermal and no big deal. 

Nothing on the outside and just that crack about a 1mm wide all the way down as far as I can see.  Thanks that's helpful.

verytired11

stuart45 said:

Plaster often cracks behind the rads. Just fill it as best you can. It often gets a bit crumbly there as well, or blows completely.
There is a scientific reason for this due to the rising air of convection, heat from the rad and heat loss below the window, but don't ask me to explain it as I couldn't follow it from the boffins.

Thanks I wondered if it was to do with the combination of the heat from the radiator and possible damp from the window.