Do these ceiling cracks look serious?

TXC

Hi all

Apologies in advance if this isnt the correct forum, I'm.appealing to any builders on here!

I viewed a house to buy yesrerday and noticed that ever room had ceiling and wall cracks. I appreciate its incredibly hard to tell from a photo but my question is on first glance do these look structural or cosmetic?

Browntoa

Are there equivalent exterior cracks on the property ? 

Is it surrounded by large trees ? 

TXC

Browntoa said:

Are there equivalent exterior cracks on the property ? 

Is it surrounded by large trees ? 

Hi 

Didnt look to be any equivalent exterior cracks and no trees about, but to be fair the top half of the facade is covered by a sandblast (which is coming away but I would pit that down to weather and no upkeep)

justwhat

looking at the last picture ...looks like only the first layer of  plaster/covering/artex has  cracked. As someone has said look at the exterior. 

There seems to be allot of cracking so would investigate a little further.

stuart45

All the main elements of a house move due to temp etc.  changes, and different materials move at different rates causing cracks.
Houses that aren't decorated for a long time often have a lot of minor cracks. Usually they get filled when a house is put on the market, so you don't see them. 
Google the BRE crack guide.

FreeBear

Long straight cracks, especially in ceilings, is a good sign of plasterboard. If the stuff has been nailed up and/or board edges are poorly supported, cracks will form eventually. Depending on your decorating/DIY skills, these can often be treated as superficial and simply filled in.

The picture rail suggests that this is an older property (perhaps 1940s ?). If the walls have been skimmed with gypsum over lime plaster, minor cracks can form. If the underlying plaster had cracks in it and nothing was done in preparation (filling & scrim taping), the cracks will reappear. Rake out, fill, and paint - If extensive, put a heavy guage lining paper up first (covers all sorts of sins).

The last image appears to be something different - Looks like a skim coat of plaster has cracked and fallen away. This can happen if preparation was lacking, the underlying plaster was in poor condition, and there is condensation/penetrating damp. Fix any damp issues, stabilise the plaster, and skim. If the plaster is blown, knock back to bare brick and replaster the affected area.