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1) upon decorating our lounge 2 years ago, I notice a yellowish stain on the (plaster) coving. It appeared oily, was hard to clean down with sugar soap and needed several cost of paint to cover - we've now found the same in the kitchen at the other end of the house - what might this be?
2) we have cracks in our external render, widest about 5mm, biggest one about 4 ft long (Victorian brick built semi). Now I realise it's logical that this would let ever in but the builder doing our kitchen told me one of the walls was quite wet. He suggests re-rendering the whole side of the house but I can't afford it - can the cracks be temporarily filled to prevent damp and what's the best method ? Would this cause the stains on the coving above?
Ta
Patches on the ceiling could well be penetrating damp if it's the same wall as the dodgy render. Or it could be something upstairs like a leaky radiator, condensation, or maybe something historic that was covered over and not allowed to dry properly.
Once plaster has been damp you can't really paint over it without using some sort of barrier like an oil based paint which is just a quick fix (eg to sell a house...)
Filling in the cracks outside will stop water coming in. However you could seal the moisture in the wall which isn't good especially if it's the wrong sort of render that's already on there. Lime render will allow it to breathe and dry out.
Victorian brick built? Get rid of the render (which I'm betting is basically waterproof cement), that's your problem.
No marks on the ceiling, just the coving. I have a theory, could it be residue from smoking by the former owners?
You need to check above the coving that will be where any damp is coming from. Use stain block to seal it before painting or the stain will come through again. It's unlikely water will come thru cracked render unless it extreme weather blowing it in. So you should be able to find a product like a silicone that can be squeezed into the gap.
Bump for the builders currently having breakfast.
No marks on the ceiling, just the coving. I have a theory, could it be residue from smoking by the former owners?
If its close to where furniture could be - like a tall cupboard- and focused in small patches..... We had a few marks in the house I grew up in that sound similar. They were the result of lighting the house with candles during the powercuts in the 1970s and were the residue left behind from the soot where the candles were too close to the ceiling.
The actual "crack" would concern me more. Is it into the brickwork leaf behind also?
Ignore my last comment, I'm not awake yet. I just read it as one crack, as in signs of subsidence.
No several cracks external in the render - 3 of 4 eminating from the corners of Windows.