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Recently I have started noticing hairline cracks in the plaster on my walls. its of a crazed pattern so doesnt appear to suggest anything is moving structurally. Does this happen to plaster when it dries out and becomes brittle?
I know plaster dries out over time and the walls in the house are just plaster and paint, no wallpaper anywhere to cover minor cracks. We moved in about 8 months ago so dont know how old the plaster is but judging by general condition i would say its 10 years or more.
So basically i have 2 questions for you:
1) Do i need to get it replastered before decorating or should i just fill the cracks and paint it? and
2) Does this happen to plaster when it dries out and becomes brittle?
Any pointers would be great
Just hadour polace re-plastered and then just painted. The plaster took about 2 weeks to go off properly so it being 10 years old sounds strange. I wouldn't have thought it needed re-plastering probably more of a case of slight movement which would then require filling, sanding, and re painting.
If the cracks are indeed hairline maybe a few coats of paint would sort it??
Polyfilla, it's what it was invented for! 😀
Any pointers would be great
I see what you did there. 😆
fwb2006, I wasn't suggesting that it had cracked due to going off but I know nothing about plaster and plastering and wondered if after a while it loses its suppleness and goes a bit brittle.
dave_rudabar, polyfilla is the cheapest and simplest option, but is it the right one to take thats my concern.
Is it a 50/60's semi by chance? Those houses are very prone to it, if you look at the plaster funny, it falls off.
What you need to do is tap it all over with your knuckles, and listen for a solid thud type sound, this means it's good. If it's a tappy hollow sound, it's loose.
If solid, go at it with polyfilla, polycell trade stuff if you can find it in B&Q, blue box.
Paint doesn't fill cracks. Will always dry and the cracks return
Id use decorators caulk. It hides a multitude of sins. Way easier to apply than polyfilla too
caulk? isn't that for sealing around windows doors and skirting boards? I've been advised not to use it for cracks in the past as it can't be rubbed down.
Might be able to use a slightly watered down polyfilla?
Have seen this on the Polycell website, http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_hairline_crack_polyfilla.jsp
anyone ever used it? seems to be very easy to apply and quite a good idea for my situation where i have quite a lot of hairline cracks that would take forever and a day to fill with multipurpose polyfilla and a knife.
Have seen this on the Polycell website, http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_hairline_crack_polyfilla.jsp
Used a lot of that on our walls where the plaster had crazed - the previous owners had covered it with heavy wallpaper which is another approach! It seems to have lasted several years so I reckon it's ok, but don't expect to just paint it on - it's like thick glue; you need to use a knife.
Where one of our ceilings had crazed I used some special flexible paint that Polycell make - much easier to apply than the hairline crack stuff.
Edit - this sort of stuff - [url= http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_3_in_1_basecoat.jsp ]http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_3_in_1_basecoat.jsp[/url]
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