Cracks in newly skimmed walls (pic)

[Overworked3000]

Hi 👋
these walls were newly skimmed and professionally decorated about 6 weeks ago. The following cracks have appeared - would you be concerned? 50’s house. It also looks like there is some bubbling on the walls- don’t think it’s damp though as it doesn’t rub away, maybe just imperfections in the plaster?

Did you leave the plaster to dry thoroughly before painting it? Was there a mist coat first, before the top coat of paint? The cracks would annoy me on new walls, that's not what you're paying for.

Does the bumpy section feel damp? If not it should have been sanded flat prior to decorating.

Hello @PragmaticWenchthanks for replying. I assume the decorator mist coated, the bumpy section doesn’t feel damp at all and it’s not flaking so I’m assuming (hoping!) it’s just a bit of a crappy plaster job. The cracks appeared after it was decorated, was a bit concerned that there shouldn’t be settling cracks as such and it’s a sign of movement

You should wait quite a few days between skimming and painting, but the bubbles are just the paint lifting.

The crack is also to be expected as skimming is often just coating a thin plaster layer on the old stuff which is already unstable (unless you hack off the blown/hollow/lose stuff which often ends in all the plater being removed). If it’s only one crack the carefully fill and paint it again, should be ok.

Yes unfortunately it looks like it was painted too quickly. Also should have had a watery mix base coat before the paint. Once the plaster visibly looks dry (after a few days unless express drying with a heater) , I normally leave it then another couple of days until painting to prevent it cracking.

Did you turn your heating on or run a dehumidifier while the plaster was drying out to help it along because that will cause it to crack. We just had a load of plastering done and first room we let the heating go on in (didn't realise not to and it cracked) left the rest of the rooms for a week with no heating and they've been perfect.

How quickly was it painted after skimming, had the plaster lightened all over? Our living room was skimmed a week and a half ago and still isn't ready for painting yet.

Re. the cracks, it might be that the plaster dried too quickly - did you have heating or a dehumidifier on in that room?

Re. the bumps and bubbles, my DH has taught himself to plaster (trying to keep costs down), and his early attempts had these imperfections, so I think it's just an inexpert job.

Thanks everyone, we didn’t use a humidifier no. The decorator did paint it after a week though so that’s our fault. I can live with how it looks but was concerned there were structural issues. The cracks seem to have appeared where old ones were; but we did have a full structural survey. We’re having our bedroom skimmed this week so will make sure we wait longer before painting.

Definitely don’t look structural at all. Cracks tend to reappear if not taped before skimming. Looks like was painted too soon. Best to leave a good couple of weeks or so.