Cracks!!!

[Josephi]

Oh, Im going crazy. Weve moved in month ago and I see more and more cracks in the house. Reading helpful posts here I think these are all plaster hairline cracks but why there are more and more?! We live in a middle of terrace, 15 years old house. Survey was really good, no issues, apart from missing gas detector. Outside walls are intact. I noticed that wooden staircase has lots of gaps, one internal wall detached from the skirting board and this sound of popping plaster. I realised that I hear it in second floor bathroom in the morning when the heating is on. I also have this thing on the wall downstairs and on the 1st floor, does anyone know what that is? I should be happy and think about decorating but I can`t really enjoy my new house :(

Contact your insurer so that they can send a surveyor to look.

I`d rather not do that just yet, I think this may affect my premium.

We have done this, Op, and it didn't affect our premium. Worth checking.

Looks like a very bad DIY/Cowboy plaster attempt, could be damp or neglect, i don't know what that block is covering or holding up.

The cracks could be no tape used over joints and or the plaster was allowed to dry out too quickly/wrong mix.

Gaps around staircase could just be the wood contracting expanding with heat/cold.. a good quality flexible sealant may be all that is required.

You really need a good builder to advise.

Your insurer isn't interested in general up keep or poor repairs, subsidence yes (if its covered in your policy)

I would also ask your neighbours if they have had these sorts of issues too, this would rule out a construction problem as the terrace would have been built at the same time, by the same people.

Depends a lot on how and when the house was replastered. If it was replastered recently or not.

Also, when you move into a new house things change. You might run the house colder or have greater thermal cycling. You might have a lower humidity and are drying the plaster out, or higher humidity and saturating it. You might have heavier furniture located in different positions which changes the strain on the floor and through that the walls. You might put heavier stuff in the loft which may put more stress on the joists. And you may be heavier yourselves or put more force on the stairs as you run up and down them.

All these changes can lead to extra stress that may lead to micro fractures in the plaster. The issue is whether a fracture is due to stress in the plaster and it cracking or whether it is an indication of some sort of greater structural issue.

Thank you GasPanic! I think we may be heating more. House was empty between mid Sep and mid Dec, heating was on but on very low setting. I`m working from home, so heating is on all day. I have also bleed some radiators so now these are heating properly. It seems weird to me that it all started now, as if all was OK until we moved in. I would think that survey conducted in April would highlight any issues, but again, nothing, all was good.

Did the house appear freshly painted when you moved in? It could well be that the previous owner filled the cracks before selling, and they've come back. Hairline cracks are hard to fill adequately and often do reappear.

I wouldn't bother the insurance with hairline cracks. I had cracks due to subsidence and they were big!
We have mixed since and this house has developed new hairline cracks this winter. It was a very dry summer so I'm putting it down to that.

I am plagued by hairline cracks which reappear even after being correctly filled in by a decorator! Then this autumn, I noticed a skirting board was coming away from the wall. I live in an area where all the property are bungalows because they were built on former marsh land and need deep footing which are not suitable for two stories.

I was obsessed about subsidence so a few weeks ago I arranged for a building engineer to inspect my property specifically for subsidence. He went into the under floor void which is 1.4m high as well as in every room and all around the outside and found no evidence of subsidence.

He said the cracks were normal in old properties ( built in 1950) with old plaster which was blown in places. Where plaster boards join, cracks often appear with changes in temperature or movement of people or after DIY projects causing slight vibrations. He suggested just filling them whenever I decorate or using lining paper on the worst walls.

His report cost me £900, which I thought was really expensive but at least now I know there is no subsidence and I can get on with the next phase of my improvements - a new kitchen.

Plaster is contracting as house is drying out.

Saying that I can’t see any cracks in your picture. I can see what looks like dodgy wallpapering, some botch filling and some flaking ceiling paint.

You should see my crack lol 😂

Oh, I would just went mad with crack like this one, but I have anxiety so I exaggerate ;) here are mine.

I would do the same, paid to have it checked. Actually, I booked a survey for tomorrow. I hope they will say it is fine. Good luck with your new kitchen project:)

Actually, now when I look very closely it seems some very painted but I’m not sure when. Previous owners were here for 4 years and family before them for 10. I am sure people before us redecorated but the big question is whether they they did that when they moved in or just before putting the house on the market.
I want to think that we had very hot summer and recently freezing temperatures at night, maybe this is why.

I really wouldn’t worry. Even mine is not subsidence despite its wholly dramatic appearance. Just previous architect/ owner being a bit too ambitious about the strength of dry wall.

I am going to tape mine obviously. But yours I wouldn’t even bother. Scrape off anything loose and get yourself some polyfilla air (the super light fluffy stuff). Shove it in with a finger. Let it dry. Scrape off any offending bits. Stuff some more with a finger. Smooth it over and give it a wee sand.

Will be grand.

My post was as I thought there wasn't any cracks when you first moved in and they've suddenly all appeared at once, but I realise it might be that you're just noticing them now.

Fix as stated above, but if they do reappear you might need to rake them out a bit. Seems crazy to make them worse, but with fine cracks often the filler can't get deep enough so will just sit on the surface and will crack again. I use a Stanley blade to make a kind of v into the crack. More filler gets in there and it's stronger.

That’s a good idea, I might try that technique with some of my cracks.

All joints should be taped including corners, if your going to use filler, then making hairline ones wider is good but use a flexible caulk/filler that can be painted over, so not a silicon one.

Toupret interior filler is really good.

Thank you good people of Mumsnet:) Ive just had two guys checking all cracks and it seems that all is just normal plaster movement plus house may still be setting as it is not that old. Only thing they were a bit concerned about, are corners on 2nd and 1st floor, there is a tape there which is "rolling! a bit. Potentially this could indicate roof pressing on wall but its still within "lets see" and not "you have to get it done". When we redecorate in spring/summary well cut a bit of plaster in the corner to see what is behind that. In worst case they could do some reinforcement of walls.