Cracks under wallpaper in ceiling

[Miley89]

Hi, we have these cracks under wallpaper on the ceilings in our living room and bedroom (that we share with our little one)

Since my son passed I have extreme anxiety and I'm terrified the ceiling will collapse :(

We have had environmental health and a plasterer round and both weren't concerned about the cracks but I still feel so anxious :(

I am hoping others have experienced these cracks and could reassure me :(

Sorry For your loss.

How old is the house? In older houses cracks like these are not uncommon, as houses move with age. Straight line cracks tend to be where plaster board, under the plaster has moved with time and temperature in the house.

Are they cracks or plasterboard sheets. Do you rent or own, why did you call environmental health.

Nice straight kune us say there joints in the plaster board

We had enviromental health over for other issues in the home and I just mentioned the cracks in the ceiling.

We rent and our landlord isn't very approachable.

I'm being told from people on another site that the ceiling is likely to collapse :(

They look like the joints between plasterboards. If they’re old or poorly taped they will crack because your house flexes and moves, so you’ll get cracks in the easiest place to accommodate that movement. The purpose of taping the joints when plastering is to provide tensile strength at the join to reduce and prevent cracking. We have similar lines on our bedroom ceiling cause it was lazily re plastered in the past by previous owners. It’s unsightly but safe. Dangerous cracks are generally around windows, and in walls. They’ll typically go at an angle and will progress and become deeper over time. You’re fine.

But I completely understand the fear! I’m a structural engineer and anxiety and catastrophising led to me removing my desk from my attic office cause I thought the ceiling would fall in. As an engineer, I knew it wouldn’t. As someone with chronic anxiety, I was convinced it would! I needed talked into putting it back. So I definitely understand the fear, but you’re fine.

Who said its about to collapse? Just get in touch with the ll and ask him to take a look, what other issues are there for environmental health to be called. He can peel back some of th woodchip paper/ after and take a look.

This isn’t a great photo cause the lighting was weird, but this is a plasterboard ‘crack’ in my ceiling. It’s not harmful. It’s just ceiling flexing and the joints weren’t finished well.

You mentioned cracks on walls are dangerous this one is on an internal wall above a door :/

The one above the door is something I would mention to your landlord. But I would emphasise that this does not at all mean that you’re at any risk from it. Cracks around doors occur due to stress around the door frame. Small cracks aren’t a big deal. The only reason I’d say to raise it with your landlord is the fact that it continues from the wall into the ceiling continuously. But please don’t let this stress you out. It’s worth mentioning, and it’s worth keeping an eye on, but it honestly doesn’t mean your home is going to fall down. It could be as simple as very old brittle plaster cracking cause it’s near the door. The general rule of thumb is that if a crack is 2mm wide or less, it’s cosmetic. A pound coin is 3mm thick, so that gives you a decent estimate - if it’s thinner than a pound coin it’s likely cosmetic.

There are many reasons that you can get cracks in your home and most are harmless. This is a useful guide. If you look at the final page, it has a handy checklist of when it’s worth noting a crack and the only thing in your door crack that makes it worth raising with the landlord is he fact that it is diagonal.
https://www.nhbc.co.uk/kontentdocuments/7c99071d-8b23-4a78-8768-fddb9632db4d/Cracking-in-your-home.pdf

Homes - and any structure - actually move a lot more than you realise. Cracking is one of the calculations that engineers carry out but we call it a ‘serviceability’ check because it’s actually more cosmetic. A building can crack a lot before it’s even remotely at risk structurally but obviously that wouldn’t be aesthetically tolerable.
An interesting - or terrifying - point about movement…you picture bridges as robust and unmoving, but the Forth Road bridge deflects by up to 2m at the middle, and sway side to side by up to 7m. This doesn’t damage it. And the same sort of premise applies to homes but obviously not to the same degree. But the finishes on our walls, like plaster and paint don’t have any flexibility so they show harmless movement in the form of hairline cracks. You can imagine how ceiling beams can flex cause they’re timber but the plaster can’t so the beam flexes and then the plaster cracks. The beam is unbothered, but it causes surface cracks.

Sorry, that was a lot. But the short answer is that in your situation, I would tell your landlord about the door crack because it is diagonal and moves from wall to ceiling. But you’re not in danger. For you as the tenant, if you find the door starts to stick, or if it’s looser than it should be, then that’s worth also raising because that suggests more movement. It’s always worth telling your landlord about these things so they’re aware of any potential issue.

I wish I could give more useful examples but I don’t work in the building sector - I work primarily on marine structures like docks, so I only have my engineering common sense and my own experience as a worrier! But the article I linked is great for helping understand when to be concerned. It has served me well.

You were asked how old the house is. This is an important question.

Are you able to get in the loft?