Do I need a structural engineer?

[carlmc25]

Hello, hopefully someone can help here. My son had a leak in his bedroom (first floor) ceiling which i think I have now sealed up externally. It damaged some of his wallpapered ceiling (wallpapered already when we bought house) so I have now stripped much of the wallpaper and discovered a crack in the ceiling that pretty much spans the whole length in and out and partially down the wall above the picture rail. I assume the wallpaper had been up for ages and maybe the plaster is old but obviously I don't want my son in danger and above his floor we have a loft conversion, which was done something like 15 years ago and signed off by the council etc.

Could this be a structural weight issue or is it just poor plastering? It's just money is very very tight and I am being quoted £695 to get it checked, which I will obviously pay if it is necessary but is it?

Anyone have any expertise here as I don't and I am relying on Google.

Thanks a lot,
Carl

 

[foxhole]

If crack on ceiling is a straight line it will just be board join movement and nothing to worry about .
Wall crack looks to be minor , scrape out, fill , decorate, monitor .

 

[carlmc25]

It isn't a straight line, it goes at right angles sometimes, as shown in the second picture, and it isn't where the board joins are but appears in the middle of one of the boards if that makes sense?

 

[carlmc25]

Wall crack is absolutely minor yes but a few of them and seems to be cracks where ceiling meets the wall too, horizontally

 

[carlmc25]

Another picture

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'd dig it out, fill it properly and paint over it, if it comes back then think about things then. A loft conversion done 15 years ago would have brought about any structural issues by now if there were any. a cracked ceiling is seldom much to worry about.

 

[foxhole]

It isn't a straight line, it goes at right angles sometimes, as shown in the second picture, and it isn't where the board joins are but appears in the middle of one of the boards if that makes sense?

Right angle is just overlap of plasterboard .