Advice needed on several DIY tasks

[AlexLuisBri]

Hi DIYers,

I moved into my first house about a year and a half ago and am finally getting around to trying to fix things up and redecorate. I have a list of things which I've identified that need doing. If anyone could help me with any of the following questions I would be grateful.

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Firstly cracks in walls, some of which seem to have appeared over the course of the last year, and others which presumably were there for a while.

Can I just fill these with polyfilla? Are they anything to be concerned about. For context the house is 150 years old terrace and the plaster seems to be newish in some places and probably old in others.

> 0975 and 76 are the same crack on a wall

> 928 is a crack across the back of the staircase seen in 1016 (hairline - looks worse in the picture)

> 1011 / 0997 / 0996 - some other random cracks

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Secondly, plug sockets. Most in the house are perfectly normal, but some as can be seen in the pictures are no longer attached to the wall. The screws are missing and there doesnt seem to be plaster to screw them into. Does anyone know what to do about these. Should I just pay an electrician to sort them out?
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Thanks

Alex

 

[IT Minion]

Little cracks are generally nothing to get worried about. In general digging them out a bit, cleaning the dust/loose stuff out, polyfiller, sand then paint.

The sockets seem not to have backboxes, in particular 1002. For those you would want to remove the socket from the wall, cut out a suitable sized hole for the back box (probably just a case of squaring the hole up) fixing the back box into the hole and filling the gap around the edge with polyfiller again. There's a lot more detail in the process of course but it's pretty easy.

 

[IT Minion]

It looks like someone slapped a load of paint over everything to sell the house. Sloppy paintwork and not bothering to do the sockets etc. Not the end of the world but it'll take a bit of time to get a nice finish, and a lot of sand paper.

 

[AlexLuisBri]

Hi IT Minion,

Thanks for advice, I don't think the previous owners really knew what they were doing unfortunately. I'll have a look at instructions for fitting backboxes.

 

[MMarve]

Did you have a survey done when you bought the house?

 

[AlexLuisBri]

Hi MMarve, yes we did

 

[Alec_t]

yes we did

And what did it say about the sockets and the cracks?

 

[AlexLuisBri]

I've just had a look back at it now. The sockets were not mentioned. It says the cracks are likely comsetic and can be filled in when redecorating. (however some of these cracks were not there when the survey was done)

 

[pete50]

This bunch of doom and gloom merchants will have you out of your house in no time. These are nothing to worry about. How anybody can tell from those photos that the paint job is crap is beyond me but even so just a bit of work and elbow grease IF it is that bad. The cracks are nothing to worry about especially if you are going to repaint. The sockets are an easy job but it could be dangerous (240 volts) if you do not know what you are doing.

 

[AlexLuisBri]

Hi Pete thanks for the reassurance. This was what we could afford anyway, so were stuck with it for a few more years, might aswell try to fix up what I can.

 

[EddieM]

Cracks are minor an cosmetic, loose sockets and switchplates much more of a concern. I'd get those checked and replaced soonest.

 

[IT Minion]

Cracks are minor an cosmetic, loose sockets and switchplates much more of a concern. I'd get those checked and replaced soonest.

I'm not disagreeing, definitely not on the sockets being more important than the cracks, but what in particular should the sockets be checked for?

 

[EddieM]

I'm not disagreeing, definitely not on the sockets being more important than the cracks, but what in particular should the sockets be checked for?

Hard to say, but they're loose and are potentially exposing live parts, a clear and immediate danger.

 

[AlexLuisBri]

Thanks guys, they've been like that for over a year so its time to get them sorted. The worst one is just for an aerial cable so presumably thats not high voltage

 

[foxhole]

Thanks guys, they've been like that for over a year so its time to get them sorted. The worst one is just for an aerial cable so presumably thats not high voltage

No voltage on aerial sockets , if you don’t want to dig out to fit a back box you can fit a surface box easily .
Might help the novice