Bit of a cracking problem

[D4nnyboy]

First time on this forum, A big hello to everyone and a pre-emptive thank you for anyone who helps.

I'm completly gutting a bedroom to make it nice for my first kid (hurray).

I taken off the radiator today to discover that the plaster behind it was badly cracked, so I pulled off the loose plaster to discover the interior bricks have a lovely staircase crack in them...

Untitled

• D4nnyboy
• 16 Jan 2010
• 1

Untitled

• D4nnyboy
• 16 Jan 2010
• 1

The external bricks under the window is fine, I checked all around the house and there are no more, the crack stops at the bottom left corner on the pic so it doesn't go downstairs.

My plan was to re-point them up and skim the brick ready for plastering but I thought i'd check with someone who knows what there're on about.

Any advice will be appriectiated
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[jeds]

Obviously your house has suffered a small amount of movement. Pretty normal for old houses so not necessarily anything to worry about. From the photos I would say that movement was a long time ago and is probably now inactive. From an insurance point of view those cracks would be considered insignificant. (insurance companies are not interested in localised hairline cracking)

You could monitor them over a period of time but I don't think you would gain much by that. Personally I would repair them now and see if anything shows up in the new plaster. Only additional thing you might consider is fixing some expanded mesh in the new plaster. Fix with stainless screws and dry-wall adhesive and then plaster/skim over.

 

[Richard C]

Only additional thing you might consider is fixing some expanded mesh in the new plaster. Fix with stainless screws and dry-wall adhesive and then plaster/skim over.

I do this sort of repair all the time & it’ essential to fix metal lath over those sort of cracks; rake & repair the mortar joints first, then fix the lath so it overlaps the crack at least 200mm either side & then base coat with render rather than plaster. I’ve never used screws or dry wall adhesive before, just galvanized clout nails to hold it tightly in place; it’s the first I’ve heard that so I’ve no idea of merits or otherwise at all. Success rate is very high but nothing is guaranteed & if if the wall is still moving around, it won’t prevent further cracking.

 

[D4nnyboy]

Thanks very much for your input guys..

I will do exactly what you both said, I will repoint the bricks, fix the mesh 200mm over the crack, and render ready for the finishing coat of plaster.