Cracked Plaster Repair Advice

[ronivek]

Hey all; hopefully this is the right place.

Novice DIYer (me) was trying to rake out some cracks underneath a window sill and had a lot of loose/flaking plaster and paint pop off as below:

And a closer look:

Any suggestions on how to approach this? Just try and remove as much loose material as possible and try to fill and hope for the best; or something else?

Thanks!

 

[Scally-Ho]

My advice, for what it's worth, is to try and establish the cause of the movement and if the movement is still active. All buildings settle/move and to some extent expand/contract with the seasons, but IMO filling without establishing the cause could be a never-ending task.

 

[ronivek]

My advice, for what it's worth, is to try and establish the cause of the movement and if the movement is still active. All buildings settle/move and to some extent expand/contract with the seasons, but IMO filling without establishing the cause could be a never-ending task.

I'm not too worried about the main structure; it's a 30+ year old garage which was somewhat sloppily converted into an interior room and the cracks were relatively minor and there for quite some time as far as I recall. Also been a long time (15+ years) since the room saw any paint.

I also don't really know how I would go about investigating beyond getting someone in who might know what they're doing; but that's money I don't really have to spend right now. I appreciate the advice though.

For now I'm just planning on repairing what I reasonably can, painting the room; and if cracking persists or worsens I'll just have to get someone out at that stage.

 

[Scally-Ho]

Any good reputable filler should meet your needs, but I've found Toupret Fibacryl to be ideal where slight movement still exists.

Toupret Fibacryl Flexible Filler

Toupret Fibacryl is a filler in paste form supplied in a cartridge. It's fibre enriched and made of mineral extracts and resin. This makes it very flexible and useful for filling cracks and gaps in areas where there's likely to be movement, such as joints in walls and ceilings.The filler is a...

www.toolstation.com

"Excellent filler for use where movement may occur such windows and doors. Works very well easy to apply. Also good for 1st fill of cracks in plasterboard before skimming".

 

[ronivek]

Any good reputable filler should meet your needs, but I've found Toupret Fibacryl to be ideal where slight movement still exists.

Toupret Fibacryl Flexible Filler

Toupret Fibacryl is a filler in paste form supplied in a cartridge. It's fibre enriched and made of mineral extracts and resin. This makes it very flexible and useful for filling cracks and gaps in areas where there's likely to be movement, such as joints in walls and ceilings.The filler is a...

www.toolstation.com

"Excellent filler for use where movement may occur such windows and doors. Works very well easy to apply. Also good for 1st fill of cracks in plasterboard before skimming".

Thanks; I've already picked up some Toupret Interior filler too for other jobs around the room so might be worth picking this up too.

Any suggestions on what else I should do to prepare the surface? Should I dig out more aggressively around the damage or only knock off anything that's already loose? Any benefit to fixing the surface with PVA or some other wall hardener?

 

[Scally-Ho]

Definitely remove any obvious loose material or you will be filling onto a moving base. I always 'prime' a surface to be filled with a 50-50 PVA water mix just ensure any excessive porosity has been eliminated. If its too absorbant, the filler could dry out too quickly and add to future problems. Don't rush any part of the repair process and avoid any revisits a few weeks after painting