Cracking plaster

[600rob]


Victorian terraced house that was converted into flats several years ago.
The walls are a mix of solid plaster in the external and adjoining walls and plaster board+hollow wall construction on the internal walls.

There are several fairly large cracks quite a few rooms. Width wise nothing wider than 0.5mm but the have propagated a fair distance (4-5 ft long in some rooms)

This is one where the old solid plaster on one wall (left) meets a hollow plaster board skimmed wall pin the right.
I easi filled this and painted over about 5 years back but the crack has come back again.

DSC_2856

• 600rob
• 3 Jul 2020

DSC_2857

• 600rob
• 3 Jul 2020

And another in the solid plaster below a window sill in a different room that i also scrim taped and easi filled a few years back.



Firstly, is this something serious and should i get sometone out to do an inspection?

If its just a case of old blown plaster is there a way that it can be repaired without having to re plaster the entire walls?

Forgot to add, the cracks were all there when i got the flat 5 or so years ago, mostly hidden by built in wardrobes and shelf units that i removed during renovation to reveal the cracks. At the time i easi filled them, pn the worst of them i cut out some of the old plaster and scrim taped the cracks before skimming over with easi fill.
Nothing seems to have increased significantly in width or overall size and no new cracks appears...to be fair, he worst of what i patched up still looks good.
Just noticing some of the original cracks have returned

 

[KenGMac]

600rob, good evening.

First, from your [good] description of what has occurred historically, no need at all to spend £££ on getting"someone" to look at the cracks. they all sound non-structural, simply as you suggest old plaster and thermal / moisture movement

One question are there any external cracks in the same areas as the internal cracks? and are some of these cracks on the first floor walls[if there is a first floor] but not replicated on the ground floor??

Suggest you undertake similar repairs that you undertook last time, you mention several years ago?? if so that is about correct for such thermal cracks to re-open.

One consideration? why not use lining paper to assist in masking the worst effects of the cracks??

Ken.

 

[600rob]

Thanks Ken,

Its a 1st floor flat, with one more flat above it. The external brick work looks like it was re pointed at some point before i moved there, so more than 6 years ago.
All looks in decent condition with no external cracks.

Id have to take a look around the ground floor flat if i can get access to see how things look in there.

Will cut back the cracks to a vee and re-easifill again.

May do the lining paper idea as that should be less maintenance in future.