Cracks in plaster where skirting meets wall.

[ashers]

I have cracks that keep appearing in the plaster above skirting around the stairs. The cracks seem to open and close depending on the weather and have been sanded down, filled and just keep coming back.

Any ideas what is causing these and how can I fix these?

The outside wall is fine and there is no cracking under the stairs, but they are creaky.

Could this be something to do with the stringers or wall ties?

Attached images are after I sanded the cracks down again tonight. The filler had all been pushed forward.

Untitled

• ashers
• 19 Jun 2014
• 2

Untitled

• ashers
• 19 Jun 2014
• 2

Untitled

• ashers
• 19 Jun 2014
• 2

 

[roughcaster]

You'll nearly always get cracks appearing where plaster/paint meets the stringer, skirtings etc. It's probably got more to do with a build up from years of paint meeting the plaster, , plus, some natural movement on the stairs. Even if you sand them down and re-fill them, they'll still come back. Although it's annoying, it's nothing to worry about at all. I think the best bet might be to scrape the paint off back to the wood/plaster along the top of the stringer etc, so the filler is going into the crack itself, rather than just filling onto the crack in the paint.

 

[ashers]

Where are the stringers?

Stairs do have quite a bit of movement in them.

 

[roughcaster]

Here is a youtube video to look at.
You will need to do similar to this,,, remove the paint along the stringer bead if there is one., and fill in the cracks in the plaster. I would use a filler in your situation. Remove the paint, rake out the crack/s, damp down with a small brush, then fill in the crack using polyfilla or similar. When the cracks are fillled in and sanded down, paint the wall and the stringer bead, then run a bead of flexible filler down the stringer to finish it off.
The stair stringer is the piece of timber that the treads are attached to. Many staircases have a decorative stringer bead attached down the slope. The stringer in the video doesn't have a stringer bead on it. It's usually fixed where the guy in the video is running his scraper.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9XR9DU0r4QY

 

[ashers]

The cracks I have are higher in the plaster than this.

It is just above where the skirting meets the plaster

 

[roughcaster]

It's not an easy call really, but a bit of advice from a painter might be a good idea,,,, he can see the job in "real time", and give his opinion.

 

[ashers]

Yeah, think I will get a builder out to see what he thinks.

 

[roughcaster]

Best way. It probably is the downward movement on the stairs. If it is, you could maybe put in a few extra fixings into the wall under the stairs if possible, just to take some of the movement away, before you repair any cracks. Worth asking your builder about it anyway.