Desperate Measures - Advice for my Ceiling Cracks, Please

[redrum]

Hi,

I have cracks in my ceilings at various points in the house.

I have tried:

- decorator's caulk, then moved to
- gripfill, then I got my Dad involved and he and I
- screwed into the joists each side of the crack, then I got onto some
professional forums and I
- bought some strim tape and plastered over, feathering as necessary,
which looked great when I first did it. I even allowed myself to believe
I'd solved the problem!

Two weeks on - CRACKS. Yes, I can see cracks in them. Ahhhhhhhh.

Can anyone help me? I feel I've run out of ideas and it's driving me nuts.

With many thanks for any advice,
Debbie

 

[jrplastering]

mabey look into haveing it overboarded and re skimmed

 

[Alastairreid]

Is it lath and plaster? or plasterboard?.

What is above the ceilings? bedroom attic, another property?.

 

[redrum]

Is it lath and plaster? or plasterboard?.

What is above the ceilings? bedroom attic, another property?.

Dear Alastair

Most of them are on the ground floor so going up into first floor. I have a detached place so there's only me upstairs . It's plasterboard and the cracks form a lovely mosaic across the room!!!

Thanks for any advice. Another person suggested getting it reboarded and skimmed. I suspect I'm going to have to just live with it.

Debbie

 

[misterhelpful]

Could it be that there is excess movement in the joists that the ceiling is fixed to?
If so, then no matter how tightly you fix the ceiling or scrim/fill the cracks, the movement from above is likely to crack the ceiling.
To test if there is movement, get someone to walk/bounce heavily on the floor above (if accessible) while you look at the ceiling to see if the crack widens significantly. You can obviously expect some movement but if one side moves more than another you may need to strengthen some joists.

If this isn't the cause then reboarding and skimming might be the best option.

 

[roughcaster]

Debbie, when you say mosaic pattern cracks, do they look spidery,, like spiders legs,, cracks radiating outwards?

 

[misterhelpful]

...do they look spidery,, like spiders legs

Aaargh, I'm off!!

 

[redrum]

Debbie, when you say mosaic pattern cracks, do they look spidery,, like spiders legs,, cracks radiating outwards?

Sorry - they are straight lines and they literally show the outlines of the plasterboard which seems to have been put up like a bit of a patchwork quilt rather than in regular sections.

Debbie