I am after some advice to hopefully reassure my wife and I.
Last year we moved into a 30 year old semi. Other than decorating and the odd minor plumbing problem, everything seemed to be in good order.
Just after Christmas we had a couple of new UPVC windows installed to replace the old wooden frame ones. That all went fine.
At the top of our stairs, on the landing, we had the window replaced. Last year we also decorated the hallway/landing using paint. My wife noticed recently a very thin hair-line crack in the wall to the right of the new window. It starts just below the window sill and about 3" to the right of it. I thought nothing of it and assumed that it was either due to extreme heat/cold from the freezing temperatures we had late last year and down to the new window being installed.
Yesterday, however, (for some unknown reason), I started feeling the crack to see what it was like. I'm not aware that it has got any bigger - it runs from just below the sill down to the skirting board. I started tapping the wall down along the crack and noticed that at about 2/3 points, the left of the crack sounded a little hollow. (just a small size of "hollow sounding wall" - 1 or 2 inches maybe). At one of these points, I pressed with my finger, and the wall gave slightly and my finger cracked the paint work and went in a little. It didn't create a hole as such but felt like if I pressed further I could!
6-12" Above the crack is a light switch, and to the left of the crack, near the bottom of it, is a light switch. One of my colleagues thinks that maybe the electrical conduit is too close to the plaster and the installation of the window made the crack and the hole (flimsy plaster) is just that. He suggested just using polyfiller and re-painting.
There is no sign of a crack on the exterior of the wall or downstairs underneath it.
Attached is a photo (hope it's clear enough) to show you what I did with my finger. You can see how I disturbed the paint by pressing in.
Any ideas what the problem might be - if it's serious or not?
Thanks!
Last year we moved into a 30 year old semi. Other than decorating and the odd minor plumbing problem, everything seemed to be in good order.
Just after Christmas we had a couple of new UPVC windows installed to replace the old wooden frame ones. That all went fine.
At the top of our stairs, on the landing, we had the window replaced. Last year we also decorated the hallway/landing using paint. My wife noticed recently a very thin hair-line crack in the wall to the right of the new window. It starts just below the window sill and about 3" to the right of it. I thought nothing of it and assumed that it was either due to extreme heat/cold from the freezing temperatures we had late last year and down to the new window being installed.
Yesterday, however, (for some unknown reason), I started feeling the crack to see what it was like. I'm not aware that it has got any bigger - it runs from just below the sill down to the skirting board. I started tapping the wall down along the crack and noticed that at about 2/3 points, the left of the crack sounded a little hollow. (just a small size of "hollow sounding wall" - 1 or 2 inches maybe). At one of these points, I pressed with my finger, and the wall gave slightly and my finger cracked the paint work and went in a little. It didn't create a hole as such but felt like if I pressed further I could!
6-12" Above the crack is a light switch, and to the left of the crack, near the bottom of it, is a light switch. One of my colleagues thinks that maybe the electrical conduit is too close to the plaster and the installation of the window made the crack and the hole (flimsy plaster) is just that. He suggested just using polyfiller and re-painting.
There is no sign of a crack on the exterior of the wall or downstairs underneath it.
Attached is a photo (hope it's clear enough) to show you what I did with my finger. You can see how I disturbed the paint by pressing in.
Any ideas what the problem might be - if it's serious or not?
Thanks!
