hairline cracks

[spreadandlay]

i am currently d n d'ing a house and skimming, all the plastering is to a really good finish as the customer is VERY fussy, he and i have noticed where the boards join along a wall there is hairline cracks on alot of the joints, i have used scrim and done everything as usual. i think two coats of paint will be enough to fill and hide them but i just wanted to know if other spreads experience this? all the ceilings are fine.

 

[sheldon1982]

how much of a gap did you leave when butting your boards together, if you have left a big gap then scrim tape alone might not hold and crack. are your boards fixed properly (no flexing). i plastered a room not so long ago and they stuck the boards up and there was flex in a lot of places. i pointed this out but they just said they would deal with the cracks . paint will not cover the cracks you will need to fill them with easyfil or polfilla then sand it down.

 

[spreadandlay]

i tried to use a really decend amount of dabs, and the boards are tight as, some of the boards had under 1mm gap, would it be because the boards are wet then dry then wet then left to dry completly for a week?

 

[sheldon1982]

how do you mean wet then dry. you didnt pva the boards did you. fresh boards dont need pva. if the boards are tight with no flex then i see no reason why they should crack.

did you use two coats of multi?

next time if in dought double scrim the joins mate to make sure

 

[daneski88]

Could it possibly be because the warm weather has caused it to dry out too quickly

 

[1john]

cant you just re-scrim and re-skim to keep the chap happy??

 

[roughcaster]

cant you just re-scrim and re-skim to keep the chap happy??

That's exactly what i would do John. Paint or caulk will never fill the cracks to a decent finish.

 

[daneski88]

But then the room will be smaller

 

[roughcaster]

So you wont need such a big carpet, much cheaper in the long run.

 

[daneski88]

Seriously though - what do you thing would explain the cracks, since the op refers to there being quite a few? Too warm? Overworking it? Dodgy batch? Skimcoat too thin?

 

[1john]

possible it dried too quick, although without seeing or even opening up the wall it could be impossible to know. could be adhesive is too far away from the edge of the board, personal preference with dabbing is to get the first board fixed and then apply adhesive for the second board with the butting join really smadged up with addy, and carry on around the room, also the overlapping internal corners really well smadged up with addy too.

 

[spreadandlay]

i did decent dabs even up the edges, i did not pva the board! good skim and well taped, good finish, i dont think it has dried to quickly, cool house no strong draughts. the cracks are sooo thin you can barly pick them up with the human eye! the customer will not want me to scrim and feather as he is over the moon, ive told him it is down to drying out and he is happy, i just posted for my own peace of mind. i do quite a lot of d n d and loads of skimming and this is a first for me ! thanks for help so far

 

[daneski88]

Let's hope that plasterboard adhesive wasn't stale

 

[sergeantash]

i am currently d n d'ing a house and skimming, all the plastering is to a really good finish as the customer is VERY fussy, he and i have noticed where the boards join along a wall there is hairline cracks on alot of the joints, i have used scrim and done everything as usual. i think two coats of paint will be enough to fill and hide them but i just wanted to know if other spreads experience this? all the ceilings are fine.

Very frustrating - Over the past 2 years, I've had numerous rooms within my house plastered, months on I was suffering from winter-summer movement causing hairline cracks to appear. I have tried just filling the cracks on numerous occasions but they always reappear. The only solution I have found so far is to use a small chisel, drag it through the length of the crack to open it up, give it a light sand, then refil with Red Devil One Time Filler, absolutely brilliant stuff, because it's slightly flexible they haven't cracked again since, plus this stuff dries within 20 minutes and sands/blends in perfectly.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/FXRMF1.html

Hope this helps.