Wall/Ceiling cracks, concerning. Advice?

[rafter_01]

Morning,

My brother recently bought a house about 6 months ago which was left empty for about 2 years by the previous owners. The work from inside was completed to about 75% but some work was left when my bro purchased the house. All the plastering in the house was done by the previous owners and was new.

The work left was nothing major or structural. It took around 3-4 months for the remaining work to be completed. He's a full time worker so only could get most of the work done over weekend hence the reason why it took 3-4months.

Anyways, in those 3-4 months every time my brother went to house he would switch on the heating until the work was completed for that day.

Before the house was bought, he got a structural survey done and found no structural or subsidence issues.

Now that he moved in, living in the house for about 1 month now, he has seen some really odds cracks occurring in the walls and ceilings. I'm under the impression this is occurring because of the house being empty for so long?!!! But i'm no structural expert.

I have attached some pics with this post.

Before i call out a structural engineer to take a look at this, can anyone with building knowledge let me know their thoughts? Any structural engineers on DW that can provide some input? Am i over-worrying?

thanks

 

[Him Her]

At a guess it's pre-1950s and the previous owners had all those cracks before so they had a cheap skim done without repairing the underlying problem. They should have at least taped the cracks before skimming.

If there is no evidence of cracking outside you'll probably be wasting your money on a structural engineer.

Better to work your way around the cracks removing the loose plaster (plus about 1cm around edges), fill with bonding plaster then smooth with filler (or multi-finish if there's a lot).

The cracks are reappearing because the plaster either side is moving. Either the plaster itself is loose or the floor/wall substrate is. So, when the plaster is removed put the adjoining areas under pressure and check for movement.

 

[miggy]

It could be perished plaster???. There are some odd looking damp circles on your pictures. has it been painted?. Have you sealed the walls??.

 

[Mick]

Cracks are a byproduct of building mate, I have seen a lot worse than those... while not easy on the eye get him to repair them.

If you had a structural survey done then I would guess they are just movement from your previous building.

Mick

 

[rafter_01]

It could be perished plaster???. There are some odd looking damp circles on your pictures. has it been painted?. Have you sealed the walls??.

The damp circles on one wall was due to the damp coming through the chimney. This has been fixed but ive been told that wall will need a re-plaster as the damp has gone deep inside the plaster.

 

[Him Her]

It could be perished plaster???. There are some odd looking damp circles on your pictures. has it been painted?. Have you sealed the walls??.

They're smudges on the image M8, look at the pattern, every picture has the same layout!

 

[rafter_01]

At a guess it's pre-1950s and the previous owners had all those cracks before so they had a cheap skim done without repairing the underlying problem. They should have at least taped the cracks before skimming.

If there is no evidence of cracking outside you'll probably be wasting your money on a structural engineer.

Better to work your way around the cracks removing the loose plaster (plus about 1cm around edges), fill with bonding plaster then smooth with filler (or multi-finish if there's a lot).

The cracks are reappearing because the plaster either side is moving. Either the plaster itself is loose or the floor/wall substrate is. So, when the plaster is removed put the adjoining areas under pressure and check for movement.

Yep, around 1925 the house was built.

 

[rafter_01]

They're smudges on the image M8, look at the pattern, every picture has the same layout!

Him Her is right. Sorry for the poor picture quality.

Only one of the wall has had damp issues which is evident on one of the pics.

 

[Him Her]

Him Her is right. Sorry for the poor picture quality.

Only one of the wall has had damp issues which is evident on one of the pics.

Whatever you do don't plaster over it, chop the plaster back to the substrate (probably brick), do a moisture test, seal if required then replaster.

 

[rafter_01]

Whatever you do don't plaster over it, chop the plaster back to the substrate (probably brick), do a moisture test, seal if required then replaster.

thanks for the advise, will bear that in mind before re-plaster

 

[coachuk]

I cant tell from the pics if new ceilings have been put up. If the previous people have boarded over existing ceilings and skimmed plastered, you will generally always get cracks appearing at the edges, as the edges will probably not have been taped into the walls.

 

[rafter_01]

i was worried thinking it was something more serious. Hope its not

 

[Rumpelstiltskin.]

Theres nothing to worry about, houses move anyway.