Hello everyong, my boyfriend's mother has internal cracks in the walls of their cottage which is about 100 years old. They are only internal cracks and always appear in the same place no matter how much she fills them or has them skimmed. I think the internal walls are lath and plaster, is this the reason why? is there any solution? many thanks.
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cracks in walls advice please
- Thread starter catmadjax
- Start date
I would say two possibilities. Either the house is falling down :shock: and so the cracks are getting bigger, or more likely the house is doing its natural movement causing cracks to open and close.
What is the skim plaster that has been used ? If its modern stuff then you need to get rid and use a flexible (ie lime) plaster.
What is the skim plaster that has been used ? If its modern stuff then you need to get rid and use a flexible (ie lime) plaster.
Johneds
Member
- Messages
- 126
- Location
- South Gloucestershire
Lath and plaster does tend to crack after a hundred years or so. Which is not surprising really. Of course the cracks are always then going to be a point of weakness and it will always tend to crack in the same place. (of course I'm just telling you what you already know here)
If you remove four or five inches either side of the crack and re-plaster the wide strip with lime mortar you would have a better chance of the crack not reappearing - but all a bit of a hassle really for a few hairline cracks.
So your only alternative is to hack it all off and replaster with special ultra high density concrete waterproofing plaster - or knock the house down and rebuild a new one using as much plastic as possible. If it's listed don't tell the listing people until after you've finished because they might not agree to it.
No, no, no. Don't do any of that. I'm just trying to set the alarm off at the PPUK flying squad HQ.
If you remove four or five inches either side of the crack and re-plaster the wide strip with lime mortar you would have a better chance of the crack not reappearing - but all a bit of a hassle really for a few hairline cracks.
So your only alternative is to hack it all off and replaster with special ultra high density concrete waterproofing plaster - or knock the house down and rebuild a new one using as much plastic as possible. If it's listed don't tell the listing people until after you've finished because they might not agree to it.
No, no, no. Don't do any of that. I'm just trying to set the alarm off at the PPUK flying squad HQ.