Lathe and plaster

[Anonymous]

Hope I've spelt it right. our high ceilings (grade II listied building) have huge cracks mainly left to right approx 10 inches down, some are as much as 4mm wide and dark soily dusty stuff falls out. What is the best way to repair them so we can repaint the ceilings? I am assuming polyfilla will fall out. the ceilings are sound except for the cracks.

 

[Anonymous]

Unless you mean a large wood or metal turning machine then no sorry... drop the "e"...

I am a bit puzzled by " about 10" down " ?

I assume thatthese cracks are between laths rather than across them? (ie. they run parrallel to the florboards of the room above or at 90 degrees to the joists)

Probably worth determining the cause of the cracks first. If it is because all the nails are starting to fail then you may need to do something more than a simple patching job...

G.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you mean 10 inches down from the ceiling on the wall ?.

If that is rhe case, the chances are that someone has plastered over a beam where it itersects the wall and displacement as taken place.

Not necessarely cause for concern as whatever you repair it with, it will probably crack again.

Try and see what is behind the crack.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd better back track, I'm probably talking about the wrong thing. I live in a house built ca 1790 with high ceilings that are white and come down the wall about a foot, with ornate grooves running all along, parallel with the floor. A bit like very big coving?The cracks also run parallel with the floor, between the grooves. I did get a full structural survey 2 months ago before I bought and it said the cracks were due to past movement. the ceilings having been painted a few times, I can't tell what they are made of underneath, and I don't know how to fill the cracks or what to fill them with before we paint over.

 

[Anonymous]

How about a picture? Might help us understand.

It's probably a terrible thing to use but (as long as everything seems sound (ie. not falling off) I would just use some decorators filler...

G.

 

[Anonymous]

Laura - as George says, your explanation of this problem is a bit difficult to follow. Are you able to post a good picture? Don't bother trying to post it as a graphic upload - the maximum file size for this is 20k which will be pretty useless for these purposes. Much better to upload a good picture to a website and then attach an image URL to your post.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for trying to help. I'll sort some pictures. the cracks are horizontal and I suppose actually count as part of the cornicing and not the ceiling as they are on the curved round bit.