hi everyone, Could you offer me some advice please, I keep getting reoccurring cracks above door frames, mainly when we have had a hot summer! There no more then a 1/2mm going from corner of the door frame to the ceiling! I've dug them out with a screwdriver, and filled but a year or two later there back! Any ideas? Would scrim tape be better or would it show up? Whole house was skimmed 11 years ago when I moved in! House is 1930's 3 bed so it's old, probably built on clay in north east London so it probably be moving about, other houses on street have the same issue, I can fill and paint it so that it doesn't show but a couple of years later it gradually opens again, any ideas guys? Thanks
Hi guys, yes a few trees on the road! Think the walls were old plaster but have been skimmed! Happening downstairs and bedroom above which was skimmed to! Ceilings are lath and plaster. What is wire mesh? Thx for the responses
Right, cracks above a door usually happen after a while, either due to settlement or what I find more common is people slamming the door over time and it takes its toll. Irrelevant of the cause, skimming over cracks never works long term unless the crack has been properly prepared beforehand. I don't want to be the harbinger of doom but unless you are prepared to take the plaster right back bare and do again, I think you're going to be forever filling I'm afraid. You can try digging a strip of plaster out, applying pva and scrim tape, and filling over that, but I wouldn't guarantee long term. But then, filling every two years ain't so bad......
Cheers, yeah not to bad just a pain buying different colour paint all the time especially as the Mrs picked paint from Laura bloody Ashley lol
The reason the cracks appear in the summer is that with the London soil and climate the tree take out the water from the ground and it shrinks down causing the buildings to move. Come winter there is more moisture around and the trees need less so it swell back up - and the cycle continues. You may get away with taking a wide section of plaster out 100mm and cover with lath and then make good. Sometimes you can be lucky that it doesn't crack in the future
Have you tried filling with two-pack resin filler? For deep cracks I use a two-part filler called Decor Fill which dries solid as a rock. This will last better than polyfilla or tetrion, but as a previous poster said, if the crack is above a door every time that door is closed or slammed it will impact on the walls above.