Cracks in Newly Skimmed Over-Boarded Ceiling

imago said:
I don't want to be argumentative, but unless you've photographed someone else's ceiling those joints aren't staggered. There's one joint about 18" from the light pendant that goes from one side of the room to the other. So the boarding is in two separate halves. Even something as simple as temperature change will cause them to move at different rates. Any bounce or vibration will stop at that joint rather than being transferred across the full spread.
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I staggered the short joints. Like a brick pattern. Not even sure how you'd stagger the long joints as well. Thanks.
 
Your dogs looks like Taylor Swift
Cracks in Newly Skimmed Over-Boarded Ceiling
Marshy said:
View attachment 16106
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You would of been better off doing a mf ceiling and not going onto the ceiling just gonna throw that in there would of eliminated all these problems and not the hardest thing to do over that area
 
Pagey said:
You would of been better off doing a mf ceiling and not going onto the ceiling just gonna throw that in there would of eliminated all these problems and not the hardest thing to do over that area
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That's what my wife's started calling it. Although I think she means something different. Thanks.
 
JonC said:
Thanks. The original celing was very uneven so I cross battened it to level it out.
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I've battened ceilings before and only had a stain patten come through when I used wet through battens, I've never seen that stain before over screws even on a one coat job, check for scrim near the wall where your cove would e
JonC said:
Thanks for all the replies and advice. Think I'll investigate a crack and make sure there's scrim tape there. Was concerned the plaster looked so thin but sounds like if it was scrimmed then it's purely down to movement. I'm afraid the motorbike and mould references were over my head but generally all replies have been very helpful. Cheers. Jon.
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Hiya Jon, years ago, we used to board and leave 3mm gaps,but then we fill the cracks first, then went over with cotton scrim (which did crack)and feathered joints out before skimming ceiling, since sticky tape came to be we generally don't leave a 3mm gap in boards as plaster start sagging and involves a bit more work flattening..sorry another thing to consider, might be because of the 3mm gap, plaster is very brittle.
 
jollyolly said:
I've battened ceilings before and only had a stain patten come through when I used wet through battens, I've never seen that stain before over screws even on a one coat job, check for scrim near the wall where your cove would e

Hiya Jon, years ago, we used to board and leave 3mm gaps,but then we fill the cracks first, then went over with cotton scrim (which did crack)and feathered joints out before skimming ceiling, since sticky tape came to be we generally don't leave a 3mm gap in boards as plaster start sagging and involves a bit more work flattening..sorry another thing to consider, might be because of the 3mm gap, plaster is very brittle.
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Hi. Thanks for the message. Yeah think I'll make sure there's scrim tape at one of the cracks otherwise it looks as if it's down to me. Should have asked advice before I started the job. Hindsight eh? Thanks again. Jon.
 
JonC said:
That's what my wife's started calling it. Although I think she means something different. Thanks.
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an mf ceiling you could of just dropped the level 70mm if that and then boarded then I bet you wouldn't of even come on here by screwing to the joists and what with your joists already causing a bit of ag it's only then moved down to your batterns then made the boards crack your gonna have to tell the Mrs it's your fault I'm afraid and tell her it's expensive to sort out so no holiday this year,good luck
 
Pagey said:
an mf ceiling you could of just dropped the level 70mm if that and then boarded then I bet you wouldn't of even come on here by screwing to the joists and what with your joists already causing a bit of ag it's only then moved down to your batterns then made the boards crack your gonna have to tell the Mrs it's your fault I'm afraid and tell her it's expensive to sort out so no holiday this year,good luck
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Ha. I'm going to need it. Cheers.
 
imago said:
I don't want to be argumentative, but unless you've photographed someone else's ceiling those joints aren't staggered. There's one joint about 18" from the light pendant that goes from one side of the room to the other. So the boarding is in two separate halves. Even something as simple as temperature change will cause them to move at different rates. Any bounce or vibration will stop at that joint rather than being transferred across the full spread.
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The joints are staggered you can't stagger both ways.

There's no 4 corners so that's about as good as you can do.
You can only stagger one end.
It doesn't matter which way you do it yourself always going to get 3 corners.

If you were to break up the long lines your getting into a whole world of pain getting boards square take twice as long
 
reeves1985 said:
The joints are staggered you can't stagger both ways.

There's no 4 corners so that's about as good as you can do.
You can only stagger one end.
It doesn't matter which way you do it yourself always going to get 3 corners.

If you were to break up the long lines your getting into a whole world of pain getting boards square take twice as long
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It's more about where those corners are, but you can reduce the number of adjacent corners with a few simple cuts.

If you look at the photo below, there are two cut boards along the left wall. If you use a long length centred at the current join and two short boards at either end the join line is covered. Then move across one and leave the joints in the position they are, then back to a stagger in front of the chimney breast on the right.

The way it's done now is the most economical use of boards, as it saves about half a board of waste. The problem is made worse as the long side of the boards, and the joints that cross the full room, are running in the same direction as the floor joists. So any bounce or movement in the joists to either side isn't spread, it stops at that point where there's just a bit of tape and a couple of mm of skim.

It's the same principle when you lay floor boards or the chipboard panels you end up with a flex point in the floor. As with the plasterboard, it's not a weakness, and it won't fail, but it's not as rigid as it could be.

The floor above, and the plasterboard (or lath) below should turn the joists into a weak version of an 'I' beam (RSJ). So if you imagine an RSJ without the bottom flat on it, that's how the long joint will act in plasterboard with a joint running the full width of the room directly below a joist.
 
imago said:
It's more about where those corners are, but you can reduce the number of adjacent corners with a few simple cuts.

If you look at the photo below, there are two cut boards along the left wall. If you use a long length centred at the current join and two short boards at either end the join line is covered. Then move across one and leave the joints in the position they are, then back to a stagger in front of the chimney breast on the right.

The way it's done now is the most economical use of boards, as it saves about half a board of waste. The problem is made worse as the long side of the boards, and the joints that cross the full room, are running in the same direction as the floor joists. So any bounce or movement in the joists to either side isn't spread, it stops at that point where there's just a bit of tape and a couple of mm of skim.

It's the same principle when you lay floor boards or the chipboard panels you end up with a flex point in the floor. As with the plasterboard, it's not a weakness, and it won't fail, but it's not as rigid as it could be.

The floor above, and the plasterboard (or lath) below should turn the joists into a weak version of an 'I' beam (RSJ). So if you imagine an RSJ without the bottom flat on it, that's how the long joint will act in plasterboard with a joint running the full width of the room directly below a joist.
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I haven't read all the post as I'm on the move.
I think I get what your saying now
The Jong joints are running the same way as the joists
Whereas a traditional reboard job they would be running across the joists and the short ends staggered.

Am I right?
If so yes I agree and makes sense now
Because the op Cross battoned the ceiling he's running the weakest part of the boards (long joins) with the original floor joists. Which could cause more flex.

I'm with the rest though in the tact he should have (laminated) next to the joists to bring to level.
That's the way I've always done it and the only way I've ever seen chippy s do it.

Think we were on a different wavelength initially
 
reeves1985 said:
I haven't read all the post as I'm on the move.
I think I get what your saying now
The Jong joints are running the same way as the joists
Whereas a traditional reboard job they would be running across the joists and the short ends staggered.

Am I right?
If so yes I agree and makes sense now
Because the op Cross battoned the ceiling he's running the weakest part of the boards (long joins) with the original floor joists. Which could cause more flex.

I'm with the rest though in the tact he should have (laminated) next to the joists to bring to level.
That's the way I've always done it and the only way I've ever seen chippy s do it.

Think we were on a different wavelength initially
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Yeah that's it. (y)

Like others have said though, bang some filler over it, paint it, and worry about more important stuff. I certainly wouldn't be having it all down and doing it again if it was my house.
 
N
imago said:
Yeah that's it. (y)

Like others have said though, bang some filler over it, paint it, and worry about more important stuff. I certainly wouldn't be having it all down and doing it again if it was my house.
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Neither would I but some people want/need everything perfect
 
No fault,of the plasterer. Combination of gaps, battens, original joists, flex. Paint it, paint it again......l

Then let it go,....let it go-o-o-o.......a cracked ceiling never bothered me anyway...(y)
 
Hello
I am having a similar problem but as I’m not an expert in any stretch of the imagination I thought best ask my question on here. We had our garage converted a few of months ago and are now getting hairline (slightly wider) in the boardedceiling!! The ceiling was boarded except for a small area where there was already board. Our project manager took some of the ceiling down except this section. When the plasterer came he moaned about it not all being taken down but still boarded up to it. It seems that’s where the cracks are appearing.
When I raised this with the pm(builder) he looked and said its normal and can take up to 10 months for the batons to settle and cracks stop appearing?! Never heard this before and not convinced he’s being fair?! Held last 1k back and not wanting to pay until I know all is fine
Thanks
 
Emma Knowles said:
Hello
I am having a similar problem but as I’m not an expert in any stretch of the imagination I thought best ask my question on here. We had our garage converted a few of months ago and are now getting hairline (slightly wider) in the boardedceiling!! The ceiling was boarded except for a small area where there was already board. Our project manager took some of the ceiling down except this section. When the plasterer came he moaned about it not all being taken down but still boarded up to it. It seems that’s where the cracks are appearing.
When I raised this with the pm(builder) he looked and said its normal and can take up to 10 months for the batons to settle and cracks stop appearing?! Never heard this before and not convinced he’s being fair?! Held last 1k back and not wanting to pay until I know all is fine
Thanks
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Thems expensive cracks at 1k...
 
Hi Emma ,it might be settlement with the new timbers drying out , very possible to fix by raking out the cracks and filling with flexible filler sanding and re painted , otherwise it's a re skim with the cracks taped over, paper tape is stronger than scrim , do a push test on the ceiling to see if there is movement in the timbers , if the are springy or bouncy ,the cracks may re appear
 
Fleetingly read this thread, firstly it’s not a 3mm gap that’s a problem, for sure.
I have had a couple crack like this and it has been down to one thing, the timber used for Battons.
Always use 3x1.
And always use the rough sawn timber, not the planed stuff as it’s liable to split too easily either during or after installing.

Would also like to know how they were packed to have the ceiling so perfectly flat??

Metal the superior option imo


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Maybe your screws ain't drywall or not suitable to take a skim...next time if you go to all that trouble SKRIM would be a £4 expense you cudda used before the plasterers turned up........after all..... you musta used a THOUSAND Screws too many IMO
 
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