Cracks re-appear instantly

S

SarahBri

New Member
Hello All

Having problems filling cracks that run along the full lengths of wall in my flat - and would welcome advice on how I might fix them

There are two very long cracks that stretch the whole distance of the wall - they are quite straight, and a few others than run around windows. I filled them in yesterday, first 'scrapping out the crack' and then filling with BG Easi-Fill (powder mix), doing a light sand in between coats (I did two coats of filler as after the first a thin line was still showing)

Late last night the cracks starting reappearing, and are now very 'bulgy'. According to my neighbour the previous owner (who had covered the walls in wallpaper and a big unit - now I know why!) had an investigation done and it was said to be something to do with the laying of a layer of mortice at my flat level. Other flats have hairline cracks, but nowhere near as bad as mine.

Photos attached

Thanks

Sarah
 

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thermal cracking, or were the blockwork has been left for a while in the building of the flats.
a plasterer could do a crack repair then reskim the walls.
you could have the walls over boarded and skimmed.
or tape the crack and feather it in with joint filler.
 
SarahBri said:
Hello All

Having problems filling cracks that run along the full lengths of wall in my flat - and would welcome advice on how I might fix them

There are two very long cracks that stretch the whole distance of the wall - they are quite straight, and a few others than run around windows. I filled them in yesterday, first 'scrapping out the crack' and then filling with BG Easi-Fill (powder mix), doing a light sand in between coats (I did two coats of filler as after the first a thin line was still showing)

Late last night the cracks starting reappearing, and are now very 'bulgy'. According to my neighbour the previous owner (who had covered the walls in wallpaper and a big unit - now I know why!) had an investigation done and it was said to be something to do with the laying of a layer of mortice at my flat level. Other flats have hairline cracks, but nowhere near as bad as mine.

Photos attached

Thanks

Sarah
Click to expand...
malc said:
thermal cracking, or were the blockwork has been left for a while in the building of the flats.
a plasterer could do a crack repair then reskim the walls.
you could have the walls over boarded and skimmed.
or tape the crack and feather it in with joint filler.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is really helpful
One of the walls was re-plastered (skimmed) when I moved in and the crack has come through. Would a board over it solve this issue (i.e. a crack couldn't come through a board)? Do you know how many mm that would add to the wall, including a skim?
Thanks

Sarah
 
SarahBri said:
Thanks, this is really helpful
One of the walls was re-plastered (skimmed) when I moved in and the crack has come through. Would a board over it solve this issue (i.e. a crack couldn't come through a board)? Do you know how many mm that would add to the wall, including a skim?
Thanks

Sarah
Click to expand...

to overboard the wall i would use 12mm board, 2 mm skim and about 10mm for the dabs of adhesive. total 24mm.
you could cut the crack out deeper fill the crack with fischer resin then overboard. i have never seen a crack to come through the plasterboard on an overboarded wall.
 
There is an issue, you can cover it up with boards to hide it but your not fixing it. It need hacking off about a foot wide and maybe stitched then a mesh incorporated in the render then skim.
 
flynnyman said:
There is an issue, you can cover it up with boards to hide it but your not fixing it. It need hacking off about a foot wide and maybe stitched then a mesh incorporated in the render then skim.
Click to expand...

or as above a straight forward crack repair.
 
malc said:
to overboard the wall i would use 12mm board, 2 mm skim and about 10mm for the dabs of adhesive. total 24mm.
you could cut the crack out deeper fill the crack with fischer resin then overboard. i have never seen a crack to come through the plasterboard on an overboarded wall.
Click to expand...
Coz you can't see it doesn't mean you have fixed anything apart from not seeing it, and if you want to hide it overboard is the solution.
 
Thanks for the advice. Yes I just want to cover it up. I have been told by other owners of flats in the building that they don't have problems with their walls (just the odd hairline crack) and nothing was picked up on the building survey. I am on the 2nd floor of building that has 3 floors.

If I have an overboard, would I need to have all the walls done? Otherwise would they look odd next to each other? Or could I just have the main problem walls done for now?
 
SarahBri said:
Thanks for the advice. Yes I just want to cover it up. I have been told by other owners of flats in the building that they don't have problems with their walls (just the odd hairline crack) and nothing was picked up on the building survey. I am on the 2nd floor of building that has 3 floors.

If I have an overboard, would I need to have all the walls done? Otherwise would they look odd next to each other? Or could I just have the main problem walls done for now?
Click to expand...

the crack is just thermal cracking, just have the one wall overboarded and skimmed
 
Thanks. It sounds like overboarding is best bet. I am about to rent the flat for a year whilst travelling so thinking about quick (cheap) fixes for now, and then paying for overboarding when I get back (unless the prospective tenant insists on it being fixed). Do you have any tips for how I might get an 'ok' result with just refilling myself? Previously I dug out the crack little and did 2 x fills with BG Easi Fill (left a few hours in between)
 
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