Hairline Cracking

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solway

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Hey everyone.
Im doing a big enough job at the moment about 7000sqft. There was a plasterer in the job before me but his business folded and i was asked to come in and complete the job. I agreed on fairly good rates and started working away as normal. Its a block build with sand/cement internal walls and then skimmed. all ceilings are mf system with 12.5mm plasterboard. Im not doing the plasterboarding. Im only doing the plastering side of it. My issue is this. a couple of weeks ago the foreman brought to my attention hairline cracking at the joints in some ceilings. All joints were "scrim taped" and filled. I told him we did what any other decent plasterer would do to skim a ceiling and he straight away tried to put the blame with me that we must have done something wrong. He totally disagreed that him turning on the underfloor heating wouldnt be the cause of this. Befor the heating was turned on there wasnt any issue brought to my attention. I agreed to put my taper and jointer back to do the repairs. On further investigation the skimming the previous plasterer did was also cracking. It is more or less cracking in corridors and reception areas. about 2 weeks ago i asked the foreman to turn down the heating and i was told no that painters are starting on monday and the building needs to be dry. We are now upstairs skimming and ceilings that were skimmed friday evening have a hairline crack already. The heat upstairs is cruel to skim in and the sand cement walls need 4 coats of pva before skimming.Walls and ceilings peeling is also a problem. Could there be another problem here or is everything pointing towards the heat of the building.
 
Force drying will almost always cause problems. Give BG a buzz and get their opinion, I'll bet they'll say "tell them to turn the heating down".
 
hes bullying the plaster to dry out 2 quick hes killing themulti solway its 2 hot in there tellhim. if ur not carefull ur end up doing 7ooo sqft of making good and losing money b carefull m8
 
This is why the spread before went under? Your gonna struggle to get payment from them my freind.
 
Ya it seems the boards were fitted fine. When the boards were erected they could av been slightly damp as the building was fairly cold over xmas time. Could this be an issue aswell. By the way who is "BG"
 
BG = British Gypsum.

Heat can also cause cracking in solid areas. Are the cracks only appearing along the joints?
 
As said, it seems like they're trying to shaft you. Switch on the voice recorder on your phone and then INSIST that the heating is turned down. Also get a rep down from the board and plaster manufacturers/suppliers. They are your independant (but qualified) witnesses to the conditions you describe and may be needed if this becomes a dispute. That's if they're allowed on site like :RpS_thumbup:
 
you can not be held responsible for cracks in the ceiling as you did not fit the plasterboard.
plaster should not be forced dried, open the windows and let the heat out.
 
We have all skimmed ceilings on very hot days with no problems, I am thinking this is a boarding problem or problem in the MF,
 
problems with your hairline you wanna get thisLink Removed lee tried it and look at the results
 
malc said:
you can not be held responsible for cracks in the ceiling as you did not fit the plasterboard.
plaster should not be forced dried, open the windows and let the heat out.
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I told him that and he more or less said i was talking b***x. We skimmed it so why is it cracking is his attitude. The plasterboard in most of the corridors are running length ways with the mf system. They are not running perpindicular to the tracking. The sparkies are way behind in progress so to keep us skimming he put a rip of plasterboard along the ceiling at both sides cut to a size that when the sparkies were finished wiring in the corridors a plasterboard was fitting "snug" in the gap left above. We had the walls skimmed and when the sparkies were finished we went back and skimmed the ceilings when it was plasterboarded for us. They just ran the plasterboard with the tracking lengthways as previously said.This means that at the butt joint of the plasterboard 1.2length there is only 4 screws holding it in place. I reckon this is also causing problems along with the heat in the building. after further inspection aswell at the weekends he is cranking up the heat in the building when there is practically no1 on site. We skimmed a ceiling on friday evening and by monday morning it was compleyely dry with hairline cracks in it at the joints. Ceilings and walls that are skimmed in the morning are almost dry by the end of the day and the walls are blockbuild. Im not exaggerating.
 
yep id be getting paid up and leaving ... only gonna cause more work for yourself or get screwed on payment ... I know its work etc but sometimes you have to just walk away from situations like this .
 
Minh said:
Did it occur to you that the original plasterer packed up his bags and left?
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Naw the other plasterer packed it in because he priced it too cheap. I was talking to other plasterers that he had employed and they told me he got a big cheque at xmas paid no one and did a runner. I know the rates he was doing the job for and there was no way he could pay men. In fairness the money is paid to me as agreed and there has been no issues in this department its just the foreman is a d***head.
 
solway said:
Naw the other plasterer packed it in because he priced it too cheap. I was talking to other plasterers that he had employed and they told me he got a big cheque at xmas paid no one and did a runner. I know the rates he was doing the job for and there was no way he could pay men. In fairness the money is paid to me as agreed and there has been no issues in this department its just the foreman is a d***head.
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He needed a slap for not paying people..*******
 
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