Re skim air line cracks !??!?!?

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LesterPlasterers

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Hi all , I've been a plasterer for nearly 25 years and in the last say 2 yrs I've had more feedback that my re skim work is getting more air line cracks than ever before !! Wondering if any of you guys are getting any similar feedback or can throw any light on the subject ? I've spoken to gypsum but they was no help !!! There is nothing I'm doing differently now to 20 yrs ago !! Anybody ??
 
70% of the time I use uni bond pva and when it's possible I apply a plasterers primer such as thistle bond it ?? I always wash the wall first if its had wallpaper taken off recently ? And use multi to skim ?
 
Maybe customers are drying out the plaster too quick to get it painted??

This was one of my thoughts too artisan ?! But when asked that question they say that no heating has been on recently in that room ? Ya can't win !!
 
Hairline cracks are a sign of movement, through stud drying out or old walls showing cracks once skimmed, old plaster is more flexible than multi so when you skim sometimes the cracks show through as there is a tiny movement in the building, fast drying normally causes crazing Imo..
 
They seem to appear randomly ??? When tapped around the area that's hairlined is not hollow or anything ? Which suggests the Re skim has taken well ? It's difficult on what to suggest the customer can do ?
 
LesterPlasterers said:
Hi all , I've been a plasterer for nearly 25 years and in the last say 2 yrs I've had more feedback that my re skim work is getting more air line cracks than ever before !! Wondering if any of you guys are getting any similar feedback or can throw any light on the subject ? I've spoken to gypsum but they was no help !!! There is nothing I'm doing differently now to 20 yrs ago !! Anybody ??
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Air do you hairline?
 
Has it happened at every single place that you've worked on in the past few years? When you were doing the re-skimming, did you notice whether there were cracks already in the old work? Were there patches where someone else had tried to fix cracks?
 
There was a fella that said exactly the same thing about a full reskim he did will see if I can find it, he might of found a solution... Sounds like unifinish might have played a part from the sounds of everyone complaining about buying multi and getting uni..
 
No it's not every job just on occasion really ? I didn't notice any existing cracks prior to re skimming otherwise I would of scrimmed them. ? They was good solid walls that got re plastered !! I'm stumped !!
 
Has it happened on internal and external walls? Was it always over lime plaster or were there a variety of backgrounds?
 
I'm trying to eliminate the number of possible causes but it seems as though I'm coming to a dead end :RpS_confused:

How long was it before the customer notified you of the cracks? Did it also happen in the summer? ie periods when people don't normally heat their houses.
 
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I was asking about pva as there are some brands about at the minute and its like milk before you even water it down. Customers will deny putting the heating on if it goes wrong. Could be movement. There's lpads of possibilities
 
Plaster only cracks due to A poor adhesion,B dried too quickly, C movement in the background, D old plaster been used, E building works destabilising the walls..Which ones can you cross out here....
 
possibly pva got froze in van....more than likely heating turned on as you pull of the drive ....also on a internal was the heating on in the room next door.???? .
 
beddy said:
I was asking about pva as there are some brands about at the minute and its like milk before you even water it down. Customers will deny putting the heating on if it goes wrong. Could be movement. There's lpads of possibilities
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some of the pva is ****...
 
The plastering was done 2 weeks ago and I was notified today about the cracks Minh ?
The pva was fresh for that job ? I can cross out C through to F ! And maybe A too because the new skim where it's cracked is not hollow around the crack ? Which suggests its adhesion was good ?
 
LesterPlasterers said:
The plastering was done 2 weeks ago and I was notified today about the cracks Minh ?
The pva was fresh for that job ? I can cross out C through to F ! And maybe A too because the new skim where it's cracked is not hollow around the crack ? Which suggests its adhesion was good ?
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Did it happen in the summer? ie times of the year when people don't turn on the heating?
 
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