Victorian House - Cracked Ceilings

[ramasus]

I have recently moved into a Victorian home that the previous owners have decorated toa good standard.  Now 4 months later, cracks have started to appear on the ceilings.  It looks like the cracks have been there before, as they are moving to the cornice where it looks like they have been filled in.  I think the ceilings are lath and plaster.  There does not appear to be any craking walls, so I dont think any major movement of the building is happening.

Is this common in these older properties, and how do you repair them proberly so they don't come back.  Thanks.

[BillyNoMates]

I think you find this quite common particularly if the ceilings are lath & plaster.

I've found flexible filler to be good. Not the bog standard dry powder mixes which claim to be flexible, but the type in a tube like bath sealant. They usually go under the description of decorator's filler I think. Then to coat, a good quality ceiling paint, again specifically formulated to flex.

I don't know too much about plastering but perhaps skimming would help ? Failing that, and very messy and costly, replace with plasterboard.

[LoungeLizard]

Hi ramasus, I had exactly this problem in my Victorian house.

I got my cracked cornices repaired by paying an plasterer / artexer to fill in the cracks as best he could, given that in some places the plaster had 'shifted' as well as 'cracked'.  I would say he did a very good job, better result than I expected, and charged me several �10s (can't remember exactly).

Cracked ceiling can be scimmed over, though this is a much bigger job if the ceiling has been papered, as in my house.

I have now taught myself to plaster; I would say that plastering is quite easy once you've got the knack.

I would say that plastering is one of the most messy jobs in the house.  It can get literally everywhere if you don't put a lot of time & effort into hygiene.

How perfectionist are you?  I would say that there is a range of solutions to your problem from a touch-up with a bit of Polyfilla to complete re-boarding and replastering.  I would say it's virtually impossible to get a perfect ceiling in a wonky house.