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Plastering & Rendering

Hairline cracks in ceiling full width of house should we be worried

Anonymous user 09/03/2024 - 2.37 PM

Hi we bought our 80's end terrace 8 months ago, had all the upstairs ceilings skimmed as they were previously covered in wallpaper. One night we woke up to a creaking noise and a hairline crack appeared in our bedroom ceiling. It goes the full width of the house (across 2 bedrooms) We also have a an unusual side extension where there are hairline cracks in the ceiling - note we haven't touched this since moving in. The extension is a semi circle with double height ceiling. The full depth of the side of the house. Having looked at it it's possible that the crack from the ceiling in the extension leads into the bedroom - it's a bit high to see. The extension is about 10years old. We're worried on both accounts that this could be signs of subsidence, but we might be panicking. Nothing showed on the survey. All advice appreciated!

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1 Answer

Eagle Plastering And Home Improvements Ltd

Rating: 5 out of 5

Henley On Thames

Usually I'd suggest not to worry. Hairline cracks just happen. In plasterboard ceilings they usually happen if scrim tape hasn't been applied over the plasterboard joints. Sometimes joists are put in with 600 centres (600mm from the centre of one joist to the centre of the next) and not what is standard practice, 400mm centres. That in itself is fine, if they use the right thickness plasterboard over it, which often then didn't. It's the accompanying creak that makes this slightly different! And probably why you've not had many answers to what is usually a simple question. I often ask myself "what would I do if this were my house?". In this instance, I think that although I believe it to be nothing, just one of those things. I would, for peace of mind, ask a structural engineer to take a look. Being a family man, I'd like to make sure my family were in a house that was safe. Although if asked to bet on it, I'd bet that it was safe. The extension I suspect is unrelated, and just lacking in scrim. 9 times in 10 that is the problem. The difference with the house is that there was a creak and then the crack formed. Houses don't get settlement cracks suddenly appear after 30 years Good Luck Mark

Answered15 May 2016