We have a ceiling with a smooth emulsion finish, unfortunately long
cracks appear in the course of every few years - one along the line of a
plasterboard joint and two others that are not in line with the
plasterboards.

I have repaired them with a d-i-y filler (made up polyfilla or similar)
in the past but have decided to do something that will hopefully be a
bit more permanent this time.

I have raked the cracks out - the depth appears to be around 10mm and
was wondering about applying a gap filling adhesive (No more nails?) in
the apex of the crack and finishing it off with either a light weight
sandable filler which I imagine will give the finish most likely to
blend in once painted or possibly caulk which I understand has the
benefit of being slightly flexible but may not blend in as well as the
sandable filler.

I would be grateful for any suggestions or comments.

--
Robert

robert wrote:
We have a ceiling with a smooth emulsion finish, unfortunately long
cracks appear in the course of every few years - one along the line
of a plasterboard joint and two others that are not in line with the
plasterboards.

I have repaired them with a d-i-y filler (made up polyfilla or
similar) in the past but have decided to do something that will
hopefully be a bit more permanent this time.

I have raked the cracks out - the depth appears to be around 10mm and
was wondering about applying a gap filling adhesive (No more nails?)
in the apex of the crack and finishing it off with either a light
weight sandable filler which I imagine will give the finish most
likely to blend in once painted or possibly caulk which I understand
has the benefit of being slightly flexible but may not blend in as
well as the sandable filler.

I would be grateful for any suggestions or comments.

Caulk is flexible enough to withstand the movement without cracking - but
very difficult to sand, so you have to get it smooth when applying.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"robert" wrote in message
...

We have a ceiling with a smooth emulsion finish, unfortunately long cracks
appear in the course of every few years - one along the line of a
plasterboard joint and two others that are not in line with the
plasterboards.

I have repaired them with a d-i-y filler (made up polyfilla or similar) in
the past but have decided to do something that will hopefully be a bit
more permanent this time.

I have raked the cracks out - the depth appears to be around 10mm and was
wondering about applying a gap filling adhesive (No more nails?) in the
apex of the crack and finishing it off with either a light weight sandable
filler which I imagine will give the finish most likely to blend in once
painted or possibly caulk which I understand has the benefit of being
slightly flexible but may not blend in as well as the sandable filler.

I would be grateful for any suggestions or comments.

--
Our 1930s semi has settled over the decades and cracks appeared across the
corners of rooms. A couple of years ago I was fed up of seeing the ones in
the sitting room when I was lying on the sofa so, despite protestations from
Spouse that it wouldn't work, I got out the steps and filled them with
either acrylic or silicone filler from a gun.

Sorry, I can't remember which it was.

I smoothed the filler with my wet finger then painted the ceiling.

If I look intently at the ceiling I can see where the cracks were but it
really isn't important, the paint isn't interrupted by black lines of the
cracks.

I was very pleased with the result. Amazingly, so were several of our
pernickety 'children' who have been complaining about the state of that
ceiling for very many years. I was surprised that they even noticed!

Oh - I didn't rake out anything, simply filled and smoothed.

Mary

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:10:02 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

robert wrote:
We have a ceiling with a smooth emulsion finish, unfortunately long
cracks appear in the course of every few years - one along the line
of a plasterboard joint and two others that are not in line with the
plasterboards.

I have repaired them with a d-i-y filler (made up polyfilla or
similar) in the past but have decided to do something that will
hopefully be a bit more permanent this time.

I have raked the cracks out - the depth appears to be around 10mm and
was wondering about applying a gap filling adhesive (No more nails?)
in the apex of the crack and finishing it off with either a light
weight sandable filler which I imagine will give the finish most
likely to blend in once painted or possibly caulk which I understand
has the benefit of being slightly flexible but may not blend in as
well as the sandable filler.

I would be grateful for any suggestions or comments.

Caulk is flexible enough to withstand the movement without cracking - but
very difficult to sand, so you have to get it smooth when applying.

I'd agree about the sanding attributes of Decorators caulk . But how
about filling to some degree with some sort of filler then using
plasterboard jointing cement ( Gyproc is one make) to complete and
that gives a very smooth finish

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:46:31 +0100, wrote:

Caulk is flexible enough to withstand the movement without cracking -
but very difficult to sand, so you have to get it smooth when applying.

I'd agree about the sanding attributes of Decorators caulk . But how
about filling to some degree with some sort of filler then using
plasterboard jointing cement ( Gyproc is one make) to complete and
that gives a very smooth finish

Trouble is jointing stuff sets hard and the movement will crack it. You
want something like decorators caulk that stays flexible to take up
movement without cracking. As Dave says it's next to impossible to sand
caulk but it is easy to get a smooth finish with a wetted spatula. I
wouldn't use a finger on a crack as fingers are too soft and will make a
slight U along the line of the crack.

--
Cheers
Dave.

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:10:02 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

robert wrote:
snip
I have raked the cracks out - the depth appears to be around 10mm and
was wondering about applying a gap filling adhesive (No more nails?)
in the apex of the crack and finishing it off with either a light
weight sandable filler which I imagine will give the finish most
likely to blend in once painted or possibly caulk which I understand
has the benefit of being slightly flexible but may not blend in as
well as the sandable filler.

I would be grateful for any suggestions or comments.

Caulk is flexible enough to withstand the movement without cracking - but
very difficult to sand, so you have to get it smooth when applying.

I'd agree about the sanding attributes of Decorators caulk . But how
about filling to some degree with some sort of filler then using
plasterboard jointing cement ( Gyproc is one make) to complete and
that gives a very smooth finish

I've been very pleased with the results in similar situations using Gyproc
Easy-fill.

--
PeterMcC

If you feel that any of the above is incorrect,
inappropriate or offensive in any way,
please ignore it and accept my apologies.

In article ,
robert wrote:
We have a ceiling with a smooth emulsion finish, unfortunately long
cracks appear in the course of every few years - one along the line of a
plasterboard joint and two others that are not in line with the
plasterboards.

I have repaired them with a d-i-y filler (made up polyfilla or similar)
in the past but have decided to do something that will hopefully be a
bit more permanent this time.

I have raked the cracks out - the depth appears to be around 10mm and
was wondering about applying a gap filling adhesive (No more nails?) in
the apex of the crack and finishing it off with either a light weight
sandable filler which I imagine will give the finish most likely to
blend in once painted or possibly caulk which I understand has the
benefit of being slightly flexible but may not blend in as well as the
sandable filler.

I've found a good flexible caulk works well - but since it shrinks and
can't be sanded you'll need three or four goes to get the crack level.
Which takes rather more time than other fillers. But seems to be worth the
effort.

--
*Remember not to forget that which you do not need to know.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , robert
writes


Very many thanks for the suggestions. It looks as though the consensus
is to use caulk although it is likely to be more difficult to achieve a
finish that completely blends in with the existing surface.

In my first post I indicated that I was thinking of using an adhesive
with gap filling properties in the deeper part of the crack - my thought
was that this could help stabilise things. I wonder if anyone has any
views on this?

--
Robert

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:31:05 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:46:31 +0100, wrote:

Caulk is flexible enough to withstand the movement without cracking -
but very difficult to sand, so you have to get it smooth when applying.

I'd agree about the sanding attributes of Decorators caulk . But how
about filling to some degree with some sort of filler then using
plasterboard jointing cement ( Gyproc is one make) to complete and
that gives a very smooth finish

Trouble is jointing stuff sets hard and the movement will crack it. You
want something like decorators caulk that stays flexible to take up
movement without cracking. As Dave says it's next to impossible to sand
caulk but it is easy to get a smooth finish with a wetted spatula. I
wouldn't use a finger on a crack as fingers are too soft and will make a
slight U along the line of the crack.

I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere ..lol

In article ,
robert wrote:
Very many thanks for the suggestions. It looks as though the consensus
is to use caulk although it is likely to be more difficult to achieve a
finish that completely blends in with the existing surface.

It's not difficult - just takes longer. And since caulk dries quicker than
pollyfilla etc perhaps not that much longer.

--
*Prepositions are not words to end sentences with *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 21 Sep, 08:58, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,
* *robert wrote:

Very many thanks for the suggestions. *It looks as though the consensus
is to use caulk although it is likely to be more difficult to achieve a
finish that completely blends in with the existing surface.

It's not difficult - just takes longer. And since caulk dries quicker than
pollyfilla etc perhaps not that much longer.

--
*Prepositions are not words to end sentences with *

* * Dave Plowman * * * * * * * * London SW
* * * * * * * * * To e-mail, change noise into sound.

How about scrim?
ie rake out crack - sand down 1" either side 0.5 mm - scrim and
finish? I would use SBR in the mix
If you want belt and braces use the caulk under to a depth of 1mm and
finish on top of that
Chris G

How about scrim?
ie rake out crack - sand down 1" either side 0.5 mm - scrim and
finish? I would use SBR in the mix
If you want belt and braces use the caulk under to a depth of 1mm and
finish on top of that
Chris G


FFS! This is a ceiling, not a Space Shuttle!