1970s house. Artexed ceilings. Hairline cracks have developed on the
ceilings, where the plasterboard panels meet.

Polyfilla and others sell "No More Cracks" filler or similar for this
problem.

Question: Would it be OK to use tile grout to fill the cracks? AFAIK
grout is basically a thin cement mixture with some flexibility.

Or should I just leave the cracks -- they'll open up again if I fill
'em!

Bruce

wrote:
Or should I just leave the cracks -- they'll open up again if I fill
'em!

Squirt in some 3:1 PVA, don't rake out the cracks first. Use a squeezy
botle with a short length (2") of 15mm pipe lagging tied tightly around
the bottle top. Cut off the foam lagging at 90 degrees with a sharp
knife. Press the cut off end against the crack, squeeze until PVA has
gone in, stop when drips appear at each side of lagging where it presses
against the crack/ceiling. Repeat, following the crack along. Sponge off
x/s with a damp sponge. Wear a hat or something. Protect floor and
furnishings. Allow to dry, repeat optional, fill with polyfiller.

On 15 Mar 2005 05:32:06 -0800, wrote:

1970s house. Artexed ceilings. Hairline cracks have developed on the
ceilings, where the plasterboard panels meet.

Polyfilla and others sell "No More Cracks" filler or similar for this
problem.

Question: Would it be OK to use tile grout to fill the cracks? AFAIK
grout is basically a thin cement mixture with some flexibility.

Or should I just leave the cracks -- they'll open up again if I fill
'em!

Bath sealant should do the trick I would have thought.

sPoNiX

Chris Bacon wrote:

Squirt in some 3:1 PVA, don't rake out the cracks first. Use a squeezy
botle with a short length (2") of 15mm pipe lagging tied tightly around
the bottle top. Cut off the foam lagging at 90 degrees with a sharp
knife. Press the cut off end against the crack, squeeze until PVA has
gone in, stop when drips appear at each side of lagging where it presses
against the crack/ceiling. Repeat, following the crack along. Sponge off
x/s with a damp sponge. Wear a hat or something. Protect floor and
furnishings. Allow to dry, repeat optional, fill with polyfiller.


Or just fill with some flexible decorator's filler...


--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:
Squirt in some 3:1 PVA, don't rake out the cracks first.

Or just fill with some flexible decorator's filler...

Ahbut, sticking it together does a far better job, if the crack is
"fine", say 1/2 mm, caulk won't take up the movement. The PVA treatment
is also excellent for plaster & lathe ceilings, as it glues up any sandy
stuff which would otherwise fall from above, bulging any paper and
displacing filler... try it!

s--p--o--n--i--x wrote:

Bath sealant should do the trick I would have thought.

No, it won't. It will be very visible (shiny), and is not overpaintable.


--
Grunff

Chris Bacon wrote:

Ahbut, sticking it together does a far better job, if the crack is
"fine", say 1/2 mm, caulk won't take up the movement. The PVA treatment
is also excellent for plaster & lathe ceilings, as it glues up any sandy
stuff which would otherwise fall from above, bulging any paper and
displacing filler... try it!


While I'm a *big* fan of PVA, I've used flexible filler on all the fine
cracks we had in our plaster, with very good results. Much quicker and
easier IMHO.


--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:
While I'm a *big* fan of PVA, I've used flexible filler on all the fine
cracks we had in our plaster, with very good results. Much quicker and
easier IMHO.

I'd just waft a filling knife, float, or whatever over, with some
ordinary filler, over plaster - however, the OP said "Hairline cracks
have developed on the ceilings, where the plasterboard panels meet.".
The benefit of squirting in PVA is that it sticks the lot together,
not just the edges of the PB - it glues PB to joist, too, which
re-inforces the joint considerably. I've used it doing odd jobs in
lets, and on P&L ceilings - it really is much better than just filling
the cracks, which otherwise just open up again in big oblong patterns
in no time.

A problem with flexible filler is that it can "shine through" a couple
of coats of emulsion. You can't really sand the stuff to feather it,
either. However, I use quite a bit of it - the Ceramide stuff is good.

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:28:23 +0000, Grunff wrote:

s--p--o--n--i--x wrote:

Bath sealant should do the trick I would have thought.

No, it won't. It will be very visible (shiny), and is not overpaintable.

The non-silicone stuff should be overpaintable.

I'd just waft a filling knife, float, or whatever over, with some
ordinary filler, over plaster - however, the OP said "Hairline cracks
have developed on the ceilings, where the plasterboard panels meet.".
The benefit of squirting in PVA is that it sticks the lot together,
not just the edges of the PB - it glues PB to joist, too, which
re-inforces the joint considerably. I've used it doing odd jobs in
lets, and on P&L ceilings - it really is much better than just
filling
the cracks, which otherwise just open up again in big oblong patterns
in no time.

A problem with flexible filler is that it can "shine through" a
couple
of coats of emulsion. You can't really sand the stuff to feather it,
either. However, I use quite a bit of it - the Ceramide stuff is
good.

How about if I used some artex patch filler?

http://www.artex-rawlplug.co.uk/artex-360

It would match the existing ceiling artex OK. But would the crack just
open up again in time?

Bruce

"s--p--o--n--i--x" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:28:23 +0000, Grunff wrote:

s--p--o--n--i--x wrote:

Bath sealant should do the trick I would have thought.

No, it won't. It will be very visible (shiny), and is not overpaintable.

The non-silicone stuff should be overpaintable.

As to the original question, IME grout is very inflexible.