daniwilliams81
New Member
Hello.
I'm looking for some advice please on what to do about cracked Thermalite blocks which have caused the plaster to crack in several areas of my Mums house, upstairs and down.
There's no subsidence cracks on the external walls, just internal and no 'step' cracks, just mainly vertical.
They're not wider than 2mm, most no bigger than the width of card paper but there are a lot of them, i.e in every room where the brick walls are, which have caused unsightly cracks in the plaster. They've been there for quite a while which has allowed the heat, humidity etc. to enter the cavity during Winter and caused the brickwork to become visible over the plaster and paintwork.
After a bit of research, I've found this isn't so much of a problem, and after the Summer we've had so far I'd reckon any on moisture being dried out of the Thermalite pretty quickly, so once these cracks are sealed it should hopefully disappear with a fresh few coats of emulsion.
(The reason it was left like that was because my mum is now a widow and almost 70, having to run a 3-bed house by herself which is now too much. My dad battled cancer for a long time and after the costs of treatments etc whilst trying to run the house, it left them broke, so when he died a few years ago, she never had any money to fix up the problems in the house to sell it. So this is where i come in. She's having to work 14 hour shifts at a care home just to make ends meet and I'm not tolerating it anymore. She owns the house now and deserves to retire. )
My question therefore to anyone who could kindly help me, is what would be the best way to fill these Thermalite cracks so i can fill the plaster and paint without the cracks re-occurring? Would expanding foam be OK with a normal filler in the widened grooves I've made where the cracks were over the top or should i widen the grooves to a uniform vertical gap a few inches wide to expose the full crack, use bonding and then plaster over? Please bear in mind this is a cost effective job, not an unscrupulous bodge but just something that will be safe, sound and effective to never cause future buyers any problems.
I can take some photos if required.
Thanks in advance.
Dan
I'm looking for some advice please on what to do about cracked Thermalite blocks which have caused the plaster to crack in several areas of my Mums house, upstairs and down.
There's no subsidence cracks on the external walls, just internal and no 'step' cracks, just mainly vertical.
They're not wider than 2mm, most no bigger than the width of card paper but there are a lot of them, i.e in every room where the brick walls are, which have caused unsightly cracks in the plaster. They've been there for quite a while which has allowed the heat, humidity etc. to enter the cavity during Winter and caused the brickwork to become visible over the plaster and paintwork.
After a bit of research, I've found this isn't so much of a problem, and after the Summer we've had so far I'd reckon any on moisture being dried out of the Thermalite pretty quickly, so once these cracks are sealed it should hopefully disappear with a fresh few coats of emulsion.
(The reason it was left like that was because my mum is now a widow and almost 70, having to run a 3-bed house by herself which is now too much. My dad battled cancer for a long time and after the costs of treatments etc whilst trying to run the house, it left them broke, so when he died a few years ago, she never had any money to fix up the problems in the house to sell it. So this is where i come in. She's having to work 14 hour shifts at a care home just to make ends meet and I'm not tolerating it anymore. She owns the house now and deserves to retire. )
My question therefore to anyone who could kindly help me, is what would be the best way to fill these Thermalite cracks so i can fill the plaster and paint without the cracks re-occurring? Would expanding foam be OK with a normal filler in the widened grooves I've made where the cracks were over the top or should i widen the grooves to a uniform vertical gap a few inches wide to expose the full crack, use bonding and then plaster over? Please bear in mind this is a cost effective job, not an unscrupulous bodge but just something that will be safe, sound and effective to never cause future buyers any problems.
I can take some photos if required.
Thanks in advance.
Dan
