Cracks in new home

blahblah06

Hi guys, moved into my house 2 months ago and have noticed some cracks on the wall and on the wooden door frames. told its been from the heat expanding etc. whats the best to fill these cracks. there only small but noticable. was thinking polybond for the walls but what about the wood? and the cracks in the corner how do i get into them ?? cheers guys

mad m

Id leave it for a bit longer before you fill anything,the house is still settling.When all is settled use a flathead screwdriver to open out the cracks a bit better on walls.You have to make it worse as to get the filler into it.For cracks in corners use your finger with polyfiller or get a tube of decorators caulk plus gun to apply it.

As for frames are they white or varnished? If white the only way is to polyfill them,apply polyfiller and use either a soft paint brush dipped in water to smooth off or use a small sponge.This will help in the sanding as filler wont be that rough.I wouldnt bother using poly bond unless its a huge crack,remember the filler will sink with the first application so let dry and sand down and then fill again.Get yourself a good 3 inch filling knife(Its flexible) and a 4 inch scraper or wide 6 inch blade(spatula) to hold filler while you apply it with filling knife,or get a light board to hold filler also.

Varnised frames you will have to live with,or I have seen a caulk that is coloured now to suit desired woods and finishes....

blahblah06

i appreciate the reply m8. the door frames are white. the idea on the screwdriver sounds nuts but it prob works. is polyfill different to polybond or am i been stupid

mad m

Yeah polybond is for sealing surfaces prior to plastering,filling,papering.Its used for a wide variety of things.With the likes of your cracks I dont think you would need polybond.

Polyfiller is filler you mix with water in a bowl or on a board to fill holes with.

starman100

Yeah, I have the same problem, house built a year ago and plenty of cracks in corners, etc.

Like the man says, best leave it until the cracks have stopped getting any bigger / longer, at which point the house should have stopped settling.

Not sure about having to open out the cracks any bigger though - if you apply the polyfiller with a spatula / putty knife in a fairly 'wet' state, then lightly sand afterwards, even thin cracks should be filled ok.

Make sure you use the powder-based polyfiller that you have to add water to - the ready-made stuff you can get in tubes tends to be much harder to sand afterwards I find.

Of course, you did remember to hang onto a bit of the paint used for the walls, etc. for touch-ups?

narommy

I would agree with opening them more. It can allow for a better finish in some cases.

For the real hairline cracks I used premixed fine( or maybe super fine) polly filler and rubbed it in with my finger

Used it on the timber and plaster

Wertz

On your doorframes/architrave issue...this is nothing to do with settling or heat expansion....it's down to sh*tty decorators.
What's wrong is they've caulked around the gaps in the frames prior to applying the finish coat BUT they haven't allowed the caulk to cure for 24-36 hours before overpainting. So what's happened is the finish coat is applied, drys over the wet caulk which subsequently drys much later on and splits the paintwork. I've had many arguments with fellow workers over this...there seems to be a consensus that you can paint over caulking straight away, which, especially for oil paints, is just not the case..

To fix these gaps, use the screwdriver method mentioned above, then get a tube of caulk and a mastic gun and fill the gaps, smooth over with a damp cloth to remove excess caulk. Allow to cure fully and paint over.

The wallls and corners I would leave for another while....plasterboard and timber is still "pulling" as the house settles and dries out.

mad m

Wertz wrote:

On your doorframes/architrave issue...this is nothing to do with settling or heat expansion....it's down to sh*tty decorators.
What's wrong is they've caulked around the gaps in the frames prior to applying the finish coat BUT they haven't allowed the caulk to cure for 24-36 hours before overpainting. So what's happened is the finish coat is applied, drys over the wet caulk which subsequently drys much later on and splits the paintwork. I've had many arguments with fellow workers over this...there seems to be a consensus that you can paint over caulking straight away, which, especially for oil paints, is just not the case..

To fix these gaps, use the screwdriver method mentioned above, then get a tube of caulk and a mastic gun and fill the gaps, smooth over with a damp cloth to remove excess caulk. Allow to cure fully and paint over.

The wallls and corners I would leave for another while....plasterboard and timber is still "pulling" as the house settles and dries out.

Thats wrong Wertz,it has everything to do with heat expansion.I have never filled any frames with caulk bar the sides of frames and tops of skirtings and have left it curing till next day and it still either pulls away from skirting or when frames move with heat.The reason I suppose the caulk cracks if painted over straight away is the caulk and gloss/undercoat dries at different rates.

Its all down to painting woodwork in a house which can be damp/cold plus woodwork does be left out in the elements on a site(Undercover of course in a container) and only gets heated when the people move in.

Wertz

I agree up till a point, especially about timber left in damp conditions....but I've seen what I'm talking about all too much on houses I've been sent to snag...this is a month after they've been finished, well before any settling or drying out cracks have appeared.
I find the drying-out cracks are really only a big problem in timber frames anyhow...solid houses with proper plastering, not that taped'n'floated sh1te, tend to fair much better and usually only suffer from settling cracks....most of 'em hairline around door/window lintels.