Plaster walls on either side of a much used fireplace keep cracking in the same places. I use latex caulk with silicone and repaint and they recur. Any suggestions on a better caulk material. My guess is contraction and expansion. Can I do anything other than sheetrock these sidewalls?
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Are you talking hairline cracks or bigger? Assuming you've isolated the cause?
Caulking ain't going to cut it either way. If it's hairlines you could try a product called Goodbye Cracks.
For bigger ones, tape and durabond. I prefer the real Durabond, but beginners find the Easy Sand easier to use. :)
Another option would be Nu Wall.
http://www.spec-chem.com/nuwal/index.htm
Good Luck
Edited 9/17/2002 1:57:14 PM ET by Barry E
I picked up some Good-bye Cracks just yesterday. The instructions state to first "repair cracks in traditional manner," then spray on the stuff. Are you suggesting, Barry, that you skip the first step? I also picked up a DAP product called ElastoPatch, which sounds like it has a similar effect (i.e. providing some flexibility, thus reducing chances of cracks reappearing) except that this stuff is applied with a putty knife, filling the cracks as you go.
I've repaired a lot of plaster in old houses, typically scraping out the cracks to form a V, removing any loose plaster, then filling with Durabond. This has been effective, but it takes a lot of time. So I'm going to try this ElastoPatch to see if I can get the same results with less effort. Anyone care to tell me not to?
jeff
Jeff
No, I fill the cracks first like the can says. I only have used the Good-bye Cracks for small cracks. Have never tried the ElastoPatch.
For the bigger cracks, I do the same as you. Vee them out, paper tape and durabond (not easy sand) No shortcuts here, unfortunately.
I'm not going to tell you not to try the ElastoPatch, after all it's your walls. <g> Tell us how it worked out.
"Technology is the drug of choice for most Americans."
Won't you be my neighbor
It sounds like the fireplace is settling faster than the rest of the house. It puts far more pounds per square foot on the ground under it. How old is the house? If it's under about 5 years, you may be able to wait for the settling to stop. If it's over 10 years and still moving this much, you may have bigger trouble ahead. You may need a remodeling contractor who has experience with this kind of differential settling, somebody local who knows the kind of soil conditions you have.
Re-caulking is going to be a waste of time either way. What you need to do is re-rock that wall, and do whatever re-framing you need to do to get the fireplace independent of the wall. Then put some trim around it that will let it move and hide the gap. Also check the flashing between the fireplace and the exterior siding, the movement may create leaks.
-- J.S.
It occurred to me that you might be talking about the joint between the fireplace and the plaster. As the fireplace IS independant of the rest of the house there is sometimes a large void between the masonry and the plaster. If this is the case then you need to put a backing rod into the crack first as most caulks are only rated to work to an eigth inch or so. Also, a recurring crack doesn't necessarily mean uneven settling as I learned on my own home. In my case the masonry was stable but the house moved back and forth on a three year cycle regularly sticking and unsticking doors. This leaning from side to side was not the result of settling, I'm convinced,(more like the house was breathing) and a caulk with backing was all I could do. Otherwise you might consider adding a molding to cover the crack.(Foam it to stop air leakage first.)
Patrick------
> but the house moved back and forth on a three year cycle regularly sticking and unsticking doors.
Interesting --- Was this on expansive soil? Were the cycles related to wet or dry winters? How many of those three year cycles did you own the house for?
In my own case, it looks like there may have been a few scattered trees on the land before it was subdivided, and they may have built my concrete porch over a tree stump. At least it seems possible from an aerial photo taken in 1919, 7 years before the building was built. But it's hard to tell because our street wasn't there yet in 1919. Any organic matter compresses as it decomposes, and anything built over it will sink.
-- J.S.
The reason I don't believe the movement was due to settling is partly because of theway the foundations were dug. In 1913 Seattle my house was built on top of one of the several hills(moisture was never a problem up there. The hills drained well.) Many of the houses with full basements were excavated about 60% into the ground pretty much going through all organic matter. The ground was dry, hardpan type soil that made one or two inches of fine powder on top and below that you couldn't get a shovel into it. What always puzzled me is that one downspout had been disconnected for decades and a torrent regularly dropped to the ground a few inches from the foundation. But there was never water inside the basement and the walls only flaked some of the paint off. As hard as the ground was, it seemed to drain. But my electrician brother could not drive the two new ground rods to full code depth when we switched to a new service drop. He normally had no trouble doing so. (He cut them off short. Don't tell anyone.)
I was in the house for ten years going through about three of the cycles. Things really weren't as bad as it may sound...door openings WERE settled already and I didn't bother to trim the doors to match because ultimately I planned to (and finally did) reset the jambs to level when I redid each room. So the doors went from free-swinging to slight- push- to- close...not a lot of movement. It mostly made me feel like my home was alive and in possession of a slightly sloppy but affectionate personality.
1913 was before there were codes in most places. LA didn't get serious about it until 1927. A lot of houses prior to that had really skimpy foundations. The city of Seattle has an article about that on their web site.
A friend of mine just bought one of the oldest houses in Long Beach, a 2 story from 1901, complete with an historic building brass plaque. The big problem is that the foundation is brick, not wide enough, and the mortar is crumbling. It lasted 101 years by the skin of its teeth, but it won't be stable until he gets that foundation fixed.
-- J.S.
Hmmm, another thought. If the cracks are the result of normal wall movement (from wind, temperature changes, etc.) I had some luck with scraping out the cracks and covering the cracks with drywall paper tape before skim coating with new plaster (I skimcoated the entire wall but you could try feathering the patch over a small area.) No cracks showed up for three years, but I sold the house and I don't know if the repair has held up for the long haul.
Patrick-----
How is the humidity level in the house while the fireplace is in use? It might sound silly but fire takes a lot of moisture out of the air and all materials around it.(a good example is, you cannot place a piano anywhere near a fireplace, woodstove etc. it will warp due to dehumidifying.)Buy a cheap thermometer with a humidifier gauge and check. Or does the crack appear during the winter months? Or viceversa?
The house was built on sand in 1972. The crack was radiating out from either side of the fireplace when we bought the house three years ago. Its about 1/8" wide and on one side travels 6' to the adjoining wall. On the other side it goes just a couple of feet from the side of the 'canopy'to the ceiling. The crack on both sides is a couple of feet from the ceiling. I dug it out and spackled it once but it came right back. It hasnt gotten any bigger with time though. I guess thats good. Im going to dig it out and mud it over with some tape and feather it out which is what I should have done in the first place. Ill also check out the humidity factor. The house sits 50' from a riverbank. Thanks.