My first house - cracks and more

[stevs]

Hi all,

Just renovating my first house, and as my family are not that into DIY just wanted to double check on here that I was going in the right direction before I start painting!

She's quite old (~200 years) and has a lot of cracks. I've attached pictures of one room which gives quite a good overview of what the rest of the house is like - hairline cracks in the middle of walls, cracks along bits that join, bits of missing paint, and then one big/ger crack.

Had surveys done and there is a bit of movement with it being on a hill and it being old, but nothing too serious (fingers crossed). So my current plan:

1) Bits that have already been (crudely) filled: sand paper down, knock any loose bits out and then use general polyfiller for any cracks that have formed again

2) hairline cracks: have a light filler to use, then sandpaper down

3) Cracks between window and wall, skirting board and wall etc use a different filler - or caulk? Wasn't sure if this was necessary...

4) Larger crack: remove any bits that are loose, use a more heavy duty filler, then sand over.

5) Bits of missing paint - skim over then paint.

Does that sound ok in general? I've bought general pollyfiller and then some of wilkos own too. I've heard as it's moving maybe I should use tourpret flexible? Orwill it be ok with the stuff I've bought?

I'm just prepping it first then painting it all with two coats of wilkos white emulsion - it doesn't need to be a work of art but wanted to check on here first that it all sounds ok.

Bigger crack under sill:



Cracks between window and wall:


Missing paint/plaster:


Cracks around door:


Cracks on ceiling:


Cracks between skirting and wall:


Roughly filled corner cracks:


Thanks in advance!

 

[opps]

1. Be careful when removing loose sections. If it is the old horse hair plaster that small hole may become massive. When faced with those kind of situations I squirt PVA in to glue the edges of the plaster to the brickwork/lathes.

2. Hairline cracks- If they are where sheets of plasterboard meet, sand flat first If required) brush some pva in, wait a few minutes and remove the excess/drips. Then fill- I often use Toupret RedLite or Red Devil One Time.

3. Caulk should be fine for minor cracks. If there is any bounce then a MS polymer would be better.

4. The big crack- is it visible on the outside of the house? If it is then you might want to "stitch" the brick work. You use helifix bars to help distribute the load. An angle grinder is used to create a horizontal channel for the bars in the pointing and then secured in place with resin. You can google "brick stitching" or just ask the forum for more advice. I confess that I am confused as to why the crack continues through the skirting. Is this a hockey stick bay window? If yes then that section of skirting may be plaster.

5. Bits of missing paint- Toupret RedLite with 100 grit paper should be fine.

 

[stevs]

Thanks for your reply!

Big crack - not visible externally, and (I should have mentioned) the skirting board seems to have been joined together there, rather than being cracked apart - if that makes sense. Although it does seem a bit of a coincidence that the skirting join is directly under the crack...

I'll try PVA brushed in, then polyfilla general over the top then - thanks!