New Coving coming loose from wall/ceiling

[TheRowans]

18 months ago we had all our Artex ceilings skimmed and profiled plaster coving installed in our 1930s house. We finished it with a mist coat (50/50 emulsion/water) before painting with white emulsion.

Last week one of the coving strips came away from the wall/ceiling, and we've had to prop this up and secure with some Frogtape until the plasterer comes back to take a look at it this week. Today I have notices similar signs in other rooms, with paint lifting and cracks in joints and underneath the coving.

Hopefully this is simply a case of it not being stuck on well enough and I'd think a professional job should have lasted a but longer than 18 months. I am also worried that if several sides of the coving fails in other rooms it could come down taking some of the ceiling skim with it.

Is the company responsible for rectifying or could it be down to something else? Am trying to be prepared for what they may say. Pics below.

 

[opps]

Assuming that you didn't use a 50/50 mix prior to the coving being fitted, then I would pass the buck to the plasterer.

I do not want to malign the fellow but I suspect that the adhesive that he used sucked straight in the bare plaster. It would have been his job to seal the plaster first or to use a suitable adhesive.

If it were my place and I knew that the guy wasn't coming back, I would fire in some pins, top and bottom to mitigate the risk of them falling off, and then run a bed of caulk to cover the cracks.

If you have to use tape to hold bits up then something is very wrong.

 

[TheRowans]

Assuming that you didn't use a 50/50 mix prior to the coving being fitted, then I would pass the buck to the plasterer.

I do not want to malign the fellow but I suspect that the adhesive that he used sucked straight in the bare plaster. It would have been his job to seal the plaster first or to use a suitable adhesive.

If it were my place and I knew that the guy wasn't coming back, I would fire in some pins, top and bottom to mitigate the risk of them falling off, and then run a bed of caulk to cover the cracks.

If you have to use tape to hold bits up then something is very wrong.

Thanks for this. We didn't paint until after everything was fitted and even then we let it settle and dry properly before painting with 50/50 (as was plasterer's advise). It's doubly upsetting as we haven't long finished decorating the last room and the prospect of having all that mess again isn't much fun. Would you expect the plasterer to arrange a decorator to make good the wall and ceiling damage or are we on our own there?

 

[ted456]

You only skimmed the Artex - definitely no plasterboarding over?
The coving looks as though its under some kind of pressure - any large lintels or previous knock thro's around the rooms?
Was the correct coving adhesive used?
To the right of the green tape there's crack and surface ripple signs - when did they first show? Anymore similar surface disturbances around the rooms?
Any recent creaking in the first floor?

 

[ted456]

ask the mods to transfer this thread to plastering?

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

that’s a shocker tbh.
the plastering isn’t good to start with .
the ‘rippling’ effect is indicative of one coat skimming over artex, and the internal mitres are very amateurish.
as mentioned above , there’s very few occasions where skimming over artexed ceilings is preferable to overboarding and skimming.
the possible reasons for the coving coming away is the wrong adhesive or a dusty/over trowelled plaster finish.

 

[opps]

before painting with 50/50 (as was plasterer's advise

Ok, whilst I recommend following the paint manufacturer's advice rather than a plasterer's, you seem to be saying that he fitted the coving before you applied any paint, in which case you are not at fault, meaning the buck stops with him.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

That happening in one small part is bad luck, but that suggests incompetence or the wrong adhesive, or the sub surface (skim) wasn't fully attached. I'm not sure about the mitre, it looks poor in the photo, but a better photo would help me to be sure. I put my coving up 30 years ago, a better finish and it has stayed put entirely.

 

[TheRowans]

Thank you to all who have offered advice. In answer to some questions:
-Painting was done weeks after the skimming of ceilings and fitting of coving
-Artex was skimmed,no overboarding
-The ripple noted to the right of the green tape was a variant in the woodwork above, so had always been there.