by Henrique

Created on: April 14, 2009

Cracks spotted on ceiling and wall plaster, in the interior of households prior to thinking about having the division in question painted. And if you are tempted to paint surfaces damaged by the existence of cracks, always bare in mind that these cracks will be seen again somewhere in the future!

So, the biggest difficulty to overcome is finding a way to quickly and effectively mend these cracks

What to do? Well, in these situations there are three main groups of wall cracks, about which we are going to wite about next.

THIN CRACKS

If you notice that the paster in your wall has small openings, no more that one to one and an hald inch wide, than its repair should be relatively easy to execute.

Start by cleaning the surface with warm water and neutral pH detergent, apllying these substances with the use of a sponge or a brush. Let the surface to dry.

Now , apply a repair patch - which you can buy at any common hardware store - to mend these cracks. Use a sandpaper your the repaired area and paint over it.

WIDE CRACKS

If the cracks ofn your wall are wider than the ones to which we have alluded to before, than you will have to excute a more elaborate repair.

In these cases, the first step is to open a little bit further the crack to facilitate the intervention, using a triangular scraper, or, in alternative - should you not have this tool - you can also use a screwdriver to execute this task.

After this, you may clean the existing plaster from dust in the same way as described for thin cracks. Apply repair patches as needed and sand the surface, first by using a coarser sandpaper, and then using a smoother one.

CHRONICLE CRACKS

If you notice that a crack on your wall tends to change pattern over time, simply applying repair patches will not fix your problems.

In this case, you will also need to reinforce these cracks with a net made of elastic cloth or, in alternative, to apply a new coat of plaster over the damaged surface.

As for the first solution, it is surely a way to permanently remove the problem, although it is not commonly used. You must glue the net over the damaged surface and let it dry, after which you may now apply repair patches in the same way as described above.

As for the second solution, it is advisable to hire the services of a qualified professional, because it is a relatively complicated task to do for the common "do it yourself" amateur.

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