Cracks in the plaster on your walls in Walthamstow? Which cracks are normal, which need a closer look, and how wall cracks are repaired so they stay gone.
01Measure it | A hairline crack, thinner than a coin edge, is usually cosmetic. Wider than about 5mm is worth having checked. |
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02Which way does it run? | Straight vertical or horizontal hairlines are typical plaster movement. Diagonal cracks from the corners of doors and windows deserve a closer look. |
03Is it growing? | Pencil a mark at each end with the date. If it passes the marks over a few weeks, get it checked before it is repaired. |
04Doors and windows sticking? | If doors or windows near the crack have started sticking, mention it. That can be a sign of structural movement. |
05Send us photos | A photo with a coin or tape measure against the crack shows its size and helps us advise you straight away. |
Cracks in wall plaster are one of the most common things people worry about, and the good news is that most of them are nothing serious. Fine cracks appear as a house dries out, as the seasons change, and around doors and windows where walls flex slightly. New plaster also shrinks as it dries, so hairline cracks in a recently plastered or newly built room are normal.
In Walthamstow, Highams Park and Chingford, with so many older terraces and semis, we often see cracks above door frames, along the line where an old wall meets an extension, and around chimney breasts. Most are movement in the plaster, not the building, and are fixed by raking out, reinforcing where needed, and making good.
Be honest with yourself about the bigger signs, though. A crack wider than about 5mm, a diagonal crack running from the corner of a window or door, cracks that are clearly getting wider, or doors and windows that have suddenly started sticking can point to movement in the structure. Those need a surveyor or structural engineer to look first. Plastering over structural movement only hides it until it cracks again.
Fine hairline cracks are very common and usually cosmetic, especially in older homes and newly plastered rooms. Wide, diagonal or growing cracks are the ones to check.
Because the wall is still moving slightly at that point. A lasting repair rakes the crack out, reinforces it with scrim tape where needed and skims over it.
If a crack is wider than about 5mm, runs diagonally from a window or door corner, is growing, or doors have started sticking. Get the structure checked first, then the plaster.
Often the repair is small, but it will need painting over. We will tell you honestly how far the repair needs to go.
Send a photo or a quick video of the room on WhatsApp. Or ask for a free fixed quote with no obligation. We will tell you straight what it needs.
