Cracking to internal wall- any advice?

[Muley]

Could anyone help with some advice on this-

When stripping back old plaster to an upstairs internal partition wall to redo it we found a large crack. The wall is between the stairs and back bedroom in an end of terrace Victorian house. It's timber stud work framing with brick infill and supports roof timbers above. The cracking is where the wall meets the external wall and is probably caused by historical movement/settlement. The thing is, where the plaster has been stripped back the partition wall doesn't seem to be tied back to the external wall. We're reluctant to take more plaster off in case it weakens the wall. Anyone know if the cracking is a problem, and should the partition wall be tied back to the external?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[ed_pete]

Old houses eh ? Who'd have 'em.

I'm no expert but (a) I suspect it's been there a while and (b) the plaster is unlikely to be providing much strength to the wall in general. The company that seems to get a number of mentions on this forum that you might like to contact for advice (perhaps send them the pictures) is Goddens. http://goddenstructural.com/

[Jeremy]

I'm not an expect either. But I would have thought that if the cracked brickwork is not "stitched", then it will continue to move, and any new plaster will be bound to crack.

Drilling out the mortar and inserting steel reinforcing bars is not a huge job.

[KidKruger]

Was the crack visible through the plaster before you took the plaster off ?

If not (and plaster was quite old) then it may be a historic crack.

One thing I've surmised, these houses surely were thrown-up quick style.

[Lowlander]

(a)that doesn't look bad you should see our house!

(b) get someone in to verify,but I reckon you're looking at at not very much to secure it (looks like it's been there a while so if it's lasted this long they may say just leave it...)

© Plaster is weak, it won't be holding it together

(d) I've see worse just skimmed overly a competent plasterer and no further cracks appearing 20+ years later

(e) get a professional opinion!

[EDOldie]

KidKruger Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Was the crack visible through the plaster before

> you took the plaster off ?

> If not (and plaster was quite old) then it may be

> a historic crack.

> One thing I've surmised, these houses surely were

> thrown-up quick style.

Could be war damage and, yes, probably historic. Best to get a structural engineer in to look at it just in case it's anything more serious.

[Muley]

Thanks for all the responses. I've had a few PMs from experienced builders and from an eminent forum member who had the same problem and called in a structural engineer to check it out. So it turns out that plenty of Victorian houses were chucked up with internal partition walls not fixed back to external walls, and load bearing stud work walls with brickwork infill were not uncommon. It's the timber frame rather than the brickwork that provides the structural support.

In this case the advice is to fill the crack with mortar, possibly tie back the wall with brackets (but not absolutely necessary) and plaster over once the mortar has dried.

Thanks to all who took the time to share their experience and expertise. Seems to me this is the EDF at its finest.

[red devil]

I'd concur with what you've been told Muley. It's not uncommon to remove the brick infill panels and replace with rockwool and then plasterboard over and skim, especially if you want to run new cables/pipes in the wall...

[KidKruger]

Why not just PVA the timber / brick in-fill and have your own Tudor-esque 'feature' ?

Surely would be a talking point for all visitors.