Plaster Coving Problem (New Build House)

by **rigomortis** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:10 pm

Hi all, I'm a newbie to this site and hoped I can get an answer to a problem. My new house is 2yrs old and I'm finding that the plaster coving is seperating from the ceiling and walls in various rooms, especially the bathrooms. I have repaired them with decorators caulk and redocorated but after a few months the problem reoccurs. I suspect that insufficient adhesive was used initially. I have fitted coving in my last house with no problems (it was 30yrs old at this point) I realise that the house settles over a period but this is getting beyond a joke. The builder is no help and offers no advice. Help is much appreciated.

by **swidders** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:10 pm

short of taking it all down and starting again, you could try using some drywall screws to screw the edges up (guessing 50 to 65mm will be long enough) - will take time since you need to screw through into the joists on the ceiling above (an electronic joist finder may help). the screw need to be 10mm or so in from the edge of the coving and should be tightened enough so they dont rip the paper surface but are just deep enough to be hidden by a thin layer of filler.

by **kbrownie** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:41 pm

sounds like you've had the cowboys in and they have not applied the board adhesive corectly. I agree with Swidders, its a pull down or screw fix.

KB

by **rigomortis** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:53 pm

Thanks for your replies. I have already just started trying the old screw fix in my bedroom, so fingers crossed. The thing about the house is that the rest of the workmanship is to a good standard i.e. properly carpented wooden architraves and skirtings etc, not horrible MDF. I suspect you're right about the cowboys fitting the coving.

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