Joints visible on Ceiling

slashslash

Hello Folks,
I'm buying a new house, and during my snag list, my snagger informed that joints are visible on the ceiling in most of the rooms. The builders told me that this is as good as they can get and they're not willing to work on it any further. I have went and taken a look they're not that bad but you can definitely see them under sun light. Is that something that I should accept? or should I insist on fixing those?

sydthebeat

probably didnt tape the joints... it will crack there eventually.

but these days its a sellers market and you get what you get unfortunately... hes already said hes not going to do anything to it.

D13exile

Agree, he didn't put skrim tape on the joints before plastering. Skrim tape costs buttons and allows the boards to flex slightly at the edges without cracking the surface plaster. These cracks will get more evident as the house dries out and you'll then try to fill them with polyfilla which just won't leave a nice finish.

You have two options,
1. Tell him to replaster the ceiling and this time to tape the joints as he should have first time round. He can dock the money for this work from his plasterer. You are entitled to a reasonable standard of finish and this is a snagging matter that must be attended to prior to final closing. Don't take any guff from the builder as presumably you've a contract signed and he can't just tell you to feck off. You're paying a lot of money for a house and you expect a good final product.

2. Accept this shoddy work and just don't look up at the ceiling!!

If the builder cut corners on this simple task, where else did he cut corners?

Mr Gumby

What no one has mentioned is more likely the joints were just taped and filled maybe not very well, common in the UK and America. When the filler dries it shrinks a bit and for a better job a second wider skim of filler/finish should be applied. If it is the case then when the sun is shining across the walls ceiling they may become visible. If there is no sign of cracking at the joints then most likely tape was used and apart from the visible joints the job is ok if a little unsightly. Difficult to remedy at this stage if painted. Important to check if tape was used, it may be visible in a few areas. If no tape used and fully plastered then cracks will be appearing constantly as the building settles.

Meningate

I've come across instances where the join between the boards wasn't on the joists which was only discovered when the joints cracked soon after.

Muahahaha

sorry to hijack but Im knocking a stud wall soon and need to replaster the section of the ceiling when it is at the moment. Where should the skrim tape be applied? Not doing the job myself but want to ensure I avoid cracking later on.