Soft plaster ceilling

I live in a new build block completed 10 months ago. Recently I've noticed the plaster ceilling has buldges, long hair line cracks, sign of shrinkage (can see the suspended ceilling metal beams coming through, and most of all several areas in the ceilling are soft to touch, ie I can dent the plaster with my finger. There is no water leakage to be seen. Any ideas as to the possible causes and best way of remedial works please?

Asked by Simon on 26th Apr 2021
Expert Trade Answers
"Hi there sounds like there's movement in the ceiling area or they didn't tape the joints of the boards. As for the bulges that's a bit of mystery if it has blown one of the boards then it needs addressing then either re-skimming over making sure it is prepped well and taped over"
Answered on 26th Apr 2021 - Member since Mar 2020 - report
"Between the the concrete sofit and the suspended MF ceiling should be a minimum 100mm cavity. If you have ducting/ air conditioning that is not connected air tight it could be releasing water vapours and this might be causing condensation to form on the metal primary channels..
Best result would be to cut a section of the ceiling out and do further inspection."
Answered on 3rd May 2021 - Member since Feb 2021 - report
"With it being a new build, are you sure it is a plastered ceiling?
Many new builds are tape and jointed these days. Poor standard of work can result in problems you describe.
Without inspecting it, or knowing whether it is plastered or jointed it it hard to say.
A plastered ceiling would not be soft to the touch.
Hairline cracks, I presume that are located along the edges of the plasterboard can be caused by many factors such as Poor fixing of either the suspended ceiling or plasterboard leading to movement. They can be caused by heating the property to much and too fast soon after completion causing shrinkage to name just a few.
Visibly seeing the metal suspension system is just poor workmanship!
There may of been a hundred of things that happened with the ceiling before you bought it. There could of been alterations, plumbing leaks. Faulty electricics to name a few that would need to be fixed before handing the property over to their selling team. All but most developers would access these areas through the ceiling and rely on making good theses repairs. Their thinking is that it is quicker and cheaper than to replace the whole thing. Poor repairs can lead to things that you describe such as cracking and bulging areas. I would hazard a guess that the bulging areas are bad repairs. Instead of cutting out the area and replacing the plasterboard they have tried to scrim an area too big.
Again there are could be hundreds of reasons for the issues you have. They all come down to bad workmanship and bad management.
Remedy???......if it’s that bad, get on to the developer to have it put right. Being a new build it should still be under warranty and they have a duty to rectify it.
If they fail to help, contact your solicitor and threaten legal action."
Answered on 26th Apr 2021 - Member since Jul 2018 - report
"The best idea is to use the Polyfilla to cover or those cracks or patches and let them down to dry for a while. After that, u need to sand down those areas properly and go to paint"
Answered on 17th May 2021 - Member since Nov 2020 - report
"It sounds like you have some sort of movement or damp or a leak. It sounds like it all needs to come down and fixing, whatever the problem is then replastering the ceiling."
Answered on 28th Jul 2021 - Member since Apr 2020 - report
"Suspended ceiling should not have metal showing. I would remove if permissable the scrim tape hairline cracks. 2 coats pva and replaster"
Answered on 29th Jun 2021 - Member since Oct 2019 - report
"Sounds like it’s been water damaged in the past for sure. I would pull the old ceiling down. Check the leak has been fixed, and finally re-board and skim."
Answered on 13th May 2022 - Member since Apr 2022 - report
"It sounds old and has possible had some damp problems on the past ...a new plasterboard ceiling and re-skim is needed"
Answered on 27th Jul 2022 - Member since Jun 2022 - report
"Plasterboard probably too thin remedy overboard with fire line and re-skim"
Answered on 14th Jul 2021 - Member since Jan 2016 - report
Find Tradespeople, compare up to 3 quotes!
It's FREE and there are no obligations
Ask a Trade
Got a question that only a tradesperson can answer? We have thousands of trades ready to answer any question you may have.
Ask your question
Ask a Trade

Are you looking for advice on a DIY project or have a question for our tradespeople?

We'll email your question to tradespeople who are skilled in your chosen category.

Your question will be made public - please do not include any personal details.

{{ first(ask.errors)[0] }}

By continuing you agree to the Community Guidelines.

Report Content

{{ first(reportForm.errors) }}

Thank you

Your report has been created and will be investigated shortly.

Ready to get a price for your home improvement project?
Get started

Over 1 million homeowners and over 50,000 tradespeople
use MyJobQuote nationwide each year