Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jun 25, 2013 11:37 am Hi All, I live in Melbourne South East and my house was build in 1986, two storey. Recently I noticed two hairline cracks appeared on the kitchen/meal area ceiling. Next to them, there are two seperate noticeable curves, each is approximately 40cm long, It looks that the ceiling is a bit sagging on the curves. When I push upward on the curve, the curve area is still solid, not spongy. I am a bit worried if there is issue with the ceiling structure, or just the joist/timber possibly comes off due to foundation movement, moisture or temperature etc. Is it better to have a structural engineer to inspect it or just let plastering contractor to repair it? Is every licensed plasterer able to fix such possible sagging issue? any suggestion would be much appreciated. Re: Ceiling issue 2Jun 26, 2013 4:04 pm I presume that the ceiling that you refer to is directly under the roof. If there is no other evidence of structural damage in the walls or around windows I would presume that the cause is that the plasterboard sheets are pulling away from the nails. If this is the case you should see some round indentations where the nails have pulled through. In this case apply some plasterboard screws adjacent to the existing nails which aren't holding. Then plaster the cracks, sand and paint. But clean the existing paintwork first. This is usually caused by water penetration through the roof sitting on your ceiling. So you will have to climb into the ceiling space to check if you have any leaks in the roof. You probably have insulation laying on your ceiling so this will have to be lifted where the sag is to see if the ceiling is wet. If it is wet you will have to trace the leak. Water tracks along the roof structure so look for wet timber directly under the roof and trace it to the beginning. This will be the leak point. While you are up there check if there is a more sinister problem with the roof structure. This is unlikely as your house probably has gang nailed timber roof trusses, but look for open joints. If you can't do this get a builder to check. Not an engineer unless you have major structural problems. Make sure the builder explains their diagnosis. If the problem is a ground floor ceiling you will have to take out a portion of the plasterboard to see what's going on. Again a builder is more suited to this task. thanks Chippy, i hope they have applied sealer but i am doubt to be honest, so i am gonna do this job after handover. 8 16269 2 5932 |