What causes hair-line cracks in a plaster ceiling??
WOW!! I was just thinking about this and looked up cracks in plaster & there was your question. My house was built in 1948, and I live in Minneapolis, so extreme temperatures are common. Also, there was no proper insulation when it was built, so there is newspaper in the walls – yikes! I found out when I had my bathroom retiled, and sheetrock replaced w/Durock (sp?), which is waterproof. I sometimes stare at the rectangular cracks in the ceiling and worry, but I know it is common and can be repaired. The only other, expensive option is to get the walls and ceiling redone and proper insulation put in. It doen’t make sense to do this in an old house. This whole neighborhood is b/t 50 – 100 years old and the property values increased dramatically in the last three years since we moved here. People are buying these houses like crazy and I know the house is structurally sound b/c I had a great inspector before we bought it. Don’t worry about it. Just do the repairs if you want to paint. I t
