Advice on filling ceiling cracks + holes

[Wayners]

Wickes has gyproc fibatape perfect finish.
Johnstone paints also stocks it.
Selco also stock it

Gyproc FibaTape Perfect Finish 90m

Buy Gyproc FibaTape Perfect Finish 90m at trade exclusive prices. Shop online with Click & Collect and next day delivery available.

www.selcobw.com

I liked the fibre fuse which is like fibreglass. It's cheap if you can find it local at around £3.50 a roll

 

[Vadevious]

Thank you!

Sorry to be repeating myself again but how's the filler I linked? lol

Also you mentioned I should use gardz on the scraped areas before tape & filling? Is that necessary?

 

[Wayners]

Use powder Vs ready mixed.
You can mix to your own preferred consistency. Faster drying. Can be applied thicker. Can get another coat of filler on in under an hour when setting. And many more reasons.
The fine ready mixed I used for small dings in skirting and other minor imperfections or if you just need a little filling on a small DIY job.

 

[Vadevious]

Use powder Vs ready mixed.
You can mix to your own preferred consistency. Faster drying. Can be applied thicker. Can get another coat of filler on in under an hour when setting. And many more reasons.
The fine ready mixed I used for small dings in skirting and other minor imperfections or if you just need a little filling on a small DIY job.

Any specific powder you'd recommend? Kinds disappointed I can't use the ready mixed lol.

Also, the question about Gardz please

 

[Wayners]

Gardz is waterbased and will seal dry surfaces really well. Can seal too well for some causing fillers to slip and slide too much. Sometimes a bit of surface suction helps..

Re filler. Toupret powder. Standard or fast dry. You won't be in a rush so standard will be fine

 

[Vadevious]

Can seal too well for some causing fillers to slip and slide too much.

I'm confused - so should I be using it or not haha

Cheers for clarifying the rest

 

[Wayners]

Yes. Use. Just giving information on it

 

[Vadevious]

Yes. Use. Just giving information on it

Okay so just to clarify the plan:

Scrape 2mm deep, 25mm wide gaps across all the cracks in the ceiling.

Apply Gardz to the inside of the gaps.

Cut 48mm FibaTape from Wickes down the middle, into 24mm strips. How difficult will that be, with it being sticky?

Apply tape to the gaps

Fill

Sand

Am I correct?

 

[Wayners]

Few ways to cut but scissors is easy. It's not that sticky. I cut 2m approx strips at a time.

 

[Vadevious]

Few ways to cut but scissors is easy. It's not that sticky. I cut 2m approx strips at a time.

I was actually thinking about using a stanley knife to cut the whole roll down the middle instead, think that will work out?

 

[Vadevious]

Okay so I've done the scraping but it appears in some areas I'm hitting old fibers from the tape (?) or whatever was inside the plasterboard or something. It's quite messy - will I be able to get away with sealing that in with Gardz before I apply the joint tape?

Also - should I still scrape out the actual cracks to make them wider, even though I'll be putting tape over them?

 

[Wayners]

You can scrape joints wider to fill as this will help stop the air pressure blowing through crack effecting tape.
Plasterboard should have a 3mm gap to allow plaster to fill fixing sheets together although often that's not the case.
I'd apply gardz to make it easier for you.
Fill over that string mesh and after 40 mins (approx) when it's settling add your mesh and fresh mixed filler over.
When that second mix is setting after 40mins mix more and over again.
Help the processes of filling by using a damp sponge. Helps around edges of wet filler to clean and blend in the edges. Can also use sponge to push filler in when filling knife can't reach in deep fills.
Would be worth getting a cheap diy orbital sander bodged on vaccum cleaner with tape or whatever fixing you can make ( see YouTube) with 120 grade sanding discs over the dry filler and that entire ceiling..

 

[Vadevious]

Thanks for the advice. So far so good:

 

[Wayners]

Looks good. I'm impressed as it takes effort, and although it's easy enough to do I worry some may struggle when I explain how I do it.

 

[Vadevious]

Looks good. I'm impressed as it takes effort, and although it's easy enough to do I worry some may struggle when I explain how I do it.

The explanations were great I'm filling it right now. As for the fibres - the Gardz helped hold them down so the tape went right over them no issue.

P.S - the wet sponge tip was a godsend lol