Repairing/supprting victorian cornice to prevent it falling

[andyhol]

Five years ago I had a ceiling replaced. The plasterer left the original Victorian cornice which he 'supported'. However over the last 2 years the cornice has developed some very noticeable cracks (which are slowly getting bigger) where the original cornice joins on to the new ceiling (on one side of the room). I am now worried that the original cornicing will soon fall away. Is there a way of supporting the original cornicing to the roof beams above to prevent this from happening? I was thinking of screws with large heads or washers which I could recess into the original cornicing and then plaster to cover. Would this work or is there a more suitable method?

Andy H

 

[dazdel]

Hi andyhol,
Are the cracks where the plaster board meets the coving, (ie) horizontal
?. Any chance of some pics ?.

 

[andyhol]

Hi dazdel. The cracks are where the plaster board meets the coving but some of the cracks have now spread across the coving. It's definitley not the paster board moving. When you press the coving you can see movement. Sorry i can't provide photos as my camera is broken.

Thanks

andyhol

 

[dazdel]

Depending on how involved you want to get, try the long screw method, but make sure you find the joist's, then patch up the hole's.
The trouble with this method is that if it's loose, there may be loose crap
above the cove, so when the screw tries to pull it up it doesn't sit properly
Try it and see if it works, the section may sit 2 or 5 mill below existing cove when the screw pulls it up, or you might get lucky and sits perfect.
Fill the cracks with cove adhesive, let dry and sand down.

 

[andyhol]

Thanks for your help dazdel. I shall be giving it a try in the very near future otherwise I shall be replacing a lot of detailed coving.

Again many thanks

andyhol