# Need Help! Textured wall cracking!



## itskv (Jun 12, 2010)

Hi all, 

I have some problems with some of the walls in my house. I've taken pictures of them to show you guys.

First is this corner, it is near the ceiling.










This is below the pictures above





This is how it looks:





That section of the wall seems to be lifting off. It looks like some paper material (brown) which can easily be torn of peeled off.

My question for this is, since it seems to spread across the corner (last picture) how can I repair this? And since it is textured, how can I match it up?

*since i can only post 4 images, it will be in the next post*

what is the best way to repair this type of wall?
I plan on repainting these rooms but I need to fix these before doing so. I've done some painting and plastering(very small stuff) before so if this job is DIY'able i'll certainly give it a try.


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## inspectorD (Jun 12, 2010)

That there is from water damage, you have a leak to fix first  if you already have not.
Then remove all the material that has been affected because there is most likely mold behind there, and if there is you will want to clean it all out.

Then use sheetrock to tie into the old material and scim coat with plaster where the two materials meet. You will have to cut back the damaged material to a stud to create a clean edge.

Good luck, and post more pics of the underneath when you get there.


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## itskv (Jun 12, 2010)

Here is another part of a wall with many cracks

Another wall has many crack lines that seem to be lifting/bubbling. I can push on the crack lines and there is movement..




Here is the same thing but it was a huge bubble leading to many broken pieces


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## plasterguy (Jul 19, 2010)

Yup, Inspector D is right - you have pretty extensive water damage.  After you have fixed the leak, then it's time to treat these walls.

As I look at your pictures, I think you may have old plaster.  In the one picture near the floor, some paper has peeled away.  It looks like you have painted wallpaper that has been pulled off.  Or, you have the drywall face paper coming off.  If your wall is plaster, that is going to be easier to correct (maybe) than if you have drywall.

Scape down and remove all bubbling, peeling material.  If the stuff underneath looks solid, then I would go ahead and apply a good quality stainblocker.  It might take an oil one to lock in all the heavy staining.  After that, you can deal with cracks and voids.  Of course, remove all loose painted wallpaper that may be there.

In one picture, the knockdown texture layer is coming loose.  Use a taping knife and peel off all loose stuff as far as it goes.  You will have to put on new texture to match what you removed.  This kind of texture is sprayed on.  If you are not confident you can do this, get a drywall contractor on the job and he should be able to do it.  But, he will have to work to feather the texture into the existing edges.

In places where the plaster? is bulging, you may have to remove it and replace with thin drywall - or it may just be the final veneer coat which is loose (all this depends on whether your plaster is backed with wood lath or plaster lath).  The thin veneer coat can be easily replaced with two or three layers of joint compound.

As bad as it looks, I have seen worse (but that doesn't help you much, does it?).  In any case, I wish you the best.


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