What should I use to fill cracks in ply walls ?

[JDarvall]

My house is full of dodgy reno's. And I'm faced with having to try and pretty it up.

One wall is all ply. 8mm stuff. I'm hanging a new door in this wall, and the misses wants me to remove all these 'tacky' looking moulding strips that have been placed over the large gaps between the sheets.

She says she wants it to be just a flat white surface as you get with plaster work.

I can't justify spending the money on plaster, so I'm just going to leave the ply...

So, my question is ...

Whats best to do the job ?.....Can I use mesh and total joint compound here like you do with fibro, even though the walls are ply ? ......Or do I get some kind of builders bog, fill it, and sand back flush, and paint ?......or is there no real solution...no choice but to leave the cover strips ?

Like to hear of any ideas.......Ta. :)

[pawnhead]

There's no solution sorry. It's timber so it will keep expanding and contracting with the seasons. I did something similar at my house which has masonite walls. If you tape and set the joints, it will let go when the sheets move and you'll get a random crack at the feathered edge. The feathering will crack and fall off giving a disasterous look. What I did in the end was to set the joint without tape. I got a straight crack at the joint which I'd expected. I filled the joint with gappo and then painted. It cracked again but a little bit less. I filled again with gappo and touched up the paint. When the sheets expand again you get the gappo being pushed out slightly giving a small ridge. It's not unbearable, but it would look neater with a joint strip.
I wasn't very confident of it working in the first place and I'll eventually gyprock the walls when I have time. Plasterboard isn't really that expensive so if you don't want to be mucking around fixing cracks, then either plaster or replace the joint strips.

[floobyduster]

How about some plastic jointers - not the ideal solution, but they would not be as noticeable. Otherwise make the wooden strips a 'feature' -customise the size/profile/colour!

[snowyskiesau]

What pawnhead said...
I had the same problem with a masonite wall. The gaps had been taped and filled and the filling was cracked and falling out.
As I'm renting the house, gyprock replacement was not an option so I ended up putting timber strips over the joints. After a coat of paint, looks OK.

[Gra]

No more gaps come on down.....

Though depending on the size of the gap, you may need to start with expaning foam, be prepared for lots of sanding.

Good luck

[JDarvall]

Thanks for all the ideas. Looks like a hard one.

Thinking I may cut many little strips of ply and nail into the gaps as best a fit as possible and use no more gaps over into what gap remains......maybe a couple layers of no more gaps.

But you can't sand no more gaps, eh ? ...drys rubber like yes ? .... or have I been buying the wrong kind ?

The no more gaps I use, you wipe flush with a wet rag before it drys.

Thinking it be good though if you could sand a version of it, since sanding leaves a flatter finish doesn't it........and no more gaps, I'm guessing, cause its rubbery like, can handle the ply moving about.....

Just be nice to make those gaps disappear altogether.

Uno how one uses a sanding block with sandpaper to get the best flat finish......has anyone ever used a block under a wet rag with no more gaps in a similar way........just thought of it now ? maybe it would help.

Thanks again.