ᐅ Plastering vs. Fiberglass Mesh Wallpaper to Prevent Cracks in Walls

Hello everyone,

We recently had a house built. It’s a system house with concrete-poured polystyrene elements, precast concrete ceilings, and partly drywall walls. The load-bearing walls have already been plastered to level Q2.

Now the construction manager, tradespeople, and a private consultant are disagreeing about which is better:

Drywall and precast ceiling with mesh tape, then skim coat with fine plaster and paint over it, or skim coat, mesh tape, sanding, fiberglass wallpaper, and then paint.

For the load-bearing walls made of concrete and elements, the recommendations are the same. Some suggest fine plaster, others recommend fiberglass wallpaper.

The only agreement is that acrylic sealant must be applied in the corners...

Fine plaster would be about 2,500€ cheaper, but the painters warn that it might crack. Only the fiberglass wallpaper would prevent this. The construction manager and consultant say that due to the building method, the house is not prone to cracks, and in any case, the wallpaper wouldn’t help.

What do you think?

I’m really undecided and don’t know whose advice to trust.

Thank you very much.

Then you’ll just have one or two cracks – in five years you can repair them all and it will be fine. Just don’t use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. If the house isn’t prone to cracking, then acrylic corner tape should be sufficient, right?

Thank you for your response. According to the painter, not just one or two cracks would appear, but almost along all the joints... That, of course, makes me uncertain.

We are also uncertain about the wall and ceiling finishes for drywall (plasterboard) walls and ceilings in a timber frame house. We plan to do the work ourselves. The options are either fine roller plaster or fiberglass fleece with painting. The walls will be finished by the builder to a level 2 quality standard.

• What would you recommend, fleece or roller plaster?
• Which option is more expensive?
• Can I apply roller plaster or wallpaper directly after a level 2 finish?
• Is acrylic in the corners absolutely necessary in my case?
• What does the mentioned mesh tape finishing mean?

Good question, I’d like to join in on that. We don’t want to use wallpaper. However, our house is currently being plastered to a Q2 finish. I’m looking forward to some expert insights here!