ᐅ Wallpaper or plaster? Which is better for a new build?

I’m a bit confused about how often the terms "settling" and "cracks" come up. May I ask—perhaps I missed it—what type of foundation your house has? Is it a slab foundation, deep foundation, pile foundation, or anchoring system? What does the soil report say about potential settling?

For us, the soil report provided clear information on whether, when during the construction process, and to what extent settling might occur. So far, we haven’t observed any “settlement cracks,” and therefore haven’t looked into the matter in more detail.

It’s likely that sand-lime bricks are more susceptible to this than, for example, a hollow brick? I would have skipped this comment if you were renovating an older building, but since you have a new build, I’m quite curious. Is everything within acceptable limits regarding the structural engineering of your house?

We are building with a developer who is constructing a large new housing development.

Yes, the structural engineering is all fine.

I don’t have any further information.

I have always heard that cracks can appear in the first few years (which usually happens).

That’s why we are looking for something that will hopefully keep such cracks (if they occur) invisible, or at most only a few visible ones that will eventually need to be repaired.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

Is it worth the effort to embed the reinforcing mesh? And if so, where exactly? Even if we were to put painter's fleece over the mesh afterwards?

If you are applying filler, yes—mainly at the junctions between ceiling and wall, or between different building materials (drywall and masonry).

Gooosee159 schrieb:

If you only plaster the walls, meaning applying Q3/Q4 level finishing, the wall might look like Swiss cheese after a short time, right?

That’s an exaggeration. It’s more likely that cracks will appear and extend lengthwise. Joints between ceiling and wall, as well as seams in drywall panels, are common weak points. Some say these cracks are unavoidable, which is why they install baseboards and acrylic ceiling joints only after about a year.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

Due to the drying and settling process of a new house, cracks will develop. Where will these cracks most likely form? Will there be many small cracks or fewer, larger ones? Will the cracks mostly appear in the corners or in the middle of the walls?

In my house, there are no cracks yet (finished painting about eight months ago). In my condominium, cracks appeared after two to three years wherever drywall was installed. Mostly in the corners, also where drywall meets the ceiling, and in one place running vertically along a drywall panel from top to bottom. The floor has settled by at least 5mm (about 0.2 inches) in all areas, which is clearly visible where the baseboards are glued.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

Roll-on plaster doesn’t prevent cracks either, right? And once applied, roll-on plaster is difficult to remove, isn’t it?

As far as I know, yes—it does not protect against cracks and yes, it is difficult to remove completely.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

What are your experiences?

I have experience with lime dispersion and silicate dispersion paints applied directly onto gypsum plaster and drywall, as well as dispersion and latex paints on gypsum plaster and drywall. Lastly, lime dispersion and silicate dispersion on painter’s fleece (smooth fleece). From the perspective of application and appearance, I would not recommend lime paint—it is heavy, difficult to work with, and highlights unevenness. Silicate dispersion was the easiest to apply on all surfaces, especially on painter’s fleece.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

This is my first build, and I need help making the right choices.

Don’t stress. If in doubt, test in the first room where it matters least (e.g., utility room). Try different options on each wall.

Settling during construction is basically unavoidable. It varies significantly depending on the soil type.

Sand: initially settles more noticeably, then not much happens afterward, except in cases of groundwater lowering.
Clay: experiences slow, delayed settling over the first few years, then only changes due to variations in soil moisture content.
Rock: almost no settling occurs.

A geotechnical report usually recommends a foundation that reduces settling to an acceptable level. The geotechnical engineer also identifies if there are differences in the soil across the building site. Ideally, the house should settle uniformly because only differential settlement eventually causes damage to the building.
So, if settlement-related damage occurs, something was either overlooked or one of the trades worked poorly.

Ok, we will then try to integrate the mesh to reduce the cracks.

We have enough filler/mortar.

We are not under extreme time pressure, so we can take our time with the filling work.

How can textured plaster be removed? Would you have to sand down the entire wall? (Probably not that easy.)

Non-woven wallpapers can be easily removed completely.

@Cronos86 thanks for the info, the floor in our place has a high clay content.

Currently, we are leaning more towards non-woven wallpaper.

Or does anyone have good reasons why we should choose a type of plaster instead?

What would you recommend more — a completely smooth surface or a light to medium texture?

@Tolentino thanks for the information, but we are already driving ourselves crazy 😀 we really want to make the right decision since we are investing a lot of time in the walls and also spending a lot of money on materials and some painting work.

Due to time constraints, we decided to have the walls and ceilings in the stairwell and both hallways of one of our two semi-detached house units plastered. It was much faster than filling, sanding, and applying wallpaper lining. However, I wouldn’t choose this again. AND DEFINITELY NOT in living rooms. It somehow feels cold. SORRY FOR THE strange capitalization, but my shift key is acting up right now.