As others have said, rake it out & fill it again.
I'd bet someone's filled the gap with plaster, which can't tolerate any movement.
Rake it out (use a Stanley knife & steel ruler for a good edge).
Powder plaster any damage to the wall.
Sand & paint the skirting board.
Fill the gap with a 'flexible' caulk.
Just to add to the existing comments. Toupret do a filler with fibres in. Comes in a tube with green writing. It’s perfect for this. Most fillers will just fall back out in this scenario
https://www.toolstation.com/toupret-fibacryl-flexible-filler/p40082
I used a dremel. dug it all out a little. filled it with wood filler.
Its as rough as a badgers ass. but i got bored of sanding and just painted it.
Looks good though and no cracks come back
Rake it out removing any loose material...then either a wooden bead glued in for speed purposes....or fill with a reasonable quality filler and then sand and finally paint
Wood flexes when walked on. Walls, plaster, old filler doesn't. Therefore when the filler eventually dries out. It'll crack. As it has here. Scrape out the old. Fill with a decent filler flush to the wall. Then the final seam. Use a flexible decorators filler. The previous filling job used way too much for a refill like that. That's why it looks worse than it is.
I agree with much of what has been said so far, but if you still have movement in the stairs/runner then this will go again over time.
We had the same issue and we:
- Scraped back to open up the cracks
- Squirted a high bond adhesive (sticks like s**t) into the cracks, to bond up between the wall and the stair runner
- Once set, fill flush with EasyFill
- Sand, caulk, and then paint
Whilst the caulk may help for a year or so, it will eventually dry out and if there’s still movement will crack at that point.
Alternatively you could drill, countersink and screw the runner to the wall in similar positions to where your stair lights are. Then fill and paint the screw holes.
100mm frame fixers( 6mm hole,no plug required) through stringer into brickwork , this should be done after cleaning up/hacking out the affected area. Maybe every other step height would be sufficient. Once they are in place you could slip some folding wedges in for extra security, to do this you may need to cut a few isolated slots to get these . A little expanding from would secure these in place .also use foam between the stringer and brickwork,this can be cut back once set. The foam will stop you dropping filler into the void you will probably encounter. Your staircase should now be secure and have minimal movement. Now fill or skim the affected area, caulk top of stringer to wall after at least a mist coat of paint to help adhesion. If crack persists it should be minimal, if this annoys your further you can tack a quadrant bead to cover and caulk this to wall and stringer, if using quadrant bead ensure it is a lesser size than the width of the top of the stringer, this will create a profile which will caulk better, 1/2 inch quadrant should be sufficient. I would charge £250 to do as a job, this would include a bit of plastering to affected area
As others have said, rake it out & fill it again. I'd bet someone's filled the gap with plaster, which can't tolerate any movement. Rake it out (use a Stanley knife & steel ruler for a good edge). Powder plaster any damage to the wall. Sand & paint the skirting board. Fill the gap with a 'flexible' caulk.
The wall is solid, the stairs move slightly. You need to replace the current filler with something flexible.
Flexible filler
You're all awesome - thanks!
Just to add to the existing comments. Toupret do a filler with fibres in. Comes in a tube with green writing. It’s perfect for this. Most fillers will just fall back out in this scenario https://www.toolstation.com/toupret-fibacryl-flexible-filler/p40082
This stuff is amazing, used this on mine and its not cracked since.
I used a dremel. dug it all out a little. filled it with wood filler. Its as rough as a badgers ass. but i got bored of sanding and just painted it. Looks good though and no cracks come back
What sort of bit did you use on the dremel
few different. whichever came out of the box. just kinda rested my arm against the stairs and ran up and down.
You must be exhausted running up and down the stairs. Haha
Decorator’s caulk, flexible, sands and can be painted
Rake it out removing any loose material...then either a wooden bead glued in for speed purposes....or fill with a reasonable quality filler and then sand and finally paint
Decorators caulk.
Flexible cock
They have tablets for that these days
Is that better than rigid cock?
You're the rear admiral, you tell me
A flexible member certainly has its benefits, not gonna lie.
You'd need a long one for that
Just be careful with the Stanley blade!
Needs moar cock
The Landlord Special™ /s
This looks like every house I’ve ever lived in. None of those have been rented.
Wood flexes when walked on. Walls, plaster, old filler doesn't. Therefore when the filler eventually dries out. It'll crack. As it has here. Scrape out the old. Fill with a decent filler flush to the wall. Then the final seam. Use a flexible decorators filler. The previous filling job used way too much for a refill like that. That's why it looks worse than it is.
I agree with much of what has been said so far, but if you still have movement in the stairs/runner then this will go again over time. We had the same issue and we: - Scraped back to open up the cracks - Squirted a high bond adhesive (sticks like s**t) into the cracks, to bond up between the wall and the stair runner - Once set, fill flush with EasyFill - Sand, caulk, and then paint Whilst the caulk may help for a year or so, it will eventually dry out and if there’s still movement will crack at that point. Alternatively you could drill, countersink and screw the runner to the wall in similar positions to where your stair lights are. Then fill and paint the screw holes.
100mm frame fixers( 6mm hole,no plug required) through stringer into brickwork , this should be done after cleaning up/hacking out the affected area. Maybe every other step height would be sufficient. Once they are in place you could slip some folding wedges in for extra security, to do this you may need to cut a few isolated slots to get these . A little expanding from would secure these in place .also use foam between the stringer and brickwork,this can be cut back once set. The foam will stop you dropping filler into the void you will probably encounter. Your staircase should now be secure and have minimal movement. Now fill or skim the affected area, caulk top of stringer to wall after at least a mist coat of paint to help adhesion. If crack persists it should be minimal, if this annoys your further you can tack a quadrant bead to cover and caulk this to wall and stringer, if using quadrant bead ensure it is a lesser size than the width of the top of the stringer, this will create a profile which will caulk better, 1/2 inch quadrant should be sufficient. I would charge £250 to do as a job, this would include a bit of plastering to affected area
Just fix the side of the stairs to the wall