Advice of skimming this wall

[Danny Hardy]

Hi all,

I've just purchased an ex-council property, built around the 1960's, I've removed all the wallpaper and found lots of blown plaster that needed removing.

You can see on the wall in the attached images, some of the old plaster and below is a type of cement render. (I plan on removing the last bit of old plaster there fyi)

Would anyone be able to tell me what exactly that cement render is? is it just a normal cement or lime?

It was clearly set up for skimming, clearly being keyed.

I plan on using PVA and then re-skim with multi-finish but I am concerned if its lime I need to use lime plaster

If it's cement, I have read some people suggest using different types of products to seal the cement to stop it pulling in so quickly to prevent cracking, the cement is quite dusty, if you rub your finger over it, you get cement/dust on your finger.

As I am a novice plasterer, I am considering also putting a thin layer of bonding over the whole wall to create a surface more easier to skim but again would love any advice.

Thanks

 

[Wayners]

Is it hard like cement or soft like a backing plaster?

Looks like sand and cement

 

[Danny Hardy]

Rock solid Wayners

 

[Wayners]

Being that's been plastered over I can't see how that's lime.
Block walls?

 

[Danny Hardy]

Behind the walls are breeze block, then insulation then brick

So if indeed it is sand and cement render, would a standard pva 2x and skim with multifinish be the best option?

 

[Deleted member 292770]

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[Danny Hardy]

I thought normal cement was a more darker grey colour?

Thanks, also in some areas, the cement is cracking and can be pulled off, what would be the best solution to replace broken cement?

 

[Deleted member 292770]

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[Deleted member 292770]

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[Danny Hardy]

I think I would like to go with just fixing the cracked and broken cement render and skimming, there are not many cracks or areas that need to be fixed, its all quite good. The areas that are cracked dont go all the way back to the brick, would using bonding not be suitable to level the wall?

 

[Deleted member 292770]

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[Danny Hardy]

Thanks so much for your answers, yes I did mean bonding coat. I do intend to use cement on at least 1 part of the wall because it's an exterior wall (The window wall) Ive read those gypsum products, like bonding or hardwall can draw moisture and potentially cause damp problems if used on walls that can become damp.

For the window exterior wall I plan on patching the cement render with Weber OCR one-coat plaster, the gap it needs to fill is about 1m width by 20cm height above the window, just below the ceiling and then key, wait to cure and then skim over it, would that be suitable or do you have any recommendations on cement to use? It will be up against the brick here and I also believe there is a little bit of wood it would sit up against to.