Prepping an "egg crate" wall and old doorway for paint in a bathroom?

[Mander]

So I misunderstood what I was paying for in my bathroom renovation and I need to figure out how to get this wall ready to paint. It was once two small rooms and the wall is made from that egg crate stuff. The original door frame is still there, filled in and with this mesh stuff you can see poking out over the top. I think it was plastered and painted before it was tiled.

What do I need to do to get this ready to paint?

 

[DAZB]

Given the condition and the wall type i would say it needs skimming with plaster as trying to scrape it flat may well cause more damage. You could try to sand it all but mask and goggles would be essential and even then would be an awful job to have. Get a plasterer or another option is to overboard it all with 9mm plasterboard and then skim or tape and fill it if using tapered boards.

 

[Mander]

So I have two sheets of 9mm plasterboard that were left over from the brick walls. Can I use that? The only issue is that there are no studs to attach it and it might be a bit proud of the edge of the tiles. But maybe I can put some kind of decorative trim between the end of the tiles and the plasterboard? There will be a shower screen too so maybe it won't be that noticeable.

 

[Mander]

The other issue is that the wall isn't true all the way across, if that's the right term. It is thicker by the door than by the shower, so if I just stick the plasterboard over it, it will end up being quite a step between it and the tile.

 

[thomp1983]

https://www.toolstation.com/soudal-genius-gun-plasterboard-adhesive-foam/p99304.

Use plasterboard foam and fix plasterboard straight to it, you should be able to use more at one end to get the whole wall flat and level. I usually sit the board on some packers and use a few screws into the wall to hold it all whilst the foam goes off.

 

[Mander]

Could I scrape the high part down a bit to make it closer to flat before putting plasterboard on so that it doesn't stick out as much?

 

[thomp1983]

Yes you just need to be careful to not go through the hardboard surface of the egg crate

 

[Mander]

Yes you just need to be careful to not go through the hardboard surface of the egg crate

Fortunately the high part is mostly over the old door so I think it's less likely. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to find that the door is still there along with the hinges and that's why it bulges out like that.

 

[Mander]

I investigated further after picking off some of the loose bits it looks like the door area has been filled in with another paramount piece (was it covered with green paper with a leaf-like shape on it?), then covered in some sort of mesh and stuck on with cement and plastered over. The gap between the two old doors appears to be nothing but plasterboard filled in with cement. The bulge is still a bit of a mystery, but it appears that it was just filled to the door architrave.

Fortunately the guy doing all the work has a mate that can come and plaster it all next weekend so I'm just going to do that. I think I'll end up with a slightly deeper door frame but even adding half an inch of timber that I can screw in to the floor will help.