DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi
I am a relative newbie to DIY, and never tried filling any serious gaps in internal plaster or external render. I have 2 questions for which I'd be grateful for advice.

1. Internal Wall
I had my walls stripped (chipboard wallpaper) and re-skimmed some time back (plaster skimmed to around any existing fixtures) which I then painted myself. However since then I have removed an entryphone system from the wall and this has left a square gap (about 20cm by 20cm) which now needs filling/plastering to create a smooth surface with the rest of the wall. Please see below picture. What is the best thing for me to use to fill this hole so it is smooth with the rest of the wall ready for repainting (it is approx 5mm deep)? If there are any products people can recommend for this would be great. In terms of painting, will just going over the newly filled section look ok with the rest of the wall, or does one recommend re-painting the entire wall?
Also, what tools will I need for the filling?


2. External balcony wall
Please see below picture. As you can see the paint is a bit cracked and the render where the balcony rail is attached is badly cracked and there are some loose chunks there (and possibly some loose bricks). What is the best thing to for me to do to prepare and repair and make good the wall/render here? I just really want it to look good (but be reasonably stable/strong), so not looking to replace bricks or anything. The rail feels pretty solid in place at the moment. Would be good if people could also mention which tools required (e.g. masonary trowel etc)

I would then want to repaint the entire wall as the paint is quite tired as can be seen in the picture - will I need to strip off all the old paint? What is the best way to do this and prepare the wall for painting? Normal masonary paint OK for this?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi. There is a product specifically designed for the internal problem you have. It's called Fill and Skim and the link is here https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/DIY-superst ... e-tub.html

Its comes complete with the application tool and there is a video on the site also so you can see how it works.

Externally I would love to tell you that there is an easy way to do this but my fears are around the safety of you and others. If you chop the render out, either side of the crack, to make it wide enough to fill with new render, there is a very good chance that the brickwork (which, using my best guess, is not as sound as it should be anyway) will become loose and the bricks will need replacing or at least relaying.

From a safety perspective, given the appearance and location of the cracks, I would have to say that the top of the rail should be built in again by removing these two "piers" and replacing. They can then be re-rendered.

If this is too big a job for you, I suggest you look on this page for a bricklayer in your area. https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/find-tradesmen/