Internal stone wall help

[Harry555]

Hi all,

I recently moved into an 1870ish stone built terraced house in the Lake District. I’ve taken down a shelving unit within an alcove on an internal wall bordering the next terraced house. I now need the wall to be plastered to a smooth finish. I am a plastering novice and have no idea what the type of plaster is that now needs fixin (lime plaster?). The plaster seems to have small stones mixed in.

I would appreciate any advice on what type of plaster this is and what the best way to repair it is. Can I DIY this or do I need to get an expert in?

Thanks!
Harry

 

[Monkey Boy]

Ever wish you never started a job?

 

[Harry555]

Ever wish you never started a job?

For sure! Any ideas what I’m dealing with here?

 

[Woods]

ehhh
The backing plaster looks awfully dark, so I'm gonna wager it might be cement or hydraulic lime based. A lime plaster would've been much lighter in colour. Maybe it's an earth based plaster with a very dark grey type of clay?

If you hit it with a hammer, does it feel hard in the same way concrete does? If it does, it's probably cement.

In any case, you're gonna have to brick up the hole first.
Then dub it out.
Then scratch coat.
Float coat.
Lime skim and tie it into the existing.

Do you think it used to be a door?

 

[ChrispyUK]

Do you think it used to be a door?

When is a door not a door?

 

[Woods]

when it's ajar

or when someone decided they wanted shelves rather than a door

 

[spunky]

It’s multi on there anyway it looks like it’s been reskimmed
Unless you do go down the traditional lime route you could use limelight and limelight finish plaster it’s not the easiest to use
If these aren’t External walls and you can’t see any signs of damp I’d just use hardwall dot and dab multi etc