Smooth Over Painted Block Wall

karma_carpentry

Hi... I'm remodeling two condos. One of them has a lot of block wall that's been painted. I want to smooth out the wall to get rid of the 'institutional' feeling. (See the picture.)

I've been learning about parging. I have parged before, on an exterior foundation wall, but nothing interior. My thought was maybe to first rough up the existing paint and maybe use a BondKote or "liquid sander" something to give it tooth, then parge on a fine mortar, and then plaster it up.

But then I thought maybe some sort of faux Venetian plaster paint product would work alright, even if it takes two coats. Or maybe is there some basecoat thick paint-type product that would take up the dimples and fill the joints?

In most cases like a basement finish job, I would fur out the walls with 1 1/2" and put in rigid insulation, but in this case there are baseboard heaters and receptacles and intersections with door and windows, and it would be a heck of a job more than it's worth.

So I am turning to you wall finishing experts for some opinions. Help appreciated. Thanks.

PS - Yes, I know there are crack in the block wall. The building has structural problems but the location is excellent, even in this market, it will sell for a pretty penny with some basic TLC. I'm not looking for magic, but just to cover up the cracks for a while. Someone in the 70s put up this building without any concern except for saving a penny, and I can't fix the world in a day, just make my dollar and help the current owner.

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ProWallGuy

Check out Flexi-Wall products. Paperhangers use this stuff to smooth over cinder block to hang new wallcoverings. Can be painted also.

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BKFranks

I'd have the stucco/plaster guys skim coat the wall. You'd probably have to sandblast the wall first to get the paint off. They could put a smooth finish just like a smooth stucco finish on the outside of a house. I've had them cover over a red brick fireplace and one house last year they did a shower and bathtub surround for an industrial look.

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plazaman

Lath and a 1 coat stucco job?

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Frankawitz

Metal lath then scratch coat and then sand finish coat or smooth plaster finish depending on the look you want.


www.frankawitz.net

karma_carpentry

Thanks for the advice, fellows. What I ended up doing was a basecoat of Structo-lite and and veneer plaster over it.

I was nervous about adhesion, so I tested a small section first, and the Structolite stuck very well. The blocks are rough enough, even with the paint, for good keying in.

I'm not a great plasterer, so after the plaster, I knifed in joint compound and sanded down smooth, to fill the holidays from my plaster job.

I probably should have called in a plasterer, but it was not bad work, and I enjoyed it mostly.

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Build on a good foundation.