How to repair concrete wall for painting?

[prvz27]

Hi everyone!

It's been a long time since I've posted here, great to be back and browsing through everyone's fantastic projects!

I've been busy setting up my upcoming Indian Takeaway Shop and I would like to get some advice please to sort out a couple issues.

This space used to be a computer shop and has concrete walls. Along these walls was wooden skirting and above this skirting a long rectangular cable cover covering a bunch of ethernet cables. Our builder had removed all this, but is now wanting to charge us thousands to fix the broken concrete and paint over it. 

I've always received fantastic advice from the awesome members here and the first thing I thought of was to seek advice from the community again. 

Rather than paying thousands to the builder, what options do we have to fix these defects? Mix concrete and apply it on ourselves and then paint over it? Or something else?

Really looking forward to all your responses. 

Moderators, this is technically not residential, please let me know if I am going against the rules here.

Thank you all!

We have AfterAfterAfterBefore with cable cover and wood skirting

[MitchellMc]

It's great to see you posting again, @prvz27! There are no issues with your question.

You could certainly attempt to do this work yourself. However, there is a certain amount of finesse involved with applying your cement mixture, and getting a seamless result might need some practice. How many lineal meters of this repair work is required? If the builder is going to repair, say, 20 meters of this damage and paint all the walls, then a couple of thousand dollars might not be too bad a deal. 

You'll be applying a mixture of cement, lime and sand over the brickwork with a trowel and smoothing it off. It's similar to cement rendering a wall. Have a look at this helpful step-by-step guide: How to hard plaster a brick wall.

After you've reviewed the guide, please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi  prvz27

If this isnt your property why dont you simply cover up the wall with MDF or plywood strips, vinyl  planks, large tiles, think of it as  a large skirting board Electrical conduit can be added ontop of this later at need.  

Or run the vinal floor up to cover the  damage at the wall edges like they do in some hospitals it helps with hygiene and easy cleaning ie no corners.

Glue a  decorative vinyl strip matching your shops  theme along the wall or to waist level that suits you taste if that works for you.

Or the  wall repaired down to the floor.

I notice in the pictures the wall seamed to be crumbling from underneath there was dust on the floor so maybe poking the cement on the walls  would see how loose it is Chip away the  bad stuff until firmer wall found.  Use a bond crete and water  liquid mixture to paint on and let it soak in and try  and  bind the loose stuff at need and this will help  bond new cement to the wall too especially if you add some bondcrete to the cement mixture.  But maybe this step is not  needed.

I dont think i could get a perfect job  first time around either but cement is a little forgiving until a week later after it is set over time. Even then you can sand and grind hard  concrete at need but it is much better to get the best finish first time around. Wet the floor (for cement to bond) a do a bit and practice filling some of those divets in the cement floor if you comfortable  filling those holes in the floor move to the wall?

Your project is only doing the lower wall section so you can use the high wall section to level too with you scraper/level so it is an eaiser job than a whole wall.

The hard bit is  filling your jobs bulk  thickness  it looks 20mm ? of the damaged area as some time concrete can sag as you apply it on a wall if your not skilled at this. (the Bunning video shows a thin coat approx 5 to 10mm  give or take or less.  I Rendered  a 60 cm high concrete fish pond wall at 30mm thickness in places (as i put a thicker  fillet curve at the base to remove corners and maybe my mixture was wetter than it should be?) and it looked good when i finished rendering but the cement mixture over  night it slipped down leaving  a few 10mm cracks but it the rest of it was fine. I simply mixed some more cement and filled the cracks and smoothed the wall down with a straight edge it was good as intended and it holds water 100% as I added a thinner bondcrete cement paint over the top as a seal which i would have had to do anyway. 

I would  definatly do your  DIY to save that money and there is a finesse to that work to do it perfectly first time but there is room for a beginner to do a decent  job of it by running a level  flat over the upper wall as a guide  to scrape off the high spots and show up the low spots on the lower  repaired area. If you dont get a perfect result first time you still have time in one day or so to shave of some high spots with a straight edge you could even sand it a  bit if it is fairly hard. Mix some more cement for the low  spots it seams to be easier to get a flat finish the thinner the fill.   But follow MitchellMc 's  tips  and watching the bunnings how to clip How to hard plaster a brick wall. two or three times To try to perfect  it first time around to save extra work. Play close attention to mixture ratios. The thicker the cement the harder it is to get right without complcations. On thicker cement applications it might be best to form up the cement (put a smooth board in front of it so it wont slide off the wall

But if you attempt this job and it looks bumpy you can use a scraper  even a sander to take off the high bits and use more cement mixture to fill the low bits with in 1 to 2 days of original cement repair.  I do this myself when concerting I am getting to old to stay on my hands and knees smoothing concrete too long with a trowel so I do my best then return the next day with a straight bit of timber and  scrape the concrete smooth with a  lump of  straight timber  to get the trowel marks out etc Concrete needs a week to get to get quite hard so next day is is still scrapable by hand tools. The cement can be marked  by over  zealous scraping so just repair as  necessary, hay is you first  time with concrete so there is a learning curve I am still learning  from others too all the time.

In the  how to clip  this should be scraped with a level done on the same day after the mixture is firmed up on the wall ideally as the cement is softest still.  My comments refer to the next day inspection and touch ups if required if found.

MitchellMc had some good ideas and watching the Bunnings how to clip How to hard plaster a brick wall. also helped refresh some info on leveling for my projects. While your at it fill the  holes in floor  with the  same concrete for the walls with the left over cement mix.

[prvz27]

@Jewelleryrescue  @MitchellMc 

Thank you for your suggestions and for the very detailed answers, extremely helpful.

@Jewelleryrescue you are right, I have just thought why should I put so much effort into repairing the concrete on someone elses property when I can just cover it over with like a long wooden plank and paint it a colour to match the shop theme. 

We're getting epoxy done on the floor, the epoxy guy said he won't be able to cover it all the way up, but he'll try his best.
So I guess what ever remains after the epoxy is done, we'll cover it with a wooden plank.
What wood would be best, just long MDF strips? Or something else? Should I get a single wide piece that covers the whole damage or get multiple pieces and stack these on top of each other to cover the damage? And use something like liquid nails to glue this wood onto the concrete wall?

Thanks!!!

[MitchellMc]

Using 2440 x 1220mm 3mm Melamine White MDF would be a good solution @prvz27. You could get our team in-store to cut lengths off it to your required height and then adhere them to the wall with Liquid Nails. The melamine coating on the MDF is relatively robust, and if you're painting the walls, you shouldn't need to paint those sections. You could use standard 3mm MDF and paint it your desired colour.

Using the above sheet cut to the specific size you need would be better than stacking pieces.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Mitchell

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi prvz27

But covering the wall with what is a  large skirting board is what you doing as a minimum and it is really all about decoration not structual. So you can cover that space in any material that suits You and your shop theme let your imagination take flight as to what you can do. Think about what materials you have seen at bunning as a start.  You can even use bamboo fence screen as a an idea out of the normal it dosnt have to be  timber. But to answer  your  question a single  peice of wide  pine planking up to 400mm is avaliable at bunnings or some thing like  

Specrite 1800 x 405mm 18mm Timber Panel Spotted Gum laminate I/N: 0203002 $29

MitchellMc solutions of 3mm thick Melamine or Mdf is great cut to the same size hide all the holes. and the wall will look realativly flat if thats  your design goal.

Spice up that option I have used before and it looks good  painted to waist height with a top  timber strip use bunnings 

Easycraft 2400 x 1200mm 9mm Lining Panel White MRMDF Primed VJ 100mm

 I wonder if you will like the following.

You have some big open walls there i would repair the walls  like MitchellMc suggested with thin 3mm.

Then add  some  indian(or other)  wall  murals for some absolute eye popping points of intrest that is put up as strips of wall paper and the glue is non damaging to walls if i remember right and even  reusable ie take then home and put new images up. Simple to do line up  wall strips and press it onto the wall.

The cost of these murals is quite inexpensive too approx $500- $800   web site  muralunique.com  type in search in web site (India) type in your own custom dimentions for instant quote

This sample  mural  is 5 m long x 2,4 height  cost $US642.69 full size customisable longer and higher  to you dimentions or see other murals.  I would cover the whole wall floor to ceiling it would be stunning as your shop height looks taller than 2,4m

Imagine that in your shop  a floor to ceiling mural it would be like standing in the very grounds of the Taj Mahal will waiting  for your food order. Further more matching epoxy floor colour to the mural like in the photo.  crazy  right.  People might just  order at your shop just to see mural.

[prvz27]

@Jewelleryrescue 

Really appreciate the details and ideas there! The mural is a fantastic idea, this is something I was thinking of too, or even having a "Food Gallery" or "Food collage" on the big wall showcasing all of our dishes.

I've gotten started on collecting the material for the concrete wall, will post the final updates here.

Since we're all on the topic of shop fit outs, any ideas what I can do with this opening between our kitchen and front of house. I'm wanting to cover about one third of it from the top

[EricL]

Hello @prvz27

Would it be possible for you to show us the specific area you are trying to cover up? If you are putting up a wall between your kitchen and the front of your house, I suggest thinking about it very well as the more walls you put up the smaller the area will look. Having an open view from front to back gives your customer the satisfaction of seeing that the food is being prepared for them. I propose putting up a clear divider so that the area does not look covered up.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric 

[prvz27]

Thanks for responding Eric.

Sorry I was meant to say this window. 

I was thinking an easy DIY sliding door that goes up and down or side to side. It can be kept open when needed or closed when privacy is needed. 

What do you guys think?

[EricL]

Hello @prvz27

I suggest having a look at the track sets and the timber panels you can use as a window cover for your wall opening. There is also the option of using EasyAS Plantation Shutters. I've placed some sketches below to give you an idea of what it might look like. Please tell me what you think.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric