How to DIY Repair a Damaged Wall

How to DIY Repair a Damaged Wall for an invisible repair using a render base and then an unbiased review of Knauf ProRoll Plaster.

BRAND AMBASSADORSHIP
I'm currently partnering with Ansell whose gloves I've been using for over a year now. Bottom line, I've loved using them long before our tie up so this is a great collaboration that helps support my channel. You can see the gloves I've worn in this video here:

0:00 Introduction
0:13 Background
0:56 Damage Limitation
1:54 Render Repair Options
2:49 Mixing Sand & Cement
3:25 Applying the Render
6:08 Hairline Crack Fix
6:53 Proroll Max Plaster
11:42 Proroll Light Plaster
15:15 Conclusions
18:03 Product Links
18:15 Subscribe to Me!

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TODAY'S TOOLKIT:
- guaging trowel

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LET'S CONNECT!
Charlie DIYte

#wall #repair #DIY

[Sparrowhawk]

I think I'll stick with a couple of coats of multi finish. People tend to be a bit scared of plastering but most DIYers could manage a small job like this with traditional plastering supplies and tools.
Great channel by the way 👍

[l.n]

can't thank you enough for these videos, helps people like me build not only homes but also confidence

[kylemoloney]

I love that stuff, did a whole house with it( over artex ceilings, new soundproofed plasterboard and damaged walls following wallpaper removal ) used both a 4 inch roller and 9 inch roller long pile. Took a minute to get the hang of it. Found best to stick roller in till it hit the bottom and leave it submerged for ten minutes then away you go would then leave the roller sleeve in the tub submerged with lid on when not in use that way one roller for entire job. In fact left roller in tub and used for many jobs of patching/ no clean up, waste. Also used a 600 wide blade.

[chinawalls]

This is the best video I've seen on DIY wall repair. Thanks for the step for step instructions!

[richardstrangward]

I used proroll to skim a bedroom and, although I ended up with a reasonable finish, it was hard work. I used it a second time to skim two small toilet walls and finished it with fill and finish and a little sanding which now looks great. The trick which worked for me was finish it the best you can and sand! Great video

[jonathanhasmail]

Hardwall would have been a better bet than sand and cement, as it is significantly lighter and behaves much like bonding. PVA / SBR coats should have been tacky when you applied the next layer. Scratches should have been horizontal rather than vertical, then multi-finish tight into edges of old plaster. Job done!

[johnthresher]

Great stuff as always Charlie. My house, built in 1960, has solid wall and inside is rendered with a thin skin of greyish plaster over that. The render is like granite which is great for a firm fixing. The internal walls are what I call "cinder blocks", they are a hard heavy dark grey composite block of some sort. Again, you can get a good fixing in them.

[mitchellandking]

Great stuff, the purdy filling knives are lovely - I normally use Toupret fine finish as I just love how fine it sands down.

[gopherbar]

Absolutely brilliant video Charlie, thanks for filming, its given me some handy tips and tricks to fill in some walls in the house.

[MagicianMan]

Have to be very careful with PVA. As it is water based it re-emulsifies when it gets wet afterwards. So if you have any damp in your walls you run the risk of loosing cohesion. Better to use water proof pva or sbr

[imagesolutions]

Used both Pro Roll Max and Lite to tidy up a large wall in a hallway. Really had to dig the roller into the max bucket and almost butter it on to the roller every time, but once it's on it rolls on the wall ok. After a few experiments I decided let the max sit for about 20-30 mins (depends on temperature) and then when it stiffened a bit went over it with a damp sponge float to even it out across a large area, then finished with a speed skim. It came out fine for a DIY job, the bonus is that you can fix many sins with sanding. Only downside is that it is not very strong when finally set and can be dented very easily, so maybe not great for high traffic areas. With the Pro Roll lite it's definitely a good idea to let it settle for maybe 10 mins or so before smoothing as you just end up scraping it off the wall. Also check the manufacturing date before purchase as it has a 6 month shelf life.

[cosmicquasar]

I have a 1912 home with hardset plaster walls the same as you have. For large filling areas like you had I use cornice cement as it’s very cheap for large quantities of it unlike ‘specialist fillers’. It also sets quickly so multiple layers can be applied without too much waiting. For the final top coat I use plasterboard topping compound as it sands smooth very easily.

For cracks I dig out with a sharp non flexing paint scraper and put an undercut in the crack so the gap is wider on the brick side compared to the top side. Then press some cornice cement onto it. This totally locks the two sides of the plaster around the crack to the brick. Finish off with topping compound.

[guywilkinson]

I've done this type of repair so many times recently. prefer just a bit of under coat plaster followed by some skim or even filler on small areas. It's easier to work with than sticky fillers and sets quickly.

But you got a nice smooth finish at the end 😮

[stuartday]

Having previously lived in a house built in 1840, I can sympathise. Something simple like hanging a picture can result in a LOT of making good😂

[deemdoubleu]

That stuff looks like a right faff - thanks for showing it for what it is.

[andyc]

Thanks for this Charlie, I think I'll be sticking with multi-finish myself, I'll bet it dries up in time too, whereas I've had multi finish decanted into airtight containers for many years and it's kept perfectly. Can't really understand why anyone would want to apply plaster with a roller anyway, but would be interested to see it if you try it on a larger area and it's any good !

I wish I'd seen this 30 odd years ago, we had a new build and after a few years had some cracking to the plaster in the lounge that I needed to repair before decorating. When I scratched out the cracks parts of the plaster had de-bonded and little by little I removed it till I had a 3-4 ft sq hole to fill, the problem is always where to stop ! My wife had a freak out when she saw it but I have to say, I did a pretty good job filling and plastering it ( although a lot of levelling and sanding) and it's probably still holding up the rest of the shoddy wall render and plaster today !

[thedrumsndthebeat]

Appreciate you showing the hard parts of the job, thanks for the video!

[onepairofhands]

nice result and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience

[AdamBlindDivide]

Covered over an artex ceiling with this stuff, first experience doing anything resembling plastering, used a plastering trowel, 1200 OX speedskim, I started using a medium pile roller like you, but couldn't load it enough, ended up using a "plasterer's roller", which is like a weird plastic wire roller thing. I got decent results, but it took a lot of finishing with a rotary sander and took days to get it done thanks to the wait time between coats! I'd probably have another go with it on a wall if I wasn't in a rush, but absolutely no chance I'd do another ceiling with it, will give regular multifinish a go next time!

[peterdaw]

My friend, since you're a DIY'er, just a few tips for you, SBR is the way to go not pva and dont forget the slurry before applying cement. And you need to take away all the crumbling parts of the wall. Again use SBR with cement.
Most importantly find out what made that wall crumble, maybe you need to fix whats behind it first and not the inside, or find where the leaking is...
Good job keep it up 👍