Hi,

I have a fireplace bricked up and now want to plaster it to match the rest of the wall (see pic).

The problem is the thickness difference to the plaster from the brick is not much.

My thought is that I need to plaster bond it then skim, but the problem is I have only seen it in 25KG bags which is way too much. Can I do a thick skim or 2 skims straight onto brick or is there another way?

Many Thanks

Hardwall you want, not bonding. About £7 a bag in Wickes, shouldn't break the bank. Yes, 25kg but you won't get one smaller.

If you have any sand & cement left you can use that .
You will still need to get hold of some multi finish though to skim over.

Your Best option would be like said use sand and cement that you may have left over, also use a hammer and bolster to tidy up all around and you will get a better finish but if you can stretch to a bag of hardwall i would also recommend using that. Have you got a float with nails in to finish the base coat with a devil float as well?

Nope only a finishing trowel. Can I drag a nail along it instead?

With regards to the base I have sand and cement and also a bag of thistle bonding plaster left over.

What ratio is sand and cement? Also it is building sand is that ok?

What would happen if I was to use the bonding as I am more than probably going to build a large bookcase on that wall anyhow?

Appreciate all the advice so far

You could do a 5:1 render mix very roughly. Wet the bircks lightly so it doesnt dry to quickly. Give it a rough trowel over. A plastic float to scratch it and put nails in to make it a devil float is only around £3 in screwfix. If you dont want to use one, you can just run nails lightly over the surface, then key with sandpaper before skimming.

If you have enough bonding left, you can just build it up in two coats before skimming. You can add sand + cement to the bodning to help it go off quicker/stronger. Its a bit of a bodge, but gets the job done.

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