Plaster the basement walls inside!

[Mr L]

I am going to plaster the walls in the basement and have now knocked down all the old lime mortar. Once the dust has settled, I have started tracing channels for new electricity, data, antenna, and cabling for home theater, etc. When all the tracing is complete, I will wash the walls and remove all the dust. The walls are concrete blocks and not completely straight.

I am worried about cracks in the plaster after I have traced the walls. I thought to fill the grooves with concrete and seal all the large holes. But what is the next step? Should I mesh and then plaster, or is priming needed? Some kind of lime mortar seems appropriate since it was there before. But is there anything I should consider?

 

[Exostor]

If it is concrete hollow block, I would plaster directly with regular c-brick.

 

[Mr L]

If it's concrete hollow block, I would plaster directly with regular c-mortar.

I've decided not to do this myself. I had a guy over who said the same. For the first layer, he applies plaster with cement, then the second and third will be finer for a smooth surface. He said you don't need mesh.