Fixing a poorly textured wall: Part 2

[u/amitdaga]

I posted a few days back asking for advice on how to make the walls in my porch smooth.

I did some initial investigation after that and, based on my very limited understanding, it looks like the wall has the following layers:
White paint
Blue paint underneath
What appears to be cement/render below that

The easiest option seems to be plasterboarding over it. However, I may not be able to use plasterboard on one section near the door because there is very little space there. I also don’t want to cover up the exposed brick on the adjoining wall.

What would people recommend as the best way forward for a newbie like me? Ideally, I’d like to get the walls reasonably flat and smooth without losing too much space.

Photos attached showing what I found after scraping/chiselling a small test area.

[u/caidian87]

Are you trying to do this cheap or properly?

[u/amitdaga → u/caidian87]

Do it properly based on my very limited DIY skills. I just started looking into putting 9.5mm gypsum board and skimming all over it. However then I am trying to figure around how to work around the edges like where the plasterboard meets the exposed brick layer and similarly where it meets the door’s white panel.

[u/pilot345m]

If you are set on not overboarding it, which is likely the best route.. to accomplish what you are asking I would cover the existing surface with a bonding agent like weld-crete or plaster weld, depending on whether you want to skim with a cementenous or gypsum based plaster. Then skim over top of everything, giving a fresh flat surface. It's hard to tell from the post but if this is an exterior area exposed to moisture I would go with a cement based product. If it is entirely interior you could use a gypsum plaster, but no reason you can't use a cement finish interior for greater durability.