ᐅ Interior Walls: Which Topcoat or Finish Layer Should I Use on My Wall?

Hello everyone,

I am currently facing a difficult question for me, as I have no knowledge of this topic and have read many different and contradictory opinions online about interior plaster (which might also be due to my lack of experience in this field).

My situation: I am renovating my house from the late 1960s and have completely redone the electrical wiring. This means new chases were made in the hollow bricks and then filled again. The plasterer applied a full-surface reinforcing coat and smoothed the walls. He used Knauf Rotband Pro and Grigolin filler and smoothing compound for this. The walls are now quite smooth.

What should I apply on top of these smooth walls, or what should be done on them now? When my partner and I look at it purely from an aesthetic point of view, a 0.5mm (0.02 inch) grain size seems a bit too rough. A completely smooth white wall would probably require a lot of maintenance or you would have to be very careful not to damage the appearance. Since we have a 1.5-year-old daughter and are planning to have more children, that would be impractical. There are also different aspects regarding moisture regulation, breathability, paint, textured paint (Knauf Easyputz 0.5mm (0.02 inch)), lime gypsum or pure gypsum plaster.

Additionally, our plasterer says he only does a 1mm (0.04 inch) grain size because 0.5mm (0.02 inch) grain size has to be sprayed on and cannot be applied by hand, so he does not do it.

I understand that Easyputz/textured paint could be applied by ourselves, but it is not really plaster—more like paint with some texture.

I am honestly very confused.

What would you do with a smooth wall smoothed/plastered with Rotband Pro and Grigolin filler, and why?

bossi15 schrieb:

What would you do with a smooth wall that has been skimmed/plastered with Rotband Pro and Grigolin, and why?

Whatever I like ;-)

I’ve been involved with several properties:
- In one house, we used Knauf roll plaster, which was good
- Currently, we also use paintable/roll-on plaster, Haering Deko Quarz Elf – clearly better than Knauf, and it’s also great for coloring (options between fine, medium, and coarse – I find fine already too fine)
- Just plastered and then painted (in a new build) – was also great, though there were some minor “settlement cracks” you could see at first
- Painter’s fleece and paint – very fine and smooth surface, less sensitive than just paint
Today, I would choose one of the last options again.

bossi15 schrieb:

A completely smooth white wall

... feels like being in a hospital and almost always makes a room feel cold and uninviting.

bossi15 schrieb:

Our plasterer also says he only applies 1mm (0.04 inches) grain size because 0.5mm (0.02 inches) grain size has to be sprayed on and cannot be applied by hand.

That’s nonsense. You CAN spray it, but you don’t have to. Rolling works just as well.

bossi15 schrieb:

And then there are various aspects like moisture-regulating, breathable, paint, paintable plaster (Knauf Easyputz 0.5mm (0.02 inches)), lime-gypsum, or gypsum-only plaster.

You can forget all that since you have only a gypsum wall anyway. Anything silicate-based is wasted here because it has no effect (although none of the other paints or coatings really do either) and usually requires pretreatment since silicate reacts only with mineral substrates (silicate dispersion is more like a normal paint). And truly moisture-regulating plaster (to some extent) doesn’t exist either—except for proper clay plaster applied to the wall. Walls don’t need to “breathe” either. Only latex paint forms a truly sealed layer. So, the material for that last 0.1mm (0.004 inches) layer really doesn’t matter.

bossi15 schrieb:

Since we have a 1.5-year-old daughter and plan for more children

... every wall can become high-maintenance. Especially with muddy hands, first crayons, etc. (I speak from experience as a father of three).