ᐅ Plastering and painting a utility room in the basement – recommended steps?

Hello,
our shell construction (concrete basement, Poroton masonry) is complete, the roof is on, and the windows will be installed soon. Before the installations begin, I would like to prepare the technical room in the basement. Since I am (still) a beginner, I want to start this work myself in the technical room, as aesthetics are less important here and I can gain some experience. The joints in the concrete ceiling should be filled and smoothed, and both the ceiling and the exterior walls painted. I understand that small holes might remain if the entire surface is not fully skimmed. The interior walls are made of Poroton and should be plastered with a base coat and then also painted white. The following questions have come up:

1. When is it possible to start the filling and plastering work considering residual moisture? How long should one wait? The basement ceiling was cast on 24.06.2021. The walls, especially at the lower areas, are still damp due to the wet weather conditions of the past weeks.

2. Which filler would you recommend for the joints in the ceiling? Rotband? Multi-Finish (universal)? Others? Is a pretreatment of the ceiling necessary? If yes, with what? Primer? Should it be applied to the whole surface or only the joints?

3. Which base plaster would you recommend for the Poroton interior walls? Gypsum? Lime? Others?

4. Which paint would you suggest? Emulsion paint? Silicate paint? Is any further pretreatment necessary on the plaster and/or concrete before painting?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Too many questions? Silly questions? Or are all the plasterers still busy on the construction site? 😉

We are talking about the utility room in the basement... Just before the equipment was installed, we applied white paint to the concrete. That was it. After the equipment installation was finished, we could have repainted the entire area. Can you imagine what it looks like when, after painting, five large water-cooled core drill holes are made in the ceiling and six in the exterior wall? Any filler work before that is completely wasted effort. You can do touch-ups and repaint later, but if you’ve spent hours filling cracks, do yourself a favor and stay away while the equipment is being installed.

“I think it should be about here, I’ll drill a hole... oh, it doesn’t quite fit, so I’ll drill another one.” “I need somewhere to put this, I’ll just screw a bracket to the wall.” “My hands are dirty, but I can’t keep washing them—it’s just the utility room.” “Oh, some dirty water splashed onto the wall here; I’ll just wipe it quickly with my rag.”

From my point of view, having a finished floor is more important; you won’t be able to install one after the heating system is in place.

chamäleon schrieb:

Too many questions? Silly questions? Or are all the plasterers still on site? 😉

Here you will mostly get opinions on question 4. Generally, there are more opinions than answers.

1:
Plastering walls: If the windows are installed. I can’t say whether the walls need to be dry, but it is important that the building materials are used according to the manufacturers’ recommendations. Maybe just check that or get a professional involved. For your questions, it seems quite "bold" to want to do the work yourself (no offense). It’s different from just painting or wallpapering (which is also a real trade but somewhat easier for a layperson).

4:
I used silicate paint. Beforehand, I applied painter’s fleece for crack bridging. Also a primer. My painter for the stairwell didn’t use primer. Where the technical installations go, ordinary white paint can also be sufficient. Before painting, fill and sand the holes with finishing filler. PS: Those works were already completed then (distribution cabinet, heating, etc.).

bauenmk2020 schrieb:

For your questions, it seems quite "bold" to want to carry out the trade yourself (no offense). It’s different from just painting or wallpapering (which is also a proper craft but something a layperson can still manage).

I am aware of that. But at some point in life, you have to start trying these things and gain experience. How else can you become a DIYer? Trial makes you wiser. And with the utility room, it’s not so critical if it’s not perfect.

Of course, we will have the living areas handled by a professional.

Fuchur schrieb:

We’re talking about the technical room in the basement... Just before the technical installations were brought in, we applied white paint directly onto the concrete. That was it. Once the installations were complete, we could have completely repainted. Can you imagine what it looks like when, after the plumbing painting, five large water-cooled core drill holes are made in the ceiling and six in the exterior wall? Any putty work beforehand is completely wasted. You can patch up and repaint later, but if you’ve spent hours filling gaps, don’t be around when the equipment is installed.

Penetrations in the concrete ceiling were already taken into account during the prefabrication (hollow-core slab). Additionally, we have a utility shaft that houses all the pipes, cables, and conduits. Nothing else will be installed in the basement exterior wall.

Fuchur schrieb:

In my opinion, a finished floor would be more crucial; you can’t install that once the heating system is in place.

The heating system will be installed on stilts, since it comes before the screed. According to the heating engineer, you can still access underneath after the screed is laid—for example, to tile.