Patching and Plastering - Mortar on the walls

HELP! I need to find a solution for the bathroom walls in my basement. The house was built 1957 so they were just cement block. Sometime afterward the homeowner applied a coat of mortar to them. It was not the neatest of jobs so some areas are very thick and uneven. Then the walls were painted. Over time some areas became cracked. I have taken some of it off by scraping bt not all of it will be able to be removed. My question what can I do to improve what I have. Has anyone been presented with this problem before? Is there something I can apply to even the walls out so they can be painted? I need all the help I can get.


Petunia

petunia, Two things come to mind. The walls could be floated out with drywall mud but this may not be something you want to tackle. Drop in at DIY painting and check some of our links for help and how to. The other thing is a wallpaper liner that can be papered or painted. A little patching to bring up the worst spots, hang with a clay based paper glue(unthinned) and prime and paint...Mike

mikejmerritt, Last year I had someone here to finish the drywall in my family room and he looked at the bathroom and said that joint compound couldn't be used to level out the walls and finish them. Is joint compound what you mean by drywall mud? He suggested that the walls be framed with wood and then drywall put up, but the room is too small for that. It measures 4'3" X 8"2" including the shower. I take it that he felt that drywall mud wouldn't adhere to the mortar. I don't think you understand how unlevel the walls are. Let's put it this way I call the room my bathroom from HELL! They applied the mortar in between and over the water pipes for the shower and over the drain pipe. After they applied the mortar it was painted, cracked and patched with possibly plaster patch of some kind in places. And then they covered the walls with wallpaper. When I took the wallpaper off the walls beneath are covered with mildew. I will drop in at DIY painting and check out the links but any other suggestions would be of help. Thanks Petunia

petunia, It does sound like the walls may be beyond floating out with mud which is the same as joint compound. You really don't want to cover up a mildew problem in progress but the mildew may be old and dry from a previous problem. In rooms as small as yours you are right about the 2x4s. Deal with the mildew if needed, rip 2x4s into 3rds, glue and screw them to the block. Hang 1/2 drywall and finish/paint/paper. You may have to faux finish the pipes in some way to help the look of them. Good luck to you...Mike

mikejmerritt The mildew isn't coming from outside. it is from using the shower and there being wallpaper on the walls. Couldn't I just clean up the walls first with a mildew remover and then apply the mud? The mildew only seems to be around the edges of the wallpaper seams and at the top of the tub surround. The people that owned this house were elderly. And I know by other things here that the man was very miserly. I don't think he let his wife use cleaning products very much. Thanks our replys are welcome.

petunia, I didn't mean to alarm you about the mildew but in my business basement, block and mildew = caution as far as covering it up. Sounds like you have a plan. Let us know how you come out...Mike

petunia
What you may want to try is get yourself a large brick chisel and mason hammer, chip away at the mortar that's on your walls, after you can get a product called CSC4 it used for panel brick, take and mix this up in a mason mixing pan, they have them ay Home Depot or Lowes, the CSC4 you have to get from a concrete supply house that carrys brick, But your going to put this on the walls, you can put a texture pattern in it, or just brush it, then let it dry but you will want to keep it moist not wet, take a spriters bottle and give it a light mist, for about 7 days, the let it dry completely, then you can seal it with Block Filler then paint, Good Luck Frank