Picture hanging in an old home

[judyb23]

@syncretic

Then a skim coat of plaster would be applied to the render and sanded smooth, this may be only millimetres thick. In better quality builds a second or even third coat of plaster is applied to give a superior finish. The plaster does not contain sand, it will be plaster of Paris, which is derived from gypsum. The texture is much finer and whiter than render containing sand and it is softer allowing it to be sanded easily.

Yes, that’s exactly what it is. Only enough plaster to give a smooth finish to the paint (which was originally kalsomine - but that’s another story).

[judyb23]

@Allan3

You could try removing a small portion of the old render where you intend to hang your picture and insert your hanger and then fill around with a filler. I have done this and filled around hanger with one of the white fillers that sets hard and you can drill into set filler but I set the filler around the inserted hanger

Interesting idea for individual paintings. We have already made some holes in render when hooks have fallen off the wall, so I’ll start with those. Perhaps with some Bondcrete to seal the powdery render first.

[Allan3]

I didn’t use bondcrete but it might help I used heavy duty filler from paint shop (Dulux) or from Bunnings. I could check name for you if you cannot locate

[syncretic]

@judyb23

(which was originally kalsomine - but that’s another story).

Grooooaaaan. I had forgotten about that. Painting over it is a Royal PITA. It is so bad there are specialised products to seal it so the paint will take correctly.

[syncretic]

@Allan3

it might help I used heavy duty filler from paint shop

The filler that you use to patch doesn’t really matter if the render is collapsing.