would be very grateful if anyone could help me with a plastering problem. Due to a leak (now fixed) I had to strip a rectangular area of around 2 square meters of plaster around 10 mm - 15mm thick from the bedroom wall, leaving the bricks under the plaster exposed. Now the wall has dried out, I want to re-plaster the exposed area. What's the best way of going about it? Do I have to prepare the bricks with some kind of sealing compound before applying plaster?
Should I cut plaster board to size and dry plaster the hole?
Or should I mix up plaster and plaster over the hole? if so, I see there are several kinds of plaster at the DIY store, which do I use? do I apply it as a single layer or as multiple layers? Should I use finishing plaster for the final layer?
sorry to ask so many questions but would really appreciate your help,

thanks for that information! really helpful. Only thing is, I live in Belgium, so I have to try to figure out what are the locally available equivalents for the products you mention. Looking at the catalogue for Brico DIY store, they have Knauf Goldband single coat gypsum plaster, suitable for all types of masonry, in 10 kg/25kg bags - would that be the undercoat? they also have Knauf Fix and Finish, bonding and finish plaster, 1-3 mm, that would be the finish I guess. It only seems to be available in 25 kg bags. PVA would be polyvinyl acetate.
Another thing, part of the bare wall is on a corner, how do you get the corner to look nice? (it's an internal angle)

thanks for that! I'm sure there must be an equivalent product to undercoat plaster - I'll ask the DIY shop as you suggest. Another thing, what's the best way to ensure there's a smooth joint around the edges of the patch - should I use scrim tape like with plasterboard?

Hi, thanks for your help with this. I've done a bit of research and asked around and it seems that the Knauf Goldband is the standard product here. It says up to 10 mm per layer but it can be applied in more than one layer. There's also another product called MP75 which is for machine plastering but can also be applied by hand - it's a bit finer but only comes in 25 kg sacks, whereas the Goldband comes in 4 kg and 10 kg bags as well.
I was recommended to use the Goldband and if necessary to finish of with some finer plaster such as the kind used to fill in the joints between plasterboards (Knauf Jointfiller). Does that sound OK?

Also apparently after the first layer you have to go over the surface with a "plasterer's comb" to put grooves in it enabling better adhesion of the second layer, would a serrated spatula with 4mm teeth of the type used to spread glue do for this purpose?

Tried to find PVA sealant but couldn't find an equivalent product - I was told it's not necessary provided the wall is dry. Do I have to apply anything to ensure that the plaster sticks well to the wall? or just apply straight to the brick surface?

could I use the polyfilla as a thin final layer?

found a product for preparing the wall, Knauf Betocontact, it is recommended for concrete (and I guess brick walls too) before applying plaster to ensure that it sticks properly

Thanks for coming back and letting us know how you got on, glad it went well.