DIY Filling holes in plaster - Tile Advice

[Dave1607]

Hi All

I have started removing some of the old tiles from my kitchen walls ready for the refurb project that I'm starting in a couple of weeks. As I'm removing the tiles I'm finding that some of the skim coat of plaster is blown and so any that hasn't fallen off will have to be removed. I've read loads of great advice on here about what to do but have a few questions about which option I should choose and I would also like some help identifying the backing plaster / render.
Boarding isn't an option as space to fit the cabinets in is tight as it is and the substrate under the skim coat seems very hard so I don't fancy trying to remove it.
I have added a picture of where a patch of skim coat has come off, the stuff underneath is very hard and doesn't scratch easily with a screwdriver, it also seems very solid and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. When I had to chase a wall out in another room I ended up having to use an angle grinder as my bolster just bounced off.
I'm guessing this could be sand and cement render (the house is early 60's), if so is my best option to remove all the lose plaster, prime the wall and patch up he holes with some rapid set adhesive?
The tiles I'm using are 100 x 300 8mm thick ceramic.

Thanks in advance

Dave

 

[Tony_C]

is my best option to remove all the lose plaster, prime the wall and patch up he holes with some rapid set adhesive?

Hi Dave,

Without seeing the bigger picture and how bad it is i'd be just doing as you said

 

[acaciaguy]

Hi Dave,

Without seeing the bigger picture and how bad it is i'd be just doing as you said

Agree. Rapid set or one coat plaster

 

[Dave1607]

Thanks for the replies, I have added a couple more photos but haven't taken the tiles off the other walls yet so don't know what state the plaster is in on those walls. One of the photos is the rest of the wall from my first post (ignore the filler at the top of the picture, previous owners attempt to fill around a box), and the other photo is where the skim coat is missing around the reveal of a new window. As you can see the skim coat is cracked and blown in a few spots so I will be removing those bits.
My main concern was identifying whether it's bonding plaster (or another gypsum plaster) or if it's sand and cement render, from what I have read on here I have more options with render as I can either prime and tile straight over it or prime and skim it with rapid set adhesive, but more than happy to be corrected if I've got it wrong.
I know it's probably difficult to identify from a picture but if you could give some pointers on how to tell whether it is render or not, I would be very grateful.

Thanks

Dave