Filling concrete walls in the basement

We have a combination. In the hobby room, everything is filled and painted, in the laundry room nothing is filled, only painted, and in the workshop/storage room nothing at all. So it already looks quite unpleasant in the laundry room. We have a lot of holes. In hindsight, we would have preferred to fill them, but now all the pipes are in front and it’s no longer possible. Besides, we are considering installing a sauna and shower there at some point. Then the ugly condition will be even more annoying than just when washing. So I think it strongly depends on the intended use. In the workshop, it doesn’t bother us.

Concrete walls painted directly with Sto paint 1x over was enough, for the bubbles as you call them, just paint over with the brush.

The corner, however, is suspended with drywall and painted.

PS. I would always paint it again because it is simply brighter.

Utility basement... yes!

Don't make life harder for yourself!
Prime and then paint. If it bothers you for years, you can always follow the basement trend and "cover it differently" ;)

We have a lot of holes. In hindsight, we would have preferred to fill them,

just brush over the bubbles as you call them.

I would definitely paint it. The holes don’t bother me at all in my storage room, heating cellar, and utility room. On the other hand, my wife doesn’t like it at all. For the areas that are later intended to be converted into living space, we also had the walls plastered. In those cases, the holes would certainly be too much for me as well. Before: After: I would have been very annoyed if I had not painted. Paint and bubbles don’t matter to me. The main thing is that it’s no longer a dark cave.

Painting is really a must, it turns a dark cave into something with a feel-good factor.

Thickly applied paint plaster is quite suitable for closing the bubbles. It just costs more than just paint.

I also filled and sanded the joints, it just looks much nicer. But it is quite a bit of work.
I did it when the basement was already there, the house was not yet. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the time and inclination.

Painting is really a must, it turns a dark cave into something with a feel-good factor.

Thickly applied paint plaster is quite suitable for closing the bubbles. It just costs more than just paint.

I also filled and sanded the seams, it just looks much nicer. But it is quite a bit of work. I did that when the basement was already there, the house not yet. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the time and inclination.

I agree! I would probably have chosen paint plaster as well, since it certainly covers better and is a bit "thicker"...

We will simply paint the technical room with paint plaster and be done. Possibly sand and prime the concrete wall beforehand; I think this way you can certainly get a pretty decent result.