My thought too. If it's an exterior wall, I'd be looking at the gutters.

What kind of mastic did you use? There's a type that never ever dries and that seems to be one you have used. We call it wet patch.

My gfic are connected to by bathroom gfic. (Don’t know if should be) but if 1 trips they all trip. I just press the button to reset

Had similar. The repair is actually fairly easy if you're relatively patient. Square off the hole to eliminate the jagged parts. Take a quick measurement from the lathe to the outer edge of the plaster still there - it looks like its > 1/2" inch so I'll base my next steps on that: Like previous posts have said, get yourself some 1/2" drywall - looks like you might make do with a half-sheet (4x4'), plus get a couple of packs of wood shims, 1 1/4" drywall screws. fiberglass mesh adhesive-backed drywall tape and joint compound (plus a pack of the plastic drywall taping knives if you don't have any). Cut the replacement drywall to roughly match the squared off opening. Then, use the shims in pairs perpendicular to the direction of the lathe to shim out the replacement drywall to shim up the drywall patch to the existing surface of the wall - screw the shims to the lathe with drywall screws and make marks at the top and bottom so you know where the paired-up shims are located. Put the drywall in place and screw the drywall to the shims. Tape the gaps between the repair and existing wall, and finish up the gaps with the joint compound, feathering the compound out onto the wall and repair board to minimize any waviness. Prime and paint.
Sounds like lots of steps but definitely one of the quickest ways to get a relatively smooth repair with a minimum of heartache.

If you're "installing" individual conductors you have much bigger problems

If you have ac on the inside and are managing humidity inside with air conditioning you should have a vapor barrier on the external wall surface. Directly under the siding.

High himidity outside. Cold inner surface creates a risk of condensation near the drywall surface.

In a heating climate you generally want the opposite. Vapor barrier on the inside surface directly under your drywall. Because the inside has the high humidity and the risk of condensation is highest near there outside cold surface.

Which is why your way sucks. Matching will never happen because they aren't the same material. Plus you have to screw it into studs. I've knocked out whole sections of buckled plaster and done this. It works perfectly and matches 100%.

The paint blistering on your wall indicates that you have a moisture problem in that room. I would try to define this issue first.

Checks walls. Yup, still there, buddy. Hard as a rock.

It's a good idea to use vapor barriers regardless, to prevent moisture from damaging interior wall. Unless this is a indoor partition wall

Put another poster up. Mario Bros. Maybe?

Generally this is going to be project dependent, but just ask your local building department that is going to inspect your work

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If it's an old house with good concrete foundation walls and good drainage, and hasn't leaked yet, you should be safe.

Another point - be sure that the basement wall vapour barrier plastic is sealed to the insulation's vapour barrier in between the joists against the exterior wall. (back in the 50's or before, vapour barriers were an occasional concept, usually that paper-backed fiber insulation was the vapour barrier. Proper insulation was also often just a suggestion.)

Also, by code - while pink fiberglas insulation can be exposed (with a plastic vapour barrier) - Styrofoam insulation must be covered with drywall; otherwise, a fire could burn the Styrofoam to produce noxious fumes. Sealing it behind drywall limits this risk. Also, know your code - electrical outlets in a finished room must be no less than 12 feet apart (since many appliances have 6 foot cords) not counting doors and windows. My local code allows for zero outlets in unfinished areas. (i.e. no drywall).

And... finishing a basement (or part) can add to your tax bill if the municipality gets wind of it.

Follow the advise I’ve seen here and use mold resistant drywall too.

I had to demo 36ft of basement wall due to a water damage issue, and was set on doing it properly with 2in XPS while maintaining the existing wall thickness due to existing clearances.

Ended up going with 2x3 studs mounted flat on the XPS foam. To account for deflection if loads are added to the wall, I slapped two 5in tapcons through each stud.

Run electric through the joists and down between studs. Can add additional 1in insulation if desired.

If it were a newer GFCI then I'd start suggesting troubleshooting. If its anything older than 5 years and an outdoor GFCI, I strongly recommend replacing it as a matter of course, because they do have a finite lifespan and that lifespan is shortened with exposure.

If the hoses are inside the house, and you're saying they're 1/8" away from the interior-facing surface of the wall, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about at all and don't need to do anything.

You don't have experience with plaster and lathing do you? And you don't put joint comping on lathing. Lathing is flexible..plaster is 10x harder..and the irregular borders would need be screwed down..it will never hold. He need to cut the loose stuff out and replace with sheet rock

Yes, it's water leaking in from somewhere.

1st not a pro. Semi pro with restoration experience. In my experience the mortar that you are talking about was added the the gap after the outer framing, in a poured foundation they would have put the uprights and sills in during the pour. remember in those days the carpenter would build the windows on site and to measure. The mortar usually is quite fragile and chips away easily. Likely to be adhered only well on the block side so care not to damage the block is needed. I would remove existing windows and mortar then install the new window as one would nowadays then use spay foam to fill void. Then cap with appropriate trim.

Your better off getting half a sheet of sheet rock. Maybe a 2x4 as a nailer. While you could scre the hell out of that and re-plaster it will never come out as nice or as easy as replacing it with sheetrock. My whole home is plaster and lathing..I hate the crap! Use a sheetroch knife to remove anything loose and even up the edges. Depending on where the studs land you may need a 2x4 or some kind of wood nailer for the sheet rock. Plaster is cheap and cures very hard. You may find it easier to just use modern mud aka joint compound and tape

You'll need to use an Arduino or Raspberry Pi, it's the only way to set up lighting like that across a day. You can integrate it with something like Philips Hue bulbs in order to change the colour temperature of the white light and the brightness across the day.

they make waterproof housings for where you connect strands of lights together, I’d give those a shot

I thought Robertson (the square hole screw heads) was more of a Canada thing?

Yes, my go to reference for construction, Holmes on Homes, says NEVER have bare untreated wood touching cement. It can absorb water from the cement.

You also have to consider the risk of basement leakage. Cracked foundation wall leaking, or rain/melt water buildup leaking in, may damage the bottom of your walls. Is this a risk? How good is the foundation drainage? Would you notice?

And, in much older houses, the concrete basement floor may not be particularly level. A raised wood subfloor allows you to level things so you can use tiles or carpet. But you may have a central floor drain, you may never notice if there's a water seepage until mold shows up, etc. Basement floods do more damage if you have to replace a raised floor. (I saw a Holmes episode where he used a floor leveler compound, like a very wet cement that leveled like water but hardened - to get rid of excessive slope. Don't block the drain. )