Methods for leveling walls - choosing a method and the process of leveling yourself. How to level the walls in an apartment? Wall leveling material
The walls are the first thing that catches your eye in an apartment. Their uneven surface can greatly spoil the impression of a home, even if it is incredibly pompously decorated. In simple interiors, wall defects are especially noticeable. The only way out in this case is to level the surface. Of course, you can use the services of a specialist, but try to do it yourself. I am sure that with our recommendations you will certainly succeed.
Preparing for leveling
Before leveling the walls, you need to perform a number of operations. First you need to set the boundaries of the irregularities. To measure horizontally, you can use a cord that is pulled tightly along the wall. It’s even easier if you have a building level at least 1.5 m long. To calculate vertical unevenness, use a plumb line. Differences of no more than 3-5 cm are leveled using special building mixtures. In this way, it is possible to level more crooked walls, but this will take a lot of time and money.
This is the so-called wet method of leveling load-bearing structures. In the dry method, the walls are sheathed. It is used if the walls are too crooked. The latter method is more labor-intensive, but allows you to achieve a perfectly smooth surface. In both cases, the key to success is strict adherence to the sequence of actions.
Plastering must be done quickly, because the solution dries quickly
Regardless of the method chosen, it is necessary to take a responsible approach to leveling the corners. Curvature, imperceptible at first glance, may appear when installing curbs or.
Plaster or drywall: pros and cons
Both types of wall alignment have both positive and negative qualities. This requires preliminary cleaning of the surface. Elements of old plaster can affect the quality of installation of the material using special glue.
Behind the installation you can easily hide noise and heat insulating materials, hide communications and wiring. The problem is that drywall slightly reduces the size of the room and can withstand less load than walls covered with mortar. Pay attention to the color of the drywall sheets. The moisture-resistant material is painted green, and the regular material is gray. In bathrooms, kitchens and other rooms with high humidity, it is better to use gypsum board sheets.
If you prefer building mixtures, the room will retain its original dimensions. However, there are some problems here too. The surface will be monolithic, without gaps between the wall and the layer. On curved walls, a large layer of mixture is obtained, up to 5-10 cm) and a lot of material is required. As a result, this method is not often used. To carry out such repairs, you will need to remove all the furniture, and after completion of the work, carry out a thorough cleaning of the room.
Plastering walls
Before starting work, you must completely turn off the electricity in the apartment. Afterwards, the surface is thoroughly cleaned of old wallpaper, plaster or paint. Then treat the surface with a primer. In this case, the construction mixture will be better fixed. The primer increases moisture resistance and prevents delamination of materials. For cement mixtures, a solution of cement, water and sand is used. To make the wall as smooth as possible, beacons must be attached to it. To do this, profiles are installed on the sides of the wall. The verticality of the beacons is checked with a plumb line.
Dilute about 10 liters of cement mixture and apply it to the wall with a construction trowel in large strokes. Then level the solution along the beacon lines from bottom to top. To do this, use a level or a wooden board. The solution must be added until the wall surface is leveled along the beacon lines. When using a spatula, you must tilt it 45 degrees. In this case, the surface will be perfectly flat. Don't forget about the corners, be especially careful in their finishing.
Economical method of leveling walls (Video)
When working with dry mortar, pay attention to both the thickness of the applied layer and the type of binding material. For finishing living rooms, gypsum-based compositions are usually used. This material maintains the indoor microclimate well. Cement mortars are mainly used in conditions of high humidity (bathrooms and kitchens).
How to level walls with plasterboard
The second and most popular way to level walls is to use plasterboard sheets. It is usually used if the size of irregularities on the wall is more than 5 cm. The plasterboard wall must be protected from moisture, freezing and condensation. To securely attach the drywall sheets to the adhesive, it is recommended to clean the wall from any remnants of the old mortar. Then the surface is primed.
If the wall surface is loose or porous, it is better to use deep penetration soil. It is applied with a spray or paint brush. A special primer marked “betonactive” is applied to concrete and other low-porous surfaces. Before you install the drywall sheets, be sure to do the wiring. Socket boxes must protrude at least 20 mm above the wall surface.
After completion of the plastering, the beacons are removed, and the stripes after them are rubbed over with plaster.
Glue plasterboard sheets directly to the wall or install them on metal frames. Irregularities in corners are eliminated using special metal profiles. To install this type of structure, you must use self-tapping screws, dowels and a screwdriver. Places for metal structures are marked with a pencil.
conclusions
Leveling walls yourself requires a careful approach and selection of the appropriate method of work. The main thing is not to despair and approach the matter responsibly.
It will quickly lose its original appearance, and you will have to do it again. To save time and money, it is better to immediately properly level the walls. Which method of leveling walls is better to choose and how to carry out all the work?
Assessment of wall surface roughness
All methods of leveling walls are divided into two fundamentally different groups:
One way or another choose, taking into account the degree of unevenness of the walls, so this stage is especially important. You can measure how uneven the walls are laser level or regular building level.
Sequence of work looks like this:
- preparation of the wall surface. In order for the leveling mixture to stick, the wall must be properly treated. First, all remnants of the old coating are removed, then priming is carried out for better adhesion to the plaster layer. For cement compositions, use a primer made from mortar and water, the so-called cement laitance; for gypsum plaster, it is better to use a special one;
- if the plaster layer is more than 2 cm, then at this stage it is better to use reinforcing plaster mesh, which will not allow the composition to crumble. It is worth noting that if you use a ready-made factory plaster mixture, then you should pay attention to the composition: some manufacturers use polymer additives that increase the strength and degree of adhesion of the solution so much that a mesh may not be needed;
installation of beacons. Wooden slats or a perforated metal profile are used as beacons, which become a guideline for creating a flat surface. The latter will be more convenient for beginners, since such beacons will not have to be removed after the plaster layer has slightly hardened and then the recesses will be masked. First, two beacons are mounted at opposite ends of the wall, and the beacons are secured with gypsum mortar of the required height until ideal verticality is achieved. Three cords are pulled between the two resulting beacons: at the top, in the middle of the wall and at the bottom, and already focusing on them, intermediate beacons are installed so that they lightly touch the cord. The step between the beacons depends on the size of the tool that will be used to level the plaster mixture (usually a rule is used for this). In any case, the distance between the beacons should be 20 cm less than the length of the instrument;
You can find a wide variety in construction stores. At the construction site, all that remains is to prepare the solution correctly, following the instructions. You can prepare a cement plaster solution yourself: mix cement and sand in a ratio of 1:6, then add water to a creamy consistency. Some experts recommend sticking to a component ratio of 1:2 or 1:3; the finished mixture is more plastic, and therefore easier to handle. The finished solution is used for 1-2 hours until it begins to harden;
applying plaster. To do this, you can use a “falcon” and a trowel. The first is to take the mixture from a container, the second is to throw it on the wall in excess. The use of a “falcon”, a tool similar to a trowel, but larger in size, allows you to increase the speed of work. Now, as a rule, you need to evenly distribute the solution from bottom to top, leaning on the beacons. If the leveling layer is thick, then you can first apply a rough outline of the plaster, and after it dries, apply the main layer with leveling along the beacons. If wooden slats were used as the latter, then when the solution dries a little, they need to be carefully removed, the cavities filled with plaster and leveled with a spatula;
After the plaster dries, we obtain a smooth but rough surface. To make it smooth, you need to apply thin layer of putty, and then sand the surface with fine sandpaper.
The main advantage of this leveling method is to maximize the preservation of the usable area of the room. The disadvantages are the labor-intensive process, the need to prepare the base and the presence of a large amount of dust.
No. 2. Leveling walls with putty
However, do not forget that this method of leveling walls will take up a lot of usable space, and if it is already in short supply, then the room risks turning into a hole. Walls covered with plasterboard sheets will be able to withstand less load than those lined with plaster. If we are talking about a room with high humidity, then you should use moisture-resistant plasterboard sheets.
Sequence of work:
frame construction. It may consist of a metal profile. The timber does not allow achieving the desired durability of the frame, it is susceptible to the influence of moisture and microorganisms, therefore in most cases today they are used guide and rack metal profile.
The first two profiles are attached to the floor and ceiling.
Using a level, draw a straight line on the floor at a distance of 5-6 cm from the wall (more is possible if the curvature is large or you need to hide communications).
Using a vertical plumb line, the line is transferred to the ceiling.
Guide profiles are fastened along the resulting lines with self-tapping screws, constantly checking the evenness of their level using a plumb line. Between them, perpendicular to them, supporting profiles are attached along the wall using. The distance between them is 40-60 cm for plasterboard sheets 120 cm wide;
The walls in the apartment occupy most of the visible structures of the house. If the floors can be covered with various materials, and the ceilings can be made suspended, then uneven walls cannot be hidden anywhere. Especially if there are no carpets or other coverings that distract attention, then verticality and unevenness will be immediately noticeable. Therefore, leveling the walls with your own hands is the most optimal option for improving the interior of a room in a house (apartment).
When constructing houses, all finishing work is most often carried out by contract construction organizations, and in private buildings by hired teams. Often, their lack of control leads to differences along the entire length of the walls of up to 5-10 cm. Plastering done by incompetent migrant workers without the use of professional tools and sometimes even any experience in finishing, forces the owner of such a newly built home to perform additional leveling of the walls upon moving in.
Required materials and tools
To level the walls in the apartment, the following materials are used:
- dry building mixtures, followed by dissolving them in water (dry plaster, putty, etc.)
- panels made of plastic, metal, wood boards or plasterboard.
To carry out leveling with wet mixtures you need a special tool:
- spatulas of two or three sizes (a tool with a rubber handle is recommended), the metal part should not be too soft,
- a basin with straight walls or a bucket with a capacity of 15-20 liters,
- a special stirrer mounted on an electric drill (manual stirring takes a lot of time and effort),
- brushes or roller for priming,
- rule - a special tool for leveling,
- surface cleaning material.
Leveling walls falls into the category of dirty work, so it is necessary to have work clothes made of tarpaulin material.
Leveling with sheet material
Due to the high labor intensity of the plastering process, many homeowners with little construction experience cover the walls with sheet material - plasterboard. This method is also loved by professional teams, also because it saves time. The panels are attached to a previously equipped metal frame or glued to the wall with special glue.
The main requirement for such work is to establish a vertical level of the wall surface when installing a metal profile.
Leveling walls with wet mixtures
The most common method remains the use of wet type wall leveling. To perform this type of work, minimal skills in using a spatula and removing beacons are required. Mixtures for leveling walls can be purchased at any building materials store. There you can also find instructions for preparing solutions.
Before the main leveling stage, you need to remove the old coating (wallpaper, whitewash, paint) from the surface. In necessary situations, flimsy, falling off old plaster in corners and other places is removed. In practice, it is more common to clean all the old coating down to the underlying concrete or brickwork.
The procedure for leveling walls begins with measuring differences along the entire length of the wall. This can be done using a long special tool - a building level. Or by stretching any cord along the wall. The verticality of the surface is measured using a simple plumb line. If there are differences of no more than 30 mm, start working. The largest layer of laid plaster should not exceed the permissible dimensions.
Alignment by beacons
Preparing the surface for painting is most often done using beacons that serve as a guide. The initial leveling of the walls with putty is done by applying it between the beacons and distributing the solution from the bottom up. The ends of the tool must be in contact with the surface of the beacons installed along the entire height of the wall at a certain distance from each other, corresponding to the length of the rule.
The final leveling of the walls consists of grouting the surface with a special device - a plower. After completion, it is recommended to apply a primer over the putty for better paint adhesion.
Working with spatulas
If you have no experience working with the rule, you can use two spatulas. One will serve as a "palette". It will be possible to dose the quality and quantity of the solution. And another spatula, a smaller one, will be working. They apply a layer of the mixture to the wall. When using a spatula, it should be held at an angle of 45º to the surface. In this position the mixture will lie evenly.
Surfaces are usually applied in three layers, each with a thickness of at least 1.5-2 mm. The room temperature should not be lower than 10º C and the applied putty should not be exposed to sunlight. After applying the putty, the wall must be primed.
Very often, when starting to decorate walls, you may encounter a problem related to the quality of the base. Moreover, this problem occurs in most new buildings: the walls of the apartment are uneven, with many different defects. Such a surface cannot be painted or wallpaper glued to it, because... The wallpaper pattern will “float” and the sheets will stick crookedly. How to properly level the walls with your own hands so that the surface becomes perfectly flat?
How to level walls with your own hands
There are two ways to level the walls: using plasterboard sheets and using dry mixtures. The plasterboard wall can later be puttyed, painted, and wallpaper glued to it. But many craftsmen do not recommend gluing tiles onto drywall: they say its surface is too smooth. A universal method for leveling walls is the use of dry mixtures (plasters, putties). The finished surface turns out to be perfectly smooth and is perfect for any material - tiles, wallpaper, or simply for painting.
How to evaluate surface roughness
Before you begin leveling the walls, you need to measure the unevenness of the surface. To do this you will need a plumb line or a long level (2-2.5 m). Drive a nail into one of the corners of the room, leaving about 2-3 mm on the surface. This will be the first beacon. Now take some weight, for example a nut, and attach it to the nail by a thread. Hang the plumb line so that the weight almost reaches the floor. When the weight stops swinging, the plumb line forms a straight line. Then drive a second nail into the bottom of the wall so that the nail head and thread are in line.
First of all, you need to carefully prepare the surface for work.
Drive the nails in the same way and lower the plumb line from the opposite part of the wall. You will get four nails driven in around the perimeter of the wall and, accordingly, two straight lines. Now, to measure the unevenness, you will need a long thread, which you need to stretch from one end of the top nail to the opposite side of the bottom one. When fastening the thread crosswise, make sure that it does not come into contact with the wall. Tensioned threads are the best guide by which the deviation can be seen and you can decide how to align the walls; video and photos of the process of installing beacons will help you imagine this system.
Now, thanks to the cords stretched at four points, you can see the exact condition of the wall surface in the room. If the deviation is small and is no more than 10-15 mm, gypsum or cement mixtures will be needed to level the wall.
How to level walls for tiles
If you plan to decorate the wall with tiles or tiles in the room, you need to level the walls with dry building mixtures. This method is considered more labor-intensive than, for example, leveling with plasterboard sheets. We will look in detail at how to level the walls in an apartment using mixtures.
The first stage is surface preparation. Clean the walls from old coverings (wallpaper, paint, loose plaster), turn off the power supply. The second stage is priming the base. It is necessary to prime the surface so that the plaster adheres well to the surface. It increases moisture resistance and prevents delamination of materials. For cement mixtures, the so-called “cement laitance” is usually used - a solution of sand, water and cement.
In order for the tile to lie flat and without defects, the surface must be perfect.
To calculate how to level the walls you need to install approximate beacons. Installation of the slats, which will serve as a guide, begins with installing the profile on opposite sides of the wall. The vertical position of the beacon is checked using a plumb line. The profile is fixed on the wall with construction plaster - it is applied to the lath at several points. Now pull the cord through the profiles in the middle, bottom and top. Install the remaining slats so that the cord lightly touches them. The distance between the beacons is selected in accordance with the size of the tool that will be used to apply the plaster.
Choosing a leveling mixture
After this, you can begin applying the building mixture. When choosing a leveling compound, pay attention to the maximum thickness of the layer that will be applied and the type of bonding material. Gypsum building mixtures are best used for living rooms (bedroom, living room, children's room, etc.), as they well maintain the indoor microclimate. For wet rooms such as kitchens or bathrooms, cementitious mixtures are recommended. Cement-based mixtures do not allow moisture to penetrate into the concrete base, which prevents the development of fungus and mold.
The choice of dry mixture must be taken very seriously, because this is the key to successful repair work. In this case, you cannot save money by buying cheap building mixtures of dubious production. Also, remember that each room is suitable for a specific type of mixture. For example, you cannot level the bathroom walls with gypsum mixture, which may remain after leveling the wall in the bedroom. Recommendations regarding brands can be obtained directly from the hardware store.
You can also prepare plaster solutions yourself. For cement mortar you will need 1 part M400 cement and 6 parts sand. Pour sand into the mixing box and then add a layer of sand. Mix the ingredients thoroughly and start adding water gradually. Stir until creamy consistency. Some craftsmen prepare cement mortars using 1 part cement and 2-3 parts sand as a basis. A mixture with a small amount of sand is more flexible and therefore easier to work with. You need to dilute the purchased dry mixture according to the instructions. Ready-made solutions must be used within 1-2 hours after preparation, otherwise they may lose their properties.
Work order
Having determined the curvature of the walls using a plumb line, you can calculate the approximate costs and consumption of the selected material. By the way, to reduce costs, it is not at all necessary to plaster all the walls to a perfectly smooth surface. In some cases, it is enough to carry out finishing work only on those surfaces on which it is very noticeable: walls on which light falls, walls opposite the window, etc. The surface behind the furniture, cluttered with cabinets, does not have to be perfectly smooth. But, if you decide to correct only the most visible defects, think carefully about this step, suddenly after a while you decide to rearrange or re-glue the wallpaper, and all the irregularities will become noticeable.
The job of leveling walls with a plaster falcon requires some skill, but is not too difficult
Prepare tools for plastering work. In order to level the walls with your own hands, you will need a spatula for mixing, spreading and smoothing the mortar, a drill with an attachment (construction mixer) for stirring dry mixtures, and a plaster falcon. The plaster falcon is an indispensable assistant when carrying out finishing work. Many craftsmen do without it, despite the fact that this tool greatly simplifies the process of putty and plastering. It is a square shield 45x45 or 40x40 cm, in the middle of which a metal or wooden handle is attached. The required amount of plaster is applied to the falcon, which is immediately used. Using a falcon, you won't have to constantly bend over to the bucket.
Clean the walls of old paint and wallpaper. After cleaning, carefully inspect the walls for rust stains, soot, oil stains and mildew. Remove any defects found mechanically. For some types of stains, you can use special acid or alkaline compounds. After this, inspect the old plaster, selectively tapping the wall surface. Beat poorly adhering plaster away from the surface so that you can subsequently plaster this area with a more durable solution.
Do not carry out finishing work on a damp wall. All damp places from old plaster or stains must be dried. After this, the wall surface is carefully primed. Due to the fact that the primer penetrates deeply into the surface of the base, it significantly improves the adhesion of layers of plaster applied to the wall.
When preparing for work, clear the floors of debris and cover them with thick paper or cardboard so as not to subsequently clean them of dried mortar. So, let's get to work. Take a plaster spatula in your right hand, and a falcon in your left. Having collected the required amount of plaster on its surface, throw a portion of the mortar onto the wall and begin leveling. You can plaster the wall by spreading mortar from the falcon. In this case, it must be placed directly against the wall and the falcon with its contents must be directed from the bottom up.
Without experience, it will be quite difficult to get a perfectly flat surface, because... Such work requires accuracy and precision. The same beacons will help you achieve smooth walls. As a guide, there can be slats of the required length, width 2-3 cm and thickness equal to the thickness of the plaster coating. The slats can be secured with plaster mortar or nails.
Installing beacons will help achieve better results and facilitate the alignment process itself.
Plastering with beacons is done as follows: level the solution with a trowel and apply it in the direction from bottom to top. The amount of mortar is added until the layer of plaster reaches the level of the beacons. After this, the slats are carefully removed, and the remaining space is filled with solution.
At the junction of the walls and ceiling, angles are formed that must be made absolutely equal. Crooked corners can also form where two walls meet. How to align the corners of walls and remove defects after plastering work? Alignment can be done both by level and by plane (along the bumps). If the walls are being prepared for wallpaper, then it is better to level the corners. For other types of finishing: decorative plaster, painting, etc. corners can be aligned flat.
When leveling corners with gypsum plaster, a beacon is made in the corner itself, after which the corner is tightened to the width of the rule. The smoothness of the transition from the corner to the wall depends on the width of the rule. The longer the instrument, the less noticeable the transition will be. When working, you should use gypsum plaster (starting putty), since it is this mixture that allows you to level thin layers without sagging.
Leveling walls under tiles using plasterboard is of high quality
You can align the internal corners using reinforcing tape. Moisten a wide spatula with water and apply putty to both sides of the inner corner. Make sure that the surface is evenly covered and that the layer of putty is not too thin. On both sides of the corner, the area covered should be about 50 mm. Dip the reinforcing tape into a bucket of water and bend it in half lengthwise. Now place it on the corner and press it into the putty. Start straightening it by holding the top end and straightening it towards the bottom edge.
Then moisten a wide spatula (10 cm) again and run it along each side of the corner. In this case, the edge of the spatula must be kept as close as possible to the bend. The force with which you need to press should be sufficient to squeeze out excess putty from under the tape. To avoid sagging and unevenness, clean the surface of the corner with a dry spatula. It is not recommended to use sandpaper or sanding mesh for cleaning, because... Doing so may damage the tape. Repeat applying the putty until your angle is perfectly even. Apply the last layer with an angled trowel, the width of which is more than 25 cm. After applying a fresh layer of plaster, run the angled trowel along the surface of the wall, pressing it to both sides. Now grab a 15-25 cm section along the wall. If you get a slight corrugation, remove it with a thin layer of finishing putty.
How to align walls with wallpaper
It is much easier to level walls with plasterboard than with dry mixtures. Plasterboard boards are fixed on a special frame made of metal profiles. A standard sheet of drywall is 2500x1200x12.5 cm. Based on these parameters, decide on the amount of material.
Measure the walls. If their length above and below is the same, then you can safely continue. If the lengths are different, this must be taken into account when mounting the frame. For example, the length of the lower edge of one wall is 3 m, while the length of the opposite wall is 3 m 5 cm. Therefore, these 5 cm must be taken into account when initially marking the room for the frame. You need to start marking from a longer wall, taking into account the distance under the guide.
Wallpaper walls lined with plasterboard look impeccably smooth and even
Next, stepping back 3-4 cm from the wall and ceiling, screw in the self-tapping screw. Attach a plumb line to it with a thick thread (you can take a regular nut). Now tie a thread to the screws and pull it tight. Do the same operation in all corners of the room, stretch the threads on the floor and near the ceiling. This will create the outline of the future drywall sheet. After checking the length of the parallel lines, remove the threads and attach the guides to the screws. After this, insert the guide posts into the guides on the floor and ceiling, in increments of 40-50 cm, having previously sawed them off to the height of the room. The resulting frame must be firmly strengthened. This is done by securing the racks to the guides with self-tapping screws. Now each of the racks must be firmly attached to the wall. For this, use simple wooden planks, slipping them into the gap between the wall and the gypsum plasterboard wall, attaching them with long screws, after inserting dowels first. Sheets of plasterboard are attached to each rack in increments of 30-40 cm. In this case, the heads of the screws must be slightly recessed into the plasterboard.
When you install all the sheets, you will have a perfectly flat surface that can be painted, wallpapered, or decorative plaster applied to it.
Video guide
Uneven walls can ruin even the most beautiful interior design. Unfortunately, both in new buildings and in “secondary” housing, the wall surfaces rarely allow immediate finishing. Of course, you can limit yourself to masking unevenness with wallpaper with a small pattern or arranging large furniture, but it is still better to level the walls.
Most often, plaster is used to solve this problem. In addition, doing plastering work yourself helps to significantly reduce repair costs. To get perfectly smooth walls, you just need to know and follow the simple rules for using this material.
Peculiarities
There are two ways to make a wall smooth: using plaster and using plasterboard sheets. Already leveled walls can be additionally plastered to bring the surface to perfection.
It is easier for beginners to work with drywall, but plaster also has its advantages:
- The material does not require installation of a frame under the cladding, thereby saving room space. For wiring electricity or water supply, special recesses are cut into the wall itself.
- The wall turns out to be monolithic. Seams and joints, which are always present with plasterboard sheathing, do not exist with plastering.
- Even a thick layer of gypsum plaster is protected from cracks.
- Plaster is most often an environmentally friendly building material; it does not contain or emit substances harmful to humans.
With all its advantages, leveling the wall using gypsum or cement mixtures also has significant disadvantages:
- Working with plaster requires significantly more time than with the “dry method” of leveling.
- It is quite difficult for a non-professional to calculate the amount of ingredients required for work in a given area.
- There must be water at the site.
- For a plastering station, according to SNIP, a 3-phase voltage is required. Although, when renovating small rooms, you can also use a station operating from a regular 220 V outlet.
- Plastering is a “dirty” process that requires care and subsequent thorough cleaning of the room.
How to level it?
There are several types of plaster mixtures: with cement, with clay and with gypsum. When working with any type of material, it is necessary to use special tools: spatulas, brushes, levelers, scrapers, containers, a mixer for stirring, a trowel and sandpaper. To facilitate the process, you can also use various guides, beacons and corners.
For exterior work and finishing of non-residential premises, it is better to use cement plaster. It is cheap and durable, and the proportions can be changed depending on preference and purpose. However, physically working with such a mixture is quite difficult. It does not adhere well to concrete surfaces. In addition, with a large thickness of the plaster layer, cracks may appear. It is also worth noting the fact that any cement mixtures take a long time to dry.
Leveling apartment walls using gypsum plaster is considered the best option. It is environmentally friendly, has increased moisture absorption, and provides good thermal insulation. Consumption of such mixtures per 1 sq. m is significantly lower than the consumption of cement products, but the cost of such materials is higher.
Clay plaster is used much less often, since working with it requires some experience. This material is also environmentally friendly, elastic and has high moisture absorption, like gypsum mixtures. But, unlike gypsum and cement, such plaster must be updated annually, because small cracks appear along the perimeter.
Preparatory work
Before directly leveling the wall surface, it is necessary to carry out the following preparation:
- First you need to remove the old coating (wallpaper, paint or the top layer of old plaster).
- You should also thoroughly rinse and clean the surface from dust, dirt and stains.
- All cracks and chips are carefully cleaned with a spatula. To carry out preparatory work at the joints of walls, you can use a special tool - an angle spatula.
- At this stage, it is necessary to remove all switches and sockets, insulate and hide the de-energized wires in the recesses.
- It is better to coat the cleaned wall with a primer so that the plaster adheres better to the surface. The primer is selected taking into account the wall covering material (concrete, wood, brick or old layer of plaster). The primer also helps strengthen the plaster layer and repels excess moisture. To apply it, you can use a regular brush, roller or spray gun.
Following the instructions, you must wait until it dries completely. Then you can start measuring the curvature and choosing a work technique.
Selection and alignment technique
There are two ways to level the surface using plaster yourself:
- The rule(in non-residential and utility premises). In this case, it is necessary to use a rule of at least 1 m in length. It is worth considering that the surface of the wall will still not be able to be perfectly leveled. It is necessary to fill the recesses and cracks with plaster in advance, knock down the protrusions with a spatula and a hammer. The composition is applied to the wall with throwing movements from floor to ceiling and stretched over the entire area using the rule. Then take a longer tool (from 2 m) and pass it several times in the direction from bottom to top, correcting minor defects and irregularities.
- By lighthouses(most often this is how walls are aligned in living rooms). In order to find out what the curvature of the wall is, you need to apply a level and measure the difference between the starting and ending points. If the difference is 10 mm or less, there is no need to plaster the surface; you can get by with putty. In case of a larger difference, it is necessary to correctly apply beacon landmarks. To do this, you need to drill two holes in the upper corners of the wall and insert screws into them. Then, pressing the plumb line to one of the selected points, you need to select the largest protrusion and screw the screw below strictly vertically to this protrusion. The same must be done at the other end of the wall. Then you should check the correctness of both guides using a level.
The rest of the wall space is divided into strips equal to the length of the rule, and screws are also screwed in at the top and bottom. After this, the wall must be cleaned again, primed and the guide plumbs removed from it. After the primer has dried, plaster is applied along the marked lines, and beacon profiles are inserted into it. Excess plaster must be removed.
Kneading
The leveling itself begins with mixing gypsum or sand plaster according to the instructions on the package. The dry mixture is poured into the prepared container, water is added and mixed thoroughly using a construction mixer or any long-handled tool at hand. The mixture should stand for a while, after which it needs to be mixed again.
Rough layer
In order to make the first (rough) layer, you need to apply the mixture with a spatula to the wall using a throwing motion. Application is carried out from floor to ceiling in the space between two beacons. If the curvature of the wall is minimal, then a rough application is enough to make the layer align with the profile.
Repeated layers
If applying a rough layer is not enough, then after it has dried, it is necessary to repeat the application as many times as necessary to hide the leveling profile under the layers.
Alignment by rule
After the last layer has set slightly, it must be leveled using the rule. The tool is pressed tightly against the surface and moves smoothly upward. The action must be repeated until the ribs of the beacons appear from under the coating. After this, you need to let the composition completely set.
Removing beacons and polishing
As soon as the coating becomes strong enough, the beacons are removed from it, and the recesses remaining from them are filled with plaster. The completely dry wall is moistened, and then all defects are smoothed out using a float, float and sandpaper.
Smooth walls
You can level any curved wall using plaster using the method described above. However, depending on the type of composition used, the characteristics of the wall surface and subsequent finishing, The work process may vary slightly:
- Brick walls must first be moistened with water. This way the mixture will stick better to the brick.
- To level clay walls, it is necessary to use only those plasters that weigh less than clay.
- If the wall was previously plastered, and the reliability of the old coating is still high, you can put a new layer on the old plaster without knocking it down. In order to determine the strength of the old layer, you need to knock on the surface of the wall. Where the sound is muffled, the plaster holds perfectly and does not need to be dismantled. If the sound is loud, the old masonry must be dismantled using an ax or hammer and a spatula.
Leveling walls with plaster in an apartment is carried out the same way in almost all rooms. The exception is work in the bathroom and toilet. Since there is high humidity in these rooms, the applied mixture may become deformed and move away from the wall.
In this case, it is better to choose a cement solution, since it is more moisture resistant. The mixed mass should be completely homogeneous. The surface of the wall must be covered with a primer. If several layers of cement plaster are applied, then shallow notches must be made on the pre-dried bottom layer so that the top layer is better attached to it. If you plan to lay ceramic tiles in the future, deviations in the wall level should not exceed one centimeter.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to plaster a wall that has already been lined with plasterboard:
- To do this, you need to prepare the surface in advance.
- You need to clean and prime it, putty all the seams and places where the gypsum board is attached to the profile, correct the corners using special corners that are placed under the plaster.
- The mixture itself must be selected with the lowest liquid content, or initially moisture-resistant gypsum plasterboards must be installed.
It is not recommended to glue wallpaper to a wall plastered with cement mixture, as the surface will be too grainy. However, if you remove the crumbling layer and treat the wall with a special impregnation or glue, the wallpaper can, in principle, be glued. However, it is better to glue them onto gypsum plaster, plastered with special mixtures and carefully sanded.
Hard to reach places
Working with plaster on a wall surface is not particularly difficult, even for those who are doing this for the first time. However, plastering corners, slopes or ceilings can cause difficulties.
In order to plaster window and door openings, you must follow certain rules:
- It is important to carry out all the preparatory work. It is necessary to cover with film all window and door elements that can be damaged and dirty. It is best to use corners that serve as beacons and additionally reinforce the plaster layer. They need to be installed in advance. It is also necessary to attach a bar that defines the plane in which the composition is applied.
- The paste solution should be mixed in such an amount that it is enough for one hour of work. If you make a large volume of plaster at once, the mixture will thicken before the end of the process.
- Plaster is applied from the bottom of the opening or slope to the top; a small rule is used for leveling. Excess solution is removed with a trowel, the surface is inspected, and defects are eliminated. The procedure is repeated as many times as necessary to obtain a neat, flat surface.
- After the finished slopes and openings have completely dried, you can coat the surface with paint or lay tiles.
It is recommended to level the corners of the room with plaster using beacons or reinforcing mesh with a counter-shoulder.
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