Liquid wallpaper is a modern finishing material, which, despite the name, is completely different from the usual canvases. This type of finish has been used relatively recently and is not yet familiar to everyone, however, it is rapidly gaining popularity due to its practicality, low cost and aesthetic appearance. It is easy to glue liquid wallpaper on walls and ceilings even alone, which is also a definite plus when doing do-it-yourself work.
The main difference between the material is in its structure and application. The coating is mixed and applied to the surface of the walls, like decorative plaster, and forms a silky coating after drying. Wallpapers have excellent adhesive properties, and therefore are successfully used for processing the ceiling, as well as any hard-to-reach areas.
Another plus of the material is the possibility of using it in bathrooms and other wet rooms.
Armed with the necessary tools
For gluing liquid wallpaper on the ceiling you will need:
- Roller for applying and leveling the mixture. Depending on the intended texture, foam rubber, pile or ribbed rubber will do.
Advice. When using a fluffy roller, choose an attachment with a sparse pile. The mixture does not stick to it, and the coating is applied evenly.
- Container for kneading and swelling - a bucket or basin.
- Plastic spatula or trowel.
- Plastic graters.
- Textured hopper gun for large areas.
- Construction goggles to protect the eyes from small particles.
Ceiling preparation
The first working stage proper surface preparation. To begin with, the old coating is removed or processed. Particularly noteworthy are areas with cracks and potholes, which must be carefully sealed with putty. Furniture is covered with polyethylene before work begins to avoid contamination.
Note! Liquid wallpaper does not require such careful alignment, as for painting or paper sheets, as they can hide small imperfections. However, a properly prepared surface will significantly reduce the consumption of the applied finishing mixture.
Consider some of the features of preparing the ceiling for applying the finishing material.
- The old wallpaper is completely removed.
- Whitewash is easily removed by simple washing.
- Any greasy or dirty stains are removed from the surface.
- All protruding objects (nails, screws) are carefully removed.
If reinforcement is visible through the crumbling concrete of the ceiling, it is painted over with latex or oil paint to avoid corrosion, and after drying it is puttied.
- There should be no traces of cracked and flaky paint anywhere.
- GKL ceiling needs to be puttied over the entire surface.
- After cleaning, the base is primed and left until the composition dries completely.
Advice. If the ceiling was covered with oil paint in bright colors that is difficult to remove, you can apply several layers of primer on it. This will prevent the colors of the old and new coatings from mixing. Suitable white or transparent composition. When processing, do not use Ceresit CT-17 primer: it can lead to the appearance of yellow streaks.
Read more about how to remove old coatings - wallpaper, paint, plaster - written here.
How much material will be needed?
When calculating the amount of dry wallpaper, it should be borne in mind that the consumption declared by the manufacturer is usually underestimated: one package is enough to cover no more than 4.5 square meters. m ceiling on a completely flat surface. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a reserve, and the remaining material in the future can be used to restore damaged areas.
It is better to buy mixtures from the same batch, as there may be noticeable differences in shades.
Bucket and water: preparing the mixture
After the dust has settled and the damp spots from the soil have completely disappeared, you can begin to prepare the working mixture of liquid wallpaper. This procedure does not require viewing training photos or videos - just read the manufacturer's instructions on the package. Usually the mixture needs to be infused and swell from 5 to 12 hours, so you should calculate the time and effort in advance.
Important! Only the entire package can be mixed in one bucket, not part of it. Also, you can not mix the contents of different packages of liquid wallpaper. In order to avoid the appearance of coating drops, it is better to process the entire ceiling in the room at a time.
- In the prepared container, we collect exactly as much water as the manufacturer recommends (usually 7–10 liters). It is good if the liquid is warm, but not higher than 40 degrees.
- Pour the bag with decorative fragments into the water first to ensure even mixing.
- Now add the dry mixture and thoroughly knead the contents of the container with your hands. If it is necessary to cover a large area, we make a separate batch for each package of dry material. Before applying to the surface, ready-made portions must be mixed.
- When the mass is evenly saturated with water, it must be left for the period indicated on the package, and mixed again before use.
Important! When mixing, do not use mechanical devices: rough handling damages the structure of the material, which will significantly worsen its appearance and texture. Remains of wallpaper from the previous mixing can be added to the next.
The finished mixture can be stored in sealed packaging for several weeks without losing its characteristics.
Applying wallpaper to the ceiling
After acquiring the required consistency with the prepared mass, you can begin to apply it to the ceiling. It is not difficult to stick the mixture on the surface correctly, but nevertheless it is worth practicing on any flat area, and at the same time deciding on a suitable texture: depending on the movements of the spatula, the fibers will be arranged differently, forming a different pattern.
Important! If the ceiling is supposed to have decorative elements, then they are fixed before the liquid wallpaper is glued.
To get a decent result, when applying the material, it is enough to follow a step-by-step algorithm of actions.
- We take a small lump of the finishing mixture and form a kind of ball. Then we put a lump on the center of the spatula blade and with return movements we level it over the surface with a layer of 3-5 mm. We observe the previously selected application option (transverse, circular, longitudinal) for each portion in order to form a texture over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe ceiling.
Any subsequent applied fragment must overlap the previous one. It is necessary to glue the composition without long interruptions so that drying spots do not occur.
- When the entire surface is covered with liquid wallpaper, you can process it with a textured roller. This must be done no later than 5 hours after the start of work.
- Upon completion of all stages, we go down to the floor and carefully examine the fruit of our labors: if no growths are visible, and the color of the original base does not show through anywhere, then the work can be considered completed.
You can read about the nuances of applying liquid wallpaper on drywall in this article.
mechanical way
Liquid wallpaper can be applied with a plaster gun (texture spray gun). This method is great for use in large areas. For these purposes, a device with a minimum pump power of 200 l / min and a nominal pressure of 0.5 MPa during operation is suitable. The nozzle can be used with a diameter of 5–10 mm.However, it is worth remembering that the atomizer will not be able to work with rough textures.
Liquid wallpaper is glued with a spray gun in two layers:
- for the first - thinner (about 1.5 mm), - a mixture diluted with water is used;
- for the second, thicker, the composition of the usual consistency is taken.
The mass is sprayed in one direction. You can proceed to the finishing layer after the first one has dried.
As a result of mechanical application, a larger wallpaper texture is formed than with manual application. To make it smaller, you still need to roll the wet top layer with a roller, periodically wetting the tool in water.
It is better to find out all the nuances of working with a sprayer in the manufacturer's instructions.
Restoration of the damaged area of liquid wallpaper
Local damage to the coating or application defects can be repaired quickly and without much effort. It is best to use the remains of the dry mix that was used in this room, saved after finishing, in work.
- We take a home spray gun for flowers and moisten the restored area with plenty of water.
- We wait 15–20 minutes until the wallpaper becomes soft, then remove the wet fragment using a plastic spatula.
Some types of liquid wallpaper can be reused, so it may be possible to glue the old soaked and mashed mixture in place.
- The section of the ceiling with the removed material is primed.
- Knead the required amount of dry composition.
- After the primer dries and the mass swells, we wet the edges of the removed section of the wallpaper to obtain a seamless connection.
- We fill the pothole with the mixture and level it with a spatula overlapping on the old layer.
It is worth remembering that if liquid wallpaper was applied many months ago, there may be some differences in shades between the patch and the rest of the finish. Complete homogeneity can only be achieved by replacing the entire coating.
