Repair always requires a lot of time, effort and decision-making, on which the result will depend in the future. One of the main tasks during the repair is the decoration of the walls: if everything is carefully thought out, the room will look perfect and please the eye for a long time. Wallpapering a room is one of the easiest and most convenient ways, but some questions may arise here, in particular, whether it is necessary to prime the walls before wallpapering.
Do you need a primer on the walls?
And yet, do you need to prime the walls or can you save time and do without pre-treatment? In fact, in theory this is possible, but in practice it is better not to skip this stage, because the result suffers because of this. And especially its durability, because if you do not prepare the walls, then after a while the wallpaper can literally slide off them. It happens that the material begins to bristle and peel off the very next day after the repair work.
The cause of the problems is too low adhesion. Small cracks and voids do not allow the wallpaper to stick well, and no matter how much glue is used and what quality it is, they will not stick very well. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the walls in advance and create the most convenient conditions for work.
When applying a primer, its composition penetrates the surface of the wall and fills all the pores and voids, thereby increasing adhesion, so the wallpaper sticks better.
Work on a flat and smooth surface is much easier, and the appearance of the finish coat looks better with a primer mixture than without it.
Advantages of priming
In addition to the fact that wallpaper will adhere better and look more attractive due to the primer, there are a number of other advantages of pre-treatment of walls:
- The primer mixture strengthens the surface layer of plaster and putty, thereby preventing its premature destruction, the appearance of all kinds of defects and chips. This is especially important if the wall will be covered with wallpaper.
- If the surface is not primed, then for high-quality gluing of wallpaper, you will have to spend a lot of wallpaper glue, and preferably of high quality. It turns out that if you simply use the soil, the costs will be much lower.
- Many primers contain antiseptic agents that help protect walls from mold and other fungal growths.
- The wall will not absorb unnecessary moisture from adhesives.
- The primer allows you to even out the color, this is especially necessary when pasting a room with thin wallpaper. If you first apply a primer, then after that you don’t have to worry that the surface may acquire an ugly yellow or gray tint. In addition, the composition will hide stains on the walls and streaks.
- Wallpapering primed walls is much easier. Sometimes the material does not want to stick to the surface in any way or begins to fall off if priming is not done first. Without a primer, the glue on the wall dries quickly, and you have to apply it to the wallpaper again, because of which they get wet and tear. It is much easier to prime the wall in advance. By preparing the surface, you can save time, effort and nerves.
- Priming is a guarantee that the glue will be distributed evenly and there will be no dry spots on the wallpaper.
Primer selection
In the store it can be difficult to choose the necessary material, since the choice should be made individually. As for brands, for the best result, it is certainly better to give preference to well-known and proven companies.
[smartcontrol_youtube_shortcode key="choosing primer for walls" cnt="4" col="2" shls="true"]Some manufacturers under the guise of a primer sell diluted PVA glue, which, although it can be used for priming, is inferior in efficiency to specialized primers. In addition, PVA sold in cans labeled "primer" is unreasonably expensive.
- Alkyd primer is suitable for treating wooden surfaces before applying any type of cladding to it, from paint to wallpaper. It is quite easy to use, the applied composition dries completely after 15 hours. But there is one caveat: such a composition cannot be applied over plaster, especially one that is based on gypsum, as well as on drywall.
- Glyphthalic primer mixture has proven itself well when working with metal and wooden surfaces. Unlike an alkyd primer, this type can be applied to both plaster and putty, the main condition is that the room is not too humid. This coating dries for about a day.
- Acrylic primer is best suited for processing walls under wallpaper. This composition does not smell of anything, it can be applied to any material except metal. It dries incredibly quickly, within 5 hours. Suitable for wall decoration made of brick, wood, plywood and cement.
Acrylic primer composition is of two types:
- usual;
- deep penetration.
The first is a universal option for those who do not know which primer to choose. Such soil looks cloudy, almost colorless.
The deep penetration primer lives up to its name - it penetrates deep into the surface to be coated, strengthening it. Such a composition is absolutely necessary if you are going to paste over an unprepared wall without prior puttying.
Do not buy a primer that contains silicone. Wallpaper glue will not stick to it, and hence the wallpaper itself.
A few recommendations
In preparation for priming and wallpapering walls, use the following tips.
- Not everyone knows how many times to prime the walls. It is enough to apply a high-quality primer on a well-prepared surface once. On porous, heavily crumbling and moisture-absorbing substrates, primer should be applied in 2 layers.
You can check the absorbency of the wall like this: apply a primer in one layer and wait half an hour. If the appearance of the surface has not changed, then the entire primer has been absorbed, and an additional layer is needed.
- The next layer is applied evenly over the entire surface only after the previous one has completely dried.
- Dry primer is cheaper than ready-made liquid primer.
- It is necessary to dilute the soil mixture strictly according to the instructions indicated on the package. The result should be a composition of a homogeneous mass.
- Be sure to follow safety precautions, protecting the body and eyes from getting primer.
- If you do not have the opportunity to buy a primer, you can apply diluted wallpaper paste to the wall before gluing.
