Despite the large assortment of cladding, high-quality painting has not yet receded into the background. Wall painting is simple and allows you to quickly and cheaply change the interior at any time. However, it must be borne in mind that the paint is not a reinforcing material and does not hide surface defects, therefore, high-quality preparation of walls for painting is essential.
Types of surfaces for painting
When carrying out repairs for the owner of the apartment, the question is important: how to prepare the walls for painting? The work may require different materials, the choice of which depends on the basis. Most often you can find concrete walls. Also, partitions made of wood or drywall can be erected in the apartment, the preparation of which for painting has its own characteristics.
Walls may differ in appearance:
- smooth surface with leveling plaster or putty;
- relief surface;
- smooth flat surface of the finishing material;
- embossed lining.
Preparing the walls for painting in most cases is done by leveling and puttying.
Alignment of the walls: stage number 1
If you don’t look closely, at first glance the surfaces seem to be even, and the question “how to properly prepare the walls for painting?” does not seem to be the main one. Only after applying the paint, defects begin to appear, but it is too late to correct them. A thick layer of paint can hide potholes up to 1 mm, but the desired quality still cannot be achieved. In order not to do the work several times, it is necessary from the very beginning to level the surfaces as carefully as possible.
The technology for preparing walls for painting includes the necessary first stage of leveling in one of the following ways:
- grinding;
- plastering by lighthouses;
- plasterboard finish.
Important! Before repair, the wall is completely freed from its old finish.
Grinding of concrete floors
The preparation of concrete walls for painting by grinding surfaces is carried out if they are even and free of defects. If the plaster falls off, it should be removed. For processing, use sandpaper or a grinding block. In the presence of small damages, they are sealed with cement mortar. Level differences should not exceed 2 mm.
Rough alignment
With significant irregularities, the preparation of walls and ceilings for painting will require the following work order:
- If the plaster peels off, it is completely removed.
- The wall is re-plastered with sand-cement mortar or sheathed with drywall.
- The leveled surface is primed, after which it is allowed to dry.
Leveling with putty
Paint is not applied directly to drywall or ordinary plaster. These surfaces are too porous and perfectly absorb liquids. As a result, the paint will be unevenly distributed over them, and the smallest roughness will be clearly visible. Preparing walls for painting involves applying at least two coats of putty. The first can be up to 4 mm thick, which allows you to perfectly align the wall.
Applying the starting putty
Putty is prepared in the proportions indicated in the instructions. Too much of it can not be diluted, because the mixture will harden after 45 minutes.
- The prepared thick mortar is applied with a wide spatula (60–80 cm), and with a narrower one (20–25 cm), irregularities are smoothed out. To create a durable coating, reinforcement with a glass cloth mesh with 2 mm cells is used. It is attached to fresh putty, rubbed with a spatula and another 2 mm layer is applied on top.
There is no need to immediately try to level the surface perfectly.It is important not to leave empty spaces and large recesses. You can only smooth out the differences between the stripes, and minor tubercles are removed by grinding before applying the finishing layer.
- When applying the mixture, the spatula is held at an angle of 30 ° to the wall. The previous layer overlaps with the next, and the differences are smoothed out. Putty is applied to the corners with an ordinary spatula, and then leveled with an angular one.
- The first layer hardens in 6-8 hours, then it is polished with a coarse abrasive mesh. Here it is necessary to remove the greatest irregularities and other shortcomings. No need to pay attention to the grainy surface, absolute smoothness will help to achieve finishing putty.
Important! Before applying each layer, the surface is primed.
Finishing putty
For final finishing, a solution of a finely dispersed composition is used. The thickness of the finishing layer does not exceed 2 mm, otherwise cracks will appear later. Here it is much easier to get a perfect surface, since there are no more gross defects. However, even in this case, it is necessary to grind the surface with fine-grained sandpaper. It is important to work carefully so as not to remove the entire layer. For more confidence, you can apply several layers.
The quality of the finish is checked with a bright lamp, illuminating the wall surface at an acute angle. All minor defects will be immediately visible, and they need to be sanded. Particular attention is paid to the preparation of walls for painting with water-based paints. Latex paint is a little less demanding on the surface, since it is itself able to hide the smallest defects due to its elasticity.
After sanding, the wall is wiped with a dry cloth, and then it should be primed. A video on the topic will introduce you to the intricacies of finishing puttying.
[smartcontrol_youtube_shortcode key="finish putty for painting" cnt="2" col="2" shls="true"]The final stage of preparation: applying the primer
The most common acrylic primer. It is used on almost all surfaces and is universal. It can be applied with a roller, spray or brush. The primer dries out in 4–12 hours, after which the preparation of the walls before painting can be considered completed.
What to do with a painted wall?
What if the wall does not need leveling, but was simply painted earlier with a different paint? Should it be removed? The preparation of walls for wallpaper and for painting is approximately the same, although wallpaper does not require such perfect smoothness and evenness of the surface. On painted surfaces, do not apply new paint and glue wallpaper, as they will not hold well, so the coating will have to be removed. Old paint is removed in several ways:
- Warming up with a building hair dryer and removal with a spatula. When working, it is necessary to ensure effective ventilation of the room to remove harmful fumes.
- Cleaning with a grinder or grinder with a round metal brush. The method is very dusty, it is necessary to work with open windows.
- Washing with softening solution. Its chemical activity requires the use of a respirator, goggles and rubber gloves.
Note! If the wall to be painted with water-based paint was previously painted with the same composition, the old paint can be left on and new paint applied over it, but only on condition that it holds very well. Do not forget to pre-primed the surface.
Preparation for painting other surfaces
Consider the nuances of processing before painting surfaces from other materials:
- Wooden surfaces are sanded and puttied with special compounds. Then protective solutions are applied to them, stained. Only after that the wooden surface is covered with paint or varnish.
- Surfaces with texture or relief are covered with a deep penetration primer.
- If it's about wallpaper for painting, they usually do not require preparation, although some manufacturers recommend applying a special primer to them.
Conclusion
To obtain a high-quality coating, do not be too lazy to prepare the wall for the upcoming painting with your own hands - this will significantly save on materials and get a perfectly smooth surface. Painting the walls with modern compositions allows you to get a durable coating that does not lose its properties after washing.
