At the final stage of finishing before painting or wallpapering walls are plastered. In the event that the walls have significant defects (irregularities, a strong deviation from the vertical), performplaster walls, but if the surface is simply rough (has small cracks and chips), it is enough to putty it. Do-it-yourself wall puttying is not a very complicated process and is accessible even to a novice home master, you just need to follow all the principles correctly and know some subtleties.
Puttying the walls with your own hands is carried out for the following reasons:
- Finishes such as painting and wallpapering require high quality surface preparation.
- Working with putty, you can eliminate defects, improving the quality of the finish.
- The cost of materials is negligible.
- Small consumption of material.
Required Tools
To work, you need to prepare the following tools:
- Drill with a special nozzle. Putty, like plaster, is sold in hardware stores in dry form, which must be diluted with water and mixed properly. To do this, you need a drill to get a homogeneous mixture of starting or finishing putty as a result.
- A set of spatulas of various sizes. In hard-to-reach places it is more convenient to putty with a narrow spatula.
- Rule. When applying a thick layer, it is more convenient to use a metal rule.
- Building level. Since the surface of the walls is often uneven, it is necessary to install test beacons before starting puttying.
- Abrasive (sandpaper) paper. For mashing small irregularities on the surface, you need to prepare different types of skins.
- Container for diluting the mixture.
Purpose of putty
According to their purpose, they are divided into the following categories:
- For alignment. A mixture with high strength evenly fills all the flaws. The advantages include resistance to external influences, good adhesion to the base, rapid filling of irregularities.
- For finishing application. Finishing putty possesses the increased adhesion to materials. The final layer before painting, wallpapering and decorative coating. Finishing putty is intended for finishing the surface for painting or gluing.
- Specialized. Such mixtures are designed to solve certain problems, for example, when sealing joints between drywall sheets.
- Universal. Such mixtures combine the characteristics of all three types, being used to solve any problems.
The packaging always indicates the type of putty, its properties and on what bases it is applied (concrete wall, drywall, plaster). Puttying the walls with your own hands will help level the surface and eliminate all flaws, bumps and cracks.
Varieties of putty
According to the level of preparation, the mixtures are ready-made and dry.
- Ready putties are packaged in plastic jars or buckets, they do not need to be diluted and stirred. They can be stored for a long time, the connecting element of the mixture is an aqueous dispersion of the polymer. Best used as a finishing coat.
- Dry putties are packaged in bags or bags, they must be diluted with water and thoroughly mixed. As a rule, such mixtures are used for fine work. The disadvantages include the need to maintain proportions during breeding, as well as a limited time of use after breeding.
The procedure for performing puttying work
We clean the walls
From the surface remove old coating (wallpaper, paint, peeling plaster). The dried walls are inspected, removing small residues with a mounting knife or spatula. Walls primed, which will provide better adhesion of materials.
Leveling the surface
Puttying, as well as wall plastering, is carried out in stages.
- Wall putty technology involves applying the mixture from top to bottom. The mixture is taken out of the container with a narrow spatula and leveled along the blade of a wide spatula. First, moving from left to right, the mixture must be applied to the surface, and then move in the opposite direction without putty, leveling the solution over the surface. Each subsequent layer should go a little on the previous one. You need to take a small area of the site.
- The thickness of the layer can be adjusted by the angle of the spatula. A large angle of inclination will provide a thin layer of putty. The thicker the layer, the more likely it is to fall off.
- The wall should dry out, but for now it is better to add mortar to places with a thin layer. To speed up drying, do not use a hair dryer, drafts, direct sunlight, etc.
- The smoothness of the wall will help to give sandpaper processing. To do this, the skin is correctly fixed on a special bar and the surface is treated with smooth circular movements. It is necessary to constantly monitor the pressing force so as not to remove a large layer of the mixture. At the final stage, you should choose abrasive paper with a small fraction so as not to make deep scratches.
- It is best to remove all the dust that has formed.
- The surface is coated with a primer.
- On the dried surface, it is necessary to apply a finishing putty. The principle of operation is the same as when working with leveling type putty. The final layer will cover the remaining cracks. Puttying the surface for painting is carried out carefully, since the paint will not hide small pores and irregularities.
- The surface after applying the finishing putty and drying is treated with sandpaper and primed.
- Finishing work begins after drying.
Puttying the walls for wallpaper does not have a significant difference with puttying the surface for painting. Applying the mixture is not difficult, but not everyone can do it correctly.
Puttying cracks
For the treatment of cracks in the walls, special gypsum mixes. According to the recommendations of experts, the crack is slightly expanded and deepened, roughened, treated with a primer, and only then they start working with putty. For this purpose, you can use the material "Santegypsum". Puttying the surface for painting is carried out in several layers until the walls acquire a perfectly even appearance.
The nuances of puttying slopes
The corners of the slopes are processed with an angled spatula, the influxes are removed with an abrasive material. There are no serious differences between the puttying of walls and corners, however, this work is more painstaking, even specialists need at least a couple of approaches.
Puttying the walls for painting or wallpapering is carried out independently, although it is imperative to observe accuracy and accuracy during work. All defects can be easily eliminated. Such an experience will help the novice home master to acquire building skills. Puttying the walls is a necessary process of repair work, if you want to get a really high-quality repair.
