Finishing the walls is impossible without a simple but very important construction tool - a spatula. In translation from German, the word "spatula" means "shovel". Indeed, a tool designed for puttying has the form of a spatula, consisting of a handle and a plate or blade.
Types of spatulas for putty
Spatulas are used in a variety of construction and repair work, have a different shape and purpose. The plate of this product can be made of different materials: metal, plastic, rubber. There are special spatulas designed for highly specialized types of work. For wall putty most commonly used are flat products with a plastic or wooden handle and a metal plate or, in other words, a blade.
Facade spatulas
Despite its name, the facade spatula can be used not only for outdoor work, but also for interior decoration. It has a wide blade, which is made of high-strength steel and practically does not bend. With this product, you can apply building mixtures over large areas. The shape of the working plate has the form of a trapezoid, and the width is from 30 to 60 centimeters.
Facade spatula is convenient to use when puttying walls in tandem with painting. When applying a continuous layer of putty with a large tool, you can draw the mixture from the container in a more compact way. During finishing, a large facade spatula can act as an auxiliary one. Putty can be applied to it, and with the help of a painter, take it in small portions and apply it to the wall.
Paint spatulas
For finishing walls, a paint spatula is best suited. It performs the following operations:
- unevenness is leveled after applying putty;
- seams between drywall sheets;
- cracks and dents are repaired;
- putty complex structures.
Like the facade tool, it has the shape of a trapezoid with a plastic handle. Despite the similarity of the design, the paint spatula has the following differences from the facade:
- Width. The minimum width of the working surface of the painting tool for puttying is 2 cm, while the front ones cannot be less than 20-30 cm.
- Thickness. The plate of the paint spatula is usually thinner than that of the front one.
- Elasticity. The blade of the painting tool is more elastic and flexible.
- Material. In the manufacture of painting products, stainless steel is used, while the front ones are made of high-carbon steel.
Paint spatulas can be divided into two groups:
- professional;
- unprofessional or disposable.
A high-quality professional wall finishing tool has a steel thickness of about 1 millimeter, its blade bends moderately and has sufficient rigidity. A disposable product is easy to recognize - it has a black plastic handle and a working surface made of metal, the thickness of which does not exceed 0.5 mm. It bends at the slightest load, it is extremely difficult to achieve perfect smoothness of the walls with it, since it repeats all the irregularities.
The most common are paint spatulas with a plate having a width of 8 to 45 centimeters. Each craftsman has his own opinion about the most convenient size of tools to use, but the following two sizes are most commonly used:
- the main tool having a width of 20 to 25 centimeters;
- auxiliary, 8 to 10 centimeters wide.
Corner spatulas
For filling internal corners, there are specialized products. They have two surfaces located at an angle of 90 degrees to each other.Such tools are not in great demand, because they require certain skills and even corners in the room. Many professionals are turning away from the use of special corner trowels, preferring to form corners with a regular flat product.
Spatula-scraper
The spatula-scraper has a narrow scope and is designed to remove excess putty from the surface. Its distinguishing feature is a thick, rigid blade made of extra strong metal. Its width is small and is 5-7 centimeters.
Using tools of different sizes
For different stages of wall decoration, you need to select tools of appropriate sizes:
- Wide facade or painting spatulas (up to 60 centimeters), as well as a rule (150–300 centimeters), are used on uneven surfaces and allow you to eliminate the most rough and large defects. With their help, the so-called starting wall putty, the composition in this case is applied in a thick rough layer.
- Medium (15 to 25 centimeters wide) allow you to putty large irregularities and dents that remain after passing a wide tool. It allows you to achieve the smoothness of the putty layer. The main task of a medium-sized product is to close up holes. Small protrusions that may remain after it are removed from the dried putty with sandpaper.
- Narrow (5-10 centimeters) fill in smaller depressions left after a medium-sized spatula. After their work, there are practically no traces around the processed individual defect. It is impossible to level the surface with such a product, since it repeats all the smooth curves of the wall. Products of this type are also used for puttying hard-to-reach areas. In addition, they can play the role of a typesetting tool - with their help it is convenient to collect putty mixture from a container and apply it to a working spatula.
How to choose a quality spatula for putty
A large selection of tools in a hardware store is, of course, good, but, unfortunately, too large an assortment makes it difficult to choose. In order not to get confused in the variety of spatulas and choose a convenient and high-quality product, you need to pay attention to the following features:
- The handle should fit comfortably in the hand, and there should be no nicks or burrs on its surface. The presence of such irregularities indicates the low quality of the product.
- Too long products are uncomfortable, as well as too narrow. During operation, it will be difficult to handle them.
- For putty, the trapezoidal shape of the product is best suited. Triangular or teardrop-shaped instruments are not as convenient and less reliable.
- A good tool should have a smooth blade with moderate but sufficient flexibility. If, when you press on the blade, it bends too much, the mixture will fall from such a spatula during operation and it will be difficult to even bring it to the wall. Too rigid products tend to break during operation. When pressing on the blade, it should spring back slightly.
- The blade of the finishing putty tool should be made of stainless steel, which will allow it to be easily cleaned after work, and ensure that there is no rust that can ruin the finish.
- A metal-coated iron blade tool is a low quality product and requires special care to prevent corrosion, which can damage not only the tool, but also the finished surface.
- The blade of the putty tool should not be sharpened. Products with a sharpened blade are designed for other types of work, such as removing old wallpaper, paint and glue from walls.
