If you want to achieve comfort in your own home, then you cannot do without repairs. There are a number of rooms where painting the walls is the only option. However, using modern paints, you can paint any room and achieve an amazing result..
In order for your walls to please with beauty, it is important that they are perfectly even, which is quite difficult to achieve without knowing the correct technology of work..
Pros and cons of painting
When planning renovations in any of the rooms of your house, you must decide in advance what exactly you want to see there: glue wallpaper, lay tiles or steal walls. The paint option has both its pros and cons, and you yourself have the right to decide what to look for when choosing.
The advantage of painting is considered:
- Positive influence on the indoor microclimate. Walls that are properly prepared for painting are usually primed, treated with an antiseptic, which in turn prevents fungi from developing and other microorganisms to multiply. All pits and cracks must be removed from the surface, which means that harmful microbes will have nowhere to develop;
- Speed and low cost of the procedure. If you have normal, even walls, and you just want to freshen up the color, then within just a few hours you will get the finished result, at no extra cost;
- Ease of use. Painted walls are lightly cleaned, they can be quickly washed, removing traces from the creativity of children, stains from food, in the kitchen, dirt from shoes in the corridor and more;
- Security. Painted walls will never interest pets, they will not scratch it like wallpaper, they will not irretrievably stain it with paws from the street, because the coating will retain its original appearance;
- Variability. Since now a huge assortment of paints and varnishes is presented on the market, I use different colors, textures and surfaces, you can come up with the most unique and inimitable decor for any room.
Of the minuses, there are also a number of important aspects that you should pay attention to when choosing materials for decorating walls in a room..
There are such disadvantages:
- Preparing the walls. If you have problem walls, then before you paint them, you need to carry out a number of preparatory work, which will require the ability to work with different tools and surfaces;
- Process features. For a person with no experience, painting walls is a lot of work, because it is important not just to apply paint to the wall, but to do it right in order to get the desired result;
If you can’t do it yourself, you need to call professionals, whose services are not low
- Caring for painted walls. After the surface of the walls has been painted, it is important to wash it regularly to remove any small dust particles. Glossy paints do not need such strong maintenance;
- Fortress. Any walls, especially painted ones, will not withstand mechanical stress, any strong impacts will cause cracks, and the paint will begin to peel off the surface;
- Design. If you want to have at home not just plain walls, but an interesting drawing or texture, then it is better to use the services of a designer and painter, because without experience it is simply impossible to achieve the beauty and quality of the surface..
Almost any room in the apartment is subject to painting, but it is important to use this type of coating correctly. Each room has its own functional purpose, and therefore the selection of material for decoration must be appropriate.
Most of all paint is suitable for bathroom and toilet, partly it can be used in the kitchen. The design of the hall will not do without painting the walls in different colors, using different patterns and textures.
Surface preparation stages
In order to prepare the walls for applying new paint, it is important to carry out a number of works. It is important to remove all unnecessary from the surface so that it is completely clean.. No old wallpaper, paint, whitewash, tiles or dirt spots should remain on the wall. Each option has its own way to quickly and effectively remove unwanted coating..
If we are talking about wallpaper, then in order to remove them without much effort, you need to thoroughly moisten the wall where they are glued, and wait until the paper begins to swell. After that, they are much easier to remove.. The work is best done with a medium-sized trowel..
If there are areas where the surface is not completely cleaned, it is important to carry out the same actions again, under the influence of water, the wallpaper will still come off the wall.
A more complex process is involved when manually removing paint from walls. In order for the process to proceed quickly and as efficiently as possible, it is necessary to observe not only the order of work, but also to have suitable equipment..
One of the options involves the use of a drill with a special nozzle with abrasive bristles, or the use of a grinder. This option will completely remove the old paint, but create a terrible garbage around of dirt and dust..
If you do decide to work this way, it is very important to prepare a respirator or other mask and goggles to protect your eyes and respiratory system from small particles..
For those who want a cleaner paint removal option, a building hairdryer is suitable. With his help, it will be possible to warm up the wall in separate areas and remove the paint. As soon as the surface starts to bubble, it is worth removing the hair dryer and getting started scraping paint off the wall. The faster you do this, the easier the coating will peel off.. It is not easy to work in this mode, especially if the room has considerable dimensions..
Another disadvantage will be the high consumption of electricity, which will seriously hit your pocket.
If you want to try something different, you can use a blowtorch, but it is important to know and follow the fire safety rules, because the work will be done with an open fire. In this case, it is important to remember that painted wooden surfaces must never be treated with a blowtorch.
If you paint the wall with water-based paint, on the same surface, then you can do without preliminary work if the wall is even, does not have cracks and any other factors that interfere with applying a new fresh layer of paint.
Aligning the walls
In order to be able to paint the wall of any of the rooms in your home, it is important to make its surface perfectly flat. To do this, there are two options: using drywall or using dry mixes, which are diluted with water and applied to the surface..
Preparing a wall with drywall is easier, but at times more expensive and “eats” centimeters of usable area. Therefore, if you have normal walls that need a little adjustment, you should not resort to this option.. The method is appropriate only when the surface of the walls is so uneven., then the amount of effort expended on its leveling and the materials spent exceeds the cost of the gypsum plasterboard.
For other cases, it will be enough to prepare the necessary solution and carry out work to level the surface. In order to prepare the required amount of the mixture, it is important to first correctly assess the unevenness of the walls, then prepare the wall itself and level it with plaster, and then putty.
It is important to remember that after any stage of preparatory work for painting, the wall must be primed, wait until it dries and continue to act..
Using drywall
If you decide to work with drywall, then you need to know about the existence of two options for fixing sheets, on a frame and without a frame.
The frame method involves the use of metal or wood elements, which together create a structure to which sheets of drywall are screwed with screws. With this option, you do not need to do any preparatory work with the wall surface, but it is important to check that it is completely dry..
Frameless method – alignment occurs by gluing the sheet to the wall itself using special glue.
- If the uneven places and the level difference are small and do not exceed 4 mm, then a gypsum putty is used, which must be applied in longitudinal lines to the entire sheet.
- If the irregularities reach 2 cm, then you need to apply drywall glue, applying it to the desired sections of the wall – 30 cm from each other.
- If the drops reach 4 cm, then drywall strips are glued to the wall, after which the sheet itself is already attached.
The surface of the wall must be free from dust, dirt, greasy stains, and in wet areas, the surface must be dried. If there is a risk of moisture absorbing into the wall, it is best to cover it with a primer, which will also increase the adhesion of concrete surfaces..
The alignment technology in this way is presented in several stages:
- Inspection of the wall and study of its level difference and flaws using a building level;
- Based on the results, there is a choice of means with which the sheet will be glued to the wall surface;
- Implementation of the markup of the leveled wall;
- Preparing drywall for installation, cutting holes for electricity and light.
After the sheets are installed on the surface, it is required to continue preparatory work for painting. The next step will be putty. The seams must be filled using a special putty “Fugen”, after it dries, the joints of the corners of the room are pasted over with a special mesh, without which cracking of materials cannot be avoided.
Once the mesh is secured, spread the filler with a new layer directly over the mesh with a wide spatula. In those places where the sheets were fastened with self-tapping screws, it is necessary to fill in the holes formed from the caps using a narrow trellis. When working with corners, it is important to observe order, working in turn with each side..
Before one dries, do not start working on the second side of the corner..
When the preparatory part of the work is completed, the initial finishing of the entire sheet of drywall begins with a starting putty and wait until it is completely dry.
The next step is to grout the surface before the next layer. After that, a layer of plaster is applied again, and after drying, the surface is sanded until it is even..
The last stage is the application of the finishing putty and sanding. As soon as the dust has settled and removed, and the wall has dried completely, the surface is ready for painting.
If your walls are more or less even, then there is no need to use drywall, you can simply align the necessary places and remove flaws on the surface.
- To level concrete walls where the difference does not exceed 5 mm, only putty can be used. For a brick wall, the front of work will be about the same, but it all depends on the magnitude of the difference.
- If the difference in surface heights reaches 3 cm, then initially it is better to plaster the wall, and then putty.
- If the difference is more than 3 cm centimeters, then you need to plaster the masonry using a reinforced mesh, and in order to level it completely, you need to use a putty.
Using dry mixes
Repairing a room and preparing walls in it for painting is not an easy task and not everyone can do it with their own hands, but if you approach the work correctly, the result will be pleasing.
First of all, you need to carry out preparatory manipulations with the walls so that you can prepare them for painting, for this you need to remove the old layer that was originally, disassemble the communications, get rid of greasy and dirty spots, apply a layer of primer.
To properly plaster the wall, you need to install beacons and work on them. These can be strips, slats or profiles. Then we prepare the solution and put it on the wall near the lighthouses with a spatula. A long spatula is the process of leveling the mixture from top to bottom. The excess mixture is removed, and the voids are additionally filled and everything is smoothed out again.. When the work is over, you need to remove the beacons and level the place where they were. The time for complete drying of the plaster ranges up to two weeks.
In order to achieve a perfectly flat surface, it is necessary to apply a starting putty on the plastered walls, and then the finishing one.. You can use a universal one and not take two different mixtures. Putty is applied in small portions, and leveled using circular movements with the correct angle of inclination. When the layer is leveled, it must be thoroughly dried. After that, the wall is sanded with sandpaper and another layer of primer is applied. When it dries, the finishing putty is applied.
Plastered surfaces are thoroughly cleaned of dusty and dirty areas, primed and then painted..
You can use fiberglass to protect the surface from cracking or any other damage. Fiberglass is glued to the finished wall, leveled and putty, after which you can paint the surface, while obtaining an interesting texture. If you want completely flat walls, then you will need additional finishing with putty, after which there is a mandatory cleaning of all irregularities.
It is no longer necessary to prime the surface, this was done earlier.
Plaster
In order to prepare the walls for painting, it is important to choose the right tools and materials..
Plaster has options such as:
- plaster;
- cement;
- lime-cement;
- clay.
The most common is the use of the first two options.
Gypsum mortars are well applied, flexible and non-shrinking. Another advantage is environmental friendliness and fire safety. The mixture quickly grabs, which will be a plus for some, and a minus for others..
Cement plaster remains elastic for two or more hours, so you can make a large amount of mixture at once. It is applied to any surface, but it can shrink and dries longer. Low cost can be considered a plus.
The gypsum version is used for indoor robots, since it allows you to create a perfectly flat surface, and a cement-sand mortar is used for outdoor work, the presence of sand does not allow making a surface without roughness. You can paint any of the options.
But it is worth considering:
- gypsum plaster will have a smooth surface;
- cement – moisture resistant.
Putty
When planning the decoration of the premises, both inside and outside, the most important thing will be the use of putty. The result of the entire repair will depend on her correct choice..
There are options for mixtures for internal and external work, in addition, it is divided into three more groups:
- Starting – the structure is rough, the particles are large. It is necessary for removing large defects on the surface. The maximum layer can be up to twenty centimeters.
- Finish – fine-grained structure. After the material dries, an absolutely flat surface can be obtained. Apply both to the starting putty and to the surface itself.
- Universal – has a ready-made form of a fine-grained dispersion solution. The base is polymer. It can be used both as a starting and as a finishing putty..
Primer
For a variety of construction work, different types of primers are also used:
- Strengthening impregnation Is an acrylic water-dispersion primer with additives. It is used for work on lime, cement-lime, gypsum plaster, and drywall. Improves adhesion to paint, strengthens the surface, prevents moisture ingress. Used for interior work;
- Acrylic primer varnish – it is used for external surfaces, penetrating deeply into any material. Has a water-repellent effect;
- Acrylic and varnish primer paint – are used for both internal and external work. They are a good base for acrylic and water-based paints;
- Solvent based primer – absorbs deeply and binds dust to the plaster, allows the surface to breathe, but protects against moisture. It is used both inside and outside for asbestos-cement, wooden, previously painted surfaces;
- Silicate primer – used to prepare walls made of silicate bricks for painting. It is absorbed into cracks, completely covering them. Used for external work.
There are primers that are used for wood surfaces: drying oil, alkyd primer, water-soluble alkyd primer, styrene primer, oil primer and shellac primer.
Advice
For painted walls that look depressing, a different type of paint can be used to revitalize the surface. To do this, you will have to remove the old layer, carry out all the work on the preparation and leveling of the wall and apply a new type of coating. It is best to consult with a professional about what exactly is right for a particular room..
If your walls are too uneven and you can only remove pits and chips, but not level the entire surface to paint it, it is better to give preference to gluing wallpaper, which can hide any imperfections of the wall if you choose the right wallpaper pattern.
If you are painting for the first time, then it is important to know that coloring occurs in two layers. For the first, you need to use a roller with a long nap, which will help paint the entire surface faster. But the second one will be applied to the final layer with a short-nap roller, so that the surface is even and beautiful..
Better to use a natural bristle tool, it leaves no hairs on the wall.
You need to apply paint only in one direction, otherwise all this will be reflected on the finished wall. Either it is horizontal or vertical application.
It is also important to choose the right time for painting., so that sunlight does not fall into the room, which will contribute to the paint drying too quickly, and not in room light, because any flaws will be difficult to see. It is best to work during the day, when it is light outside, there is no direct sun and no lamp is needed.
You can find out how to properly putty walls for painting by watching the video below.
