One of the most common building materials is drywall. During its installation, joints are formed. To properly close them, special materials are used. The master should consider the method of sealing drywall joints before starting work. Step by step instructions will be discussed further.
Why seal joints?
Do-it-yourself drywall seaming is performed using a certain technology. This is a mandatory procedure when creating suspended ceilings, partitions, and other objects from the presented material. If you neglect this stage of work, the result will be unsatisfactory.
There is a small space between drywall joints. This is a necessary technological gap. It is literally 3-5 mm. If you lay the sheets more densely, they are deformed at the joints, covered with cracks. Such a finish will not last long. Therefore, the gaps left when laying drywall sheets must be treated with special solutions.
Ifthere will be no joints left, the surface of the plasterboard ceiling or partition will be perfectly flat. This will allow you to complete the finish. An appropriately treated surface can be painted, whitewashed, plastered, etc. It will not leave the slightest roughness.
If the plasterboard joints are not properly sealed during the operation of the object, the sheets will change their dimensions somewhat. Expanding and narrowing under the influence of humidity in the room, the presented materials will destroy the upper decorative layer. As a result, cracks will appear on the surface. In this case, all work will need to be redone. This is fraught with unexpected financial costs. Therefore, the processing of seams between sheets of drywall must be done correctly.
Tools
How to putty drywall seams? First of all, you need to prepare the necessary tools. They must be absolutely clean. If the solution froze on the instruments, it must be washed off. Otherwise, the result of the work will be unsatisfactory.
The main tool in carrying out such work is a spatula for puttying. They will need two pieces during the sealing of the seams. The first spatula should be wide. With this tool, the solution will be applied to the seams. The second spatula should be narrow. It allows you to pry the required amount of mortar from the container, and then apply it to the edge of the first spatula.
Be sure to need a clean container for the preparation of gypsum mortar. It could be a wide bucketor a bowl. The container can be made of metal or plastic. But its inner surface must be perfectly clean.
You should also prepare a roller or brush. The primer will be applied with this tool.
A planer is also one of the main tools at hand when carrying out repair and construction work of this type. With it, the chamfer of the sheets (edges) will be cut off. The planer is used even at the stage of installation of drywall. If the sheets are already mounted, this tool is not required.
Sandpaper will allow you to polish the surface with high quality, preparing it for subsequent work. You need to choose two grain sizes of this improvised tool. One of them should be medium, and the second - small.
Materials
You need to prepare the relevant materials before work. Their choice should be approached responsibly. First of all, putty is required. Also need a sickle. This is a special tape that makes the seam stronger. You can also use special paper tape instead.
Be sure to purchase a deep penetration primer that is suitable for processing drywall. This composition will make the seam stronger. Acrylic-based materials are more suitable for interior work.
Special attention should be paid to the choice of putty. For such work, any composition is not suitable. It should be designed for drywall sheets. These are gypsum plasters. They must have a sufficiently fine fraction, and must also be white.colors. You can choose universal putties that are used for finishing sheets or leveling surfaces. This, for example, "VOLMA-seam" or other similar compositions.
Wishing to save money, you can buy two types of gypsum putty. The first is called the starter because its faction is larger. This is a rougher finish, the cost of which is lower than that of finishing putty at a similar expense. The latter is applied after the creation of the starting layer. It allows you to create a perfectly flat surface. However, for many masters, this method seems too complicated. In most cases, the joint is sealed only with finishing putty.
Choice of putty
Today, many varieties of putties are on sale. Many manufacturers produce compositions on both gypsum and cement bases. The second option is used for external work, has a gray color. Gypsum putties are white, but some may have a pinkish tint. It depends on the type of plaster and how it is processed.
One of the most popular materials is "VOLMA-seam". This is a gypsum composition that is supplied dry. It is diluted with water in the proportion indicated by the manufacturer. This is a universal composition that can be used for finishing drywall, as well as for sealing joints. The product has good adhesion and economical consumption.
Knauf Finish putty is very popular. This is a quality product that is easy to use. It is elastic, creates a durable seam thatnot subject to cracking. Putty "Knauf Finish" is also a universal composition. It is also used in the subsequent finishing of drywall.
In addition to the finishing composition, Knauf also produces special compositions. These are, for example, Fugenfüller and Uniflot. The second brand of putty is quite expensive. But this is the most durable compound on the market today. When using it, you do not even need to apply drywall joint tape.
Working conditions
Having chosen a putty for drywall joints, having prepared all the necessary tools and materials, you can get to work. It must be taken into account that the work must be carried out in appropriate conditions. Otherwise, even a very strong material will not be able to provide a high-quality, durable seam.
It is recommended to work with gypsum putty at a room temperature of +10 ºС. Some manufacturers indicate on the packaging that the putty is designed to work at a temperature of +5 ºС, but it is still better to provide a higher level of heating in the room. It is also worth noting that temperature fluctuations must be excluded during the entire period of repair work.
Drafts are strictly prohibited in the room. Therefore, you need to close the windows and doors tightly.
Some restrictions also apply to indoor humidity. It should not be too high or too low. The humidity level should be in the range of 50-70%. Therefore, the sealing of the seams, as well as the installation of drywall sheets, must be carried out afterpouring the screed and its complete drying. All processes requiring the use of wet compounds (except drywall finishing) should already be completed.
It is very important to properly attach drywall sheets to the frame. If they do not adhere firmly to the metal profile, the sheets will peel off. This will crack even the strongest mortar.
Getting Started
First you need to properly process drywall sheets. This procedure is carried out at the stage of their installation. You need to chamfer with a planer. An open place made of gypsum material will differ in maximum adhesion only after the end face is treated with a primer. To do this, use a roller or brush.
When the sheet is installed in the appropriate place of the frame, you need to prepare a gypsum mortar. To do this, follow the manufacturer's instructions. When the putty is prepared, fill the joint with it.
With a narrow spatula, a solution is taken, applied to the edge of a wide spatula. Then it is distributed with a longitudinal movement to the joint surface. The width of the seam must exceed the size of the gap. Putty must be pressed into the recess so that there are no voids under it. If the seam is long (more than 3 m), you need to break it into several sections.
Next, you need to apply a reinforcing tape on the adhesive base of the prepared joint. It must be applied to the seam before the solution dries. Serpyanka for drywall is a reinforcing frame. Outwardly, it resembles a medical bandage. But this tape is made ofpolymer. It must be applied to an important layer of putty, slightly pressing it into the solution. There is also a paper tape.
Serpyanka is applied so that the joint passes through the center of the tape. After that, the layer is left to dry. When it is completely dry, another layer of putty is applied already on top of the reinforcing tape. The adhesive base of the joint should dry well.
Shutting down
Sealing drywall joints is not in a hurry. It is necessary to wait for the solution to dry completely, both when applying the first and second layers of putty. When this happens, the top layer of mortar, which is above the sickle, needs to be sanded. For this, sandpaper is used. If the amount of work is large, you can use a drill with a special nozzle. An emery wheel is put on it. This makes grouting faster.
First you need to wipe the dried putty with medium-sized sandpaper, and then with a material with a fine fraction. Next, you should cover the created seams with a primer. When it dries, you can proceed to subsequent work on finishing drywall. They are also puttied with a finishing compound. When it dries, the surface is sanded.
After that, it will be possible to paint the surface of the ceiling or partition. If desired, you can apply any other type of finish. It can be wallpaper, whitewash, other materials that match the chosen design and interior style.
Corner trim
In the process of sealing drywall joints, you need to consider the procedure for processing corners with mortar. In this case, a non-professional master may have certain difficulties. First you need to distribute the prepared solution on one side of the spatula.
Next putty should be applied to one gap, which forms a right angle. It is necessary to ensure that the solution fills the seam with high quality. The same procedure is carried out on the other side of the corner. Such actions allow you to avoid overspending putty.
Next, you need to cut off a piece of sickle. It is folded in half and applied to the corner. After that, a layer of solution is alternately applied to it, first on one side of the corner, and then on the other. Stretching the solution with a spatula in the direction from the intersection of the two seams, it turns out to seal the seam. This technique is used for internal corners on the stream. Then the procedure is carried out as usual.
To process external corners, you will need to purchase a metal corner. It is fixed with screws. Then, using a wide spatula, putty is first applied to the seam on one side. The same procedure is performed on the other side. Then you need to wait until the solution dries. It is polished as usual. Serpyanka in this case is not needed, since the seam has already been additionally reinforced with a metal corner.
Humidity level
Experts say that even if all of the above requirements are met, cracks may appear on the surface of the drywall finish. This is due to significant fluctuations in temperature and humidity in the room.
Gypsum, from which the sheets and joint mortar are made, is able to absorb a lot ofamount of moisture. Because of this, the materials increase in size. If the humidity level in the room first increased significantly, and then it dropped to a normal value, it is highly likely that cracks will appear on the finishing materials.
To avoid this, do not install drywall in the bathroom, in the kitchen. Here, the humidity level can fluctuate considerably. It is better to choose other materials for decoration, such as PVC.
A few tips from the pros
Experienced builders claim that one of the most common mistakes of beginners is insufficiently high-quality grout filling. Voids appear inside the joint, which significantly reduces the life of the finish. Therefore, when doing work, you need to make sure that the solution is well compacted in the recess.
To prolong the life of the finish, you need to make high-quality ventilation in the room. You can install a climate control system in the room, which will monitor the level of humidity and temperature. This will maintain the same conditions indoors. In this case, the likelihood of cracks will be minimized.
