If the owner of the apartment decided to carry out repairs on his own, then he will definitely need knowledge of how to properly putty the walls. Thus, it is recommended to treat any coating before applying a decorative finish to it. In order to putty the walls, it is not necessary to call the master. You can deal with this on your own. How exactly - we will consider in our today's article.
Required tools
In order to perform puttying, you will need a certain set of tools. These include:
- High power drill. You can do without it if you wish, however, it is a drill with a mixer attachment that will help you quickly and efficiently stir the dry mixture needed for puttying.
- Set of spatulas. It is desirable to have a complete set of spatulas, from the narrowest to the widest. The latter will facilitate and speed up the work, and the former will do an excellent job in hard-to-reach places.
- Roller and brush. The primer of the walls will not be superfluous, especially considering that it will reduce the scope of work in the future.
- Rule and building level. The rule makes it easier when it comes to toothick layers.
- Grinder or sandpaper. These tools help to get rid of surface irregularities (if they are minor).
- Bucket. It is necessary in order to knead putty in it.
- Rags or sponges. They will be needed in order to keep the workspace clean.
Choice of putty
How to properly putty walls? First you need to responsibly approach the acquisition of material. There are many compositions. Among them are the following:
- Based on plaster. The advantage is that such mixtures can be applied even with your own hands, and they create a smooth surface. The disadvantage is that the material is unstable to moisture. For indoor use only.
- Cement. Highly shrinkable but can be used for both indoor and outdoor applications.
- Polymer. Such compositions are created on the basis of acrylic and latex. They differ from other mixtures by their high cost, but also by the absence of disadvantages. The mixture does not shrink, is moisture resistant and is considered the best for this type of work. Polymer is one of the most advanced blends on the market.
- Universal. Mixtures of this type are used only if the surface initially did not have a large number of defects.
Other classifications
In the question of how to properly putty the walls, you need to consider exactly what amount of work will be done:
- Starting or mainwork. As a rule, they are made after plastering. These mixtures can be applied even in thick layers, and also have increased strength.
- Decorative or finishing. Such mixtures can be applied with a layer no thicker than four millimeters, they consist of finely dispersed substances. They are only for the last layer, which should be smooth.
In any case, it is necessary to choose the material based on the specific case. It is better not to give preference to universal mixtures, because their characteristics are much weaker than any others.
Surface preparation
Before applying putty to the surface, you need to carefully prepare the wall. As with any other coating, if you do not carry out a preliminary stage of work, the material will lie poorly, and soon it will have to be redone.
So what should we do? It is necessary to thoroughly wash the surface, as well as remove all residues of material that are in an inappropriate condition.
The next step is to wash the surface with soap and water to make sure there are no greasy stains left on it. If after processing there are pieces of paint that cannot be removed, they must be treated with a nail or spatula to avoid adhesion to the primer. Only after completing all these steps, you can start priming the surface.
Work order
To understand how to properly putty, you must carefully follow the instructions and not deviate from it.
First of all, you needprepare the mixture with which you plan to cover the surface. To do this, the substance is gradually poured into the water, stirring constantly. The result should be a mass similar to sour cream.
Do not start filling immediately after preparing the solution. It must be allowed to settle, and then repeat the mixing procedure again. Manufacturers claim that only in this way the mixture will retain its characteristics.
Wall filling
When it comes to how to properly putty walls with your own hands, you should use a few simple guidelines:
- Start, of course, with the starting solution. At this stage, you should not worry about the fact that any traces remain from the spatula, because at the finish they can be easily hidden. The tool must be held at an angle of thirty degrees, and each new layer must overlap the previous one.
- After the first layer dries, you can proceed to the second. Here the technology is the same. However, the final layer should not be thicker than two millimeters. If the job requires more mixture to be applied, wait until the previous one dries and repeat the procedure.
How to prepare a wall for painting?
If we talk about how to properly putty for painting, here, in addition to the main stages, special attention should be paid to the following point. After drying, the surface must be sanded. For these purposes, coarse sandpaper is perfect.
Attention needs to be paid andcorners that must be closed without fail at the end of all previous procedures. In the intervals between drying of the layers, they should not be allowed to be exposed to sunlight. There should also be no devices that heat the air in the room.
Processing drywall
How to properly putty drywall? As a rule, apartment owners neglect the opportunity to process such walls, and do it in vain. Despite its absolutely smooth surface, drywall has a high absorption property. This will interfere when it comes to how to properly putty the walls for painting. After all, the cardboard will begin to absorb paint, and such a surface will look sloppy.
The difference in how to putty drywall is only in cleaning and greasing the seams. Additionally, you will also need a fiberglass mesh for work. It is needed to strengthen the composition at the seams.
Otherwise, the process is the same as with conventional puttying. However, the latter need only be sealed with masking tape and filled with a thick mixture.
Preparing walls for wallpaper
How to putty the walls under the wallpaper? The main thing here is to choose the right tool. For such a procedure, a wide spatula is best suited, with which you can conveniently and quickly do the job. In addition to all the above features, wall putty for wallpaper has certain difficulties.
So, corners, window and door slopes are recommended to be additionally equipped with metalcorners. They are first attached to small nails (gypsum mixture is suitable), and covered with putty on top. How to putty under the wallpaper? It is important to consider that there should be several more layers than with the usual process. So, after finishing with starting materials, and later with finishing materials, you need to wait until the surface dries. After it must be covered with another layer of primer. This will add strength.
How to properly putty cracks?
In order to close up such defects, gypsum mixtures are best suited, and especially a material called santegypsum. Despite its elasticity, it dries much longer.
Before starting, it is recommended to expand the crack yourself, that is, increase its depth and thickness. You can use a knife or other sharp object for this. First, the crack is primed, and only then can the composition be applied.
Lighthouse putty
This wall putty is not very common, but it is also worth talking about. The main difference is that the lighthouse requires additional equipment. These are beacons that are set strictly vertically.
These are usually long wooden slats designed to check the level of the wall. They are attached to the wall with a plaster mixture, which dries quickly enough.
Alignment of walls with beacons first occurs vertically, and then the same procedure is repeated horizontally. Visually, lighthouse putty has nodifferent from the starting one. However, the former is considered more expensive, and therefore less commonly used. In the case of such puttying of the walls, it would not be superfluous to have a rule. With this tool, you can check the correct level of the walls.
General tips
How to putty the ceiling with your own hands? It is strongly not recommended in this matter to try to do this on a frozen surface. In this case, not only will there be no result, but the already existing situation may worsen. In general, this aspect is relevant for any surface.
The mixture does not need to be diluted in large portions. It is better to make them small, but constantly replenish. After all, over time, the mixture hardens and loses its properties. It will simply be a waste of product.
The average drying time of one layer of putty is at least twelve hours. But the exact result depends on the degree of humidity in the room, the air temperature and on the solution itself. Only after complete drying, excess elements can be carefully cleaned with sandpaper. If you still have doubts to the last whether the putty layer is really ready for use, you can carefully check this with a piece of sandpaper.
If the irregularities could not be leveled with the base two or three layers, the procedure can be repeated, adding three more layers to the putty. So it will be possible to completely eliminate all defects on the surface.
Conclusions and recommendations
As you can see, the question of how to properly putty walls without experience is not difficult. If afterAfter reading the information above, you are still not sure that you can handle the puttying of the walls properly, it is still better to turn to specialists for help. However, if you follow all the necessary instructions, and also take your time, everything should work out the first time. It is important to remember that the puttying process is best done slowly, learning will take some time, and there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
It is recommended to practice how to properly putty walls on the most inconspicuous areas of the surface. They can later be covered with additional layers. This will give you even more confidence in the process.
Remember that the result largely depends on whether the right material was chosen for the mixture, as well as what its quality is. It is strictly forbidden to save on the quality of putty. After all, the success of literally the entire repair depends on this characteristic. Wallpaper will not lie flat on a surface with imperfections, let alone painting walls.
There is no need to rush into the repair process - give time to dry the putty. It must acquire a solid state. If you are not sure that it has already dried and is ready for a new layer, you can carefully check it with sandpaper. Thus, the surface will hardly be damaged, and you will have full confidence that it is already possible to continue puttying. It is better to check in inconspicuous places.
In general, the puttying process cannot be considered an easy task. However, care and caution will soonwill give a positive result.
