At one time, everyone associated painted surfaces with eerie, curved walls covered in a layer of gloomy oil paint. They looked equally unpleasant both in apartments and in residential premises. The owners of the apartments tried to get rid of this “beauty” by any means, gluing wallpaper and foam boards on the dirty green and poisonous blue surfaces, and the especially skilled ones simply stuffed the lining on them. Then, already in the early nineties, when building materials that had never been seen before and unknown to Soviet people began to appear in stores, many began to paint the walls with water-based paint of different colors. It was fashionable and prestigious, almost every second thought that only such a finish would make the interior of an apartment or house richer. True, such a question as the competent preparation of walls for painting with water-based paint was not particularly considered. That is why the result was not always the desired one. And gradually they began to abandon this type of finish, especially since unprecedented vinyl and non-woven wallpapers of extraordinary beauty and outlandish colors appeared on store shelves. As a matter of fact, why thisa little tour? And to the fact that at the moment coloring is becoming popular again. And already in a completely different form, as it is carried out using the latest materials and the use of modern technologies. And if it is planned to carry out such a type of finishing work as painting the walls in the room, surface preparation is the main and decisive stage. And it is to this process that the rest of the text will be devoted. We will try to tell as much as possible in detail about what constitutes the preparation of walls for painting. The order of work, all the nuances of their implementation and useful advice from specialists - read about all this below.
Types of surfaces to be painted
So, which walls can be finished in this way? Basically, almost anything. But, from a professional point of view, at the moment it is advisable to paint: puttied or well-plastered surfaces, a base made from a material intended for this (wallpaper for painting, fiberglass, etc.), textured and embossed plaster, drywall prepared by an appropriate way.
Depending on which surface will be finished, the walls are being prepared for painting. Some stages are typical for each type of work, and some in one case or another are either not applied at all or are combined with each other.
Procedure for preparing walls for painting
This is usually a step by step process. First, the surface must be prepared. Then level - either with plaster, ordrywall. After that, the finishing is carried out either with putty or decorative plaster. There is also such an option as a sticker on the already plastered walls of wallpaper for painting or fiberglass. Both of these procedures also apply to finishing. Next - in detail what is the preparation of the walls before painting in each case.
And let's start with the preparatory procedures, which, as a rule, are almost the same in all cases.
Preliminary work
Preparing walls for painting requires a very careful approach. And it is necessary to approach the issue with all responsibility, because the final result completely depends on this. So, the walls must first of all be cleaned of old types of finishes. If it is wallpaper, they need to be removed, and completely. If it is oil paint and water-based paint, you also need to get rid of it, not to mention whitewashing. After that, you need to conduct a thorough audit of the walls. First of all, check their integrity. If they were previously plastered, the mortar layer is strong and adheres well to the wall - excellent. If there are places where he literally walks with a shaker, they must be cleaned, and the defects repaired with a fresh solution. If more than 40 percent of the surface is damaged, it is recommended not to waste time and completely remove all old plaster from the wall.
Once you feel you have a solid foundation, you can start priming it.
A small digression
An interesting featurerepair work is that sometimes the preparation process takes almost more time than the entire procedure for subsequent fine finishing. Sometimes paper wallpapers have to be removed from some walls literally by a millimeter, and what can we say about how difficult the procedure for removing oil paint is. Therefore, before continuing the conversation about how the walls are prepared for painting after the preparatory stage, we want to give a few tips from experienced craftsmen. Perhaps they will help someone get through the dirty and hard work faster.
How to remove wallpaper
Never remove old wallpaper, unless, of course, they themselves fall off the wall, when dry. When the paper is firmly stuck to the plaster, it can sometimes be removed only together with the base base itself. So arm yourself with a bucket of warm water and a brush (not a roller!) And start wetting the wall. And not once or twice, but literally almost every 15 minutes. Trust me, your hard work will be rewarded. At some point, the wallpaper will begin to bubble and pull away from the wall. You will only have to help them a little in this.
How to get rid of paint
It is not practical to try to remove the paint from the wall with a small spatula. It is better to immediately take a drill with a nozzle designed specifically for this purpose and work with this tool. The only thing you can try is to remove not quite high-quality water-based paint with a sponge moistened with water. However, if you have large surfaces to prepare, you can imagine how many walls you will have to wash.
Competent priming
Never apply, contrary to the advice of some, a primer with a roller. At the same time, most of it will be on the floor, which, by the way, will be quite difficult to clean from the dried composition later. The best option is a spray gun, at least portable. If it is not there, work with a brush. Only in this way can you really prepare the base with high quality and ensure the penetration of the primer into its inner layers.
Next step
If the original wall is even, the plaster on it has been preserved, the defects have been repaired, you can start finishing. What it will be - puttying or covering the surface with decorative plaster - depends on the type of work chosen. In any case, smooth walls can already be prepared for painting. Another thing is if they are so crooked that it is almost impossible to cope with them. In this case, it is better to pay attention to drywall. Leveling the surface with it can be quite simple and fast. True, then it will also have to be prepared for staining, but we will talk about this below.
If you removed all the old plaster, and in front of you is a bare concrete or brick wall, you will have to level it with plaster using beacons. This is the most effective method that allows you to end up with a truly flat surface.
If drywall was chosen
We will not talk about how to mount the GKL on the walls. This is not our task. But to say a few words about what constitutes the preparation of drywall walls for painting, it is necessary. The thing is that neither wallpaper nor the coloring composition is applied directly to the GKL. They must first be puttyed, thoroughly cleaned and primed, and only then painted.
Putting process
Perhaps this is the most difficult procedure that needs to be carried out by the master who prepares the walls for painting. The fact is that the surface should not only be flat, but also perfectly smooth. The slightest defect, the most insignificant scratch will be visible after the paint dries. And to achieve this, the procedure must be carried out in two stages. First, a draft layer is applied, the first. After it dries thoroughly, you should go over it with a mesh or sandpaper to smooth out any bumps. And then carefully primed and wait again for drying. And only then apply a thin finishing layer of putty, which will completely cover the existing defects. In the same case, if there are any minor irregularities, they can be carefully covered up, then the entire surface should be cleaned again and primed. After that, after a day, it is allowed to start staining.
Nuances
If the walls are being prepared for wallpaper for painting, then in this case it makes no sense to achieve an ideal surface. Yes, it should be even, fairly smooth, but it may have minor defects. The main thing is to get really strongbase. The wallpaper itself for painting, as a rule, is always corrugated, and therefore all kinds of scratches will simply hide under them. The only rule to be observed is that during puttying it is not recommended to leave areas with a thin layer of putty through which the plaster is visible. The whole process must be carried out with the same care that the preparation of walls for painting without wallpaper requires. You just can't get hung up on minor flaws. They won't be visible. Otherwise, there are no differences. The final putty coating is cleaned and covered with primer. After it dries, you can begin to glue the wallpaper. It is allowed to paint them no earlier than at least four days after gluing. Give them time to dry. Otherwise, in the end, under the influence of paint, they will begin to get wet and flake off the wall.
There is one more question that cannot be ignored when it comes to how to prepare the walls for painting. This is the use of a material such as fiberglass. Professionals call it painting fiberglass. About him - further.
Fiberglass
What is it for? And in order to make the surface perfectly smooth and protect it from cracks. And then the walls pasted over with painting fiberglass will delight you for a long time with a magnificent appearance, since they are not afraid of any shrinkage and temperature changes, because all the defects that appear on the surface will be hidden under the fiberglass. By the way, the latter is both corrugated and thick enough, andvery thin, literally translucent canvas. It is also called a cobweb. It is this variety that is most popular, because, firstly, such fiberglass costs literally a penny, and secondly, it is easier to work with it.
And a few words about the process itself. The wall is plastered first. It is enough to apply only one, draft layer. Then it must be cleaned and primed. And stick the cobweb on a special glue. You can also take the composition for non-woven wallpaper. After drying, the fiberglass is puttied again with a very thin layer, and this procedure is very simple and fast. After priming, you can paint the walls.
And about textured plaster
If the walls are being prepared for painting on decorative plaster, then such a procedure as puttying is not required at all. The textured mortar is applied directly to the prepared rough base, after drying it is primed and then painted.
