There are a lot of building materials for interior decoration and in particular walls. A special niche among them is occupied by decorative plaster. It is considered the best material for wall decoration, as it is easy to apply and gives a spectacular result.
What is decorative plaster?
Plaster, simple or decorative, which is a sand-cement mortar, has the appearance of a paste that is applied to the walls. Its composition may be different. The appearance of fungus and mold on the walls is excluded, since bactericidal preparations are part of this building material. In addition, decorative plaster, the price of which is very reasonable, is highly resistant to fires and high humidity.
Finishing with plaster insulates the walls in the room, and most importantly - aligns and decorates them, because with its help you can create intricate patterns and give the surface a different shape. The walls after such a finish look unusual, beautiful andsolid, and maintaining them in a well-groomed form does not require much effort. It is enough to wash them with detergent. Due to the elasticity of the material, cracks will not form on the surface of the walls.
Composition of decorative plaster
Decorative plaster is also called artistic or structural, it gives the walls a beautiful finished look. All types of finishing material are divided according to the type of binder, that is:
- Mineral. The basis of the mixture is lime, to which stone chips, marble flour, colored clay are added.
- Gypsum. It is used quite rarely, as it quickly freezes and this creates some problems in work.
- Acrylic or polymer. These blends are based on acrylic resins.
- Silicone. This coating is made with additives of appropriate resins.
- Silicate. The mixture is based on organic silicon.
The place where decorative plaster is found - bathroom, living room, bedroom, hallway. It is used almost everywhere. The components in its composition determine the structure of the finish, these are:
- Crushed marble, quartz, granite fraction from 0.5 to 5 mm.
- Pulp fiber.
- Plasticizers.
- Pigments.
- Floki.
Before making decorative plaster, antifoam, thickener, antiseptic and various preservatives are added to the finish mixture to give the material better characteristics.
Results of finishing with decorative plaster
With the help of artistic wall treatment, you can achieve a change in the interior of the room, as well as create a panel or a picture. Before applying decorative plasters, it is necessary to have a clear idea of the future interior, study the entire range of decorative mixtures and familiarize yourself with the samples of materials presented. Artistic building materials, in addition to creating various patterns on the walls, allow you to imitate the effect of finishing with natural stone, marble, granite or wood. Decorative plaster is classified into several types:
- Structural mix. It is a granular base with a mineral or silicate binder. This composition also includes pebbles, granules, wood fiber.
- Venetian. This plaster imitates marble. Consists of marble flour and binder - lime.
- Liquid wallpaper. This type of coating is considered a newfangled type of artistic wall decoration. Latex paint imitates various wallpapers and creates an antique effect.
- Flock is a finish of colored crumbs applied to the glue.
Based on this classification, you need to choose the most suitable way to finish the walls. We should not forget that decorative plaster is presented on the construction market in a whole range of shades and colors.
Choice of finishing material
Choosing this or that kindplaster, you need to pay attention to the following details:
- It is inconvenient to work with the liquid composition of the mixture, since they cannot be diluted with water anymore.
- Coarse filler grout is applied by hand only.
- Any decoration with decorative plaster containing crumbs of various sizes is much more difficult.
- Water-based plaster mixtures are the safest.
Tools needed for finishing work
Decorative plaster can be prepared by diluting the dry mixture in water or in a special solvent. Decorative interior plaster is used for interior decoration only, another type of material is used for exterior work. The following materials are required for finishing:
- Rollers and brushes for decorative plaster.
- Stainless and plastic trowels (special blades for leveling mortar).
- Spatulas, trowels.
- Mix preparation container.
- Textured stamps.
- Applicators, brushes, sponges.
- Sandpaper.
- Flock sprayer.
Surface preparation
Prepare the surface of the walls, on which it is planned to apply decorative plasters, in the same way as before finishing with ordinary plaster, that is:
- Surface must be clean and dry. Remove old wallpaperpeeling paint and more. The wall is cleaned with sandpaper.
- If there are stains of rust, silicone, grease on the wall, then they must be removed. If the metal cannot be removed from the wall, then such a surface must be insulated.
- If there are cracks in the wall, it is recommended to repair them, for example, with a mixture of gypsum.
- The surface prepared in this way must be treated with a primer. This in the future will strengthen the bearing layer of the plaster layer and increase the service life of the wall covering. It is advisable to prime the surface several times and use acrylic compounds. Before direct application of decorative plasters, the wall surface must dry.
Decorative putties
Today, wall decoration with decorated putty is very common. Smooth putty mixtures are applied with a spatula in the style of Venetian plaster or imitating stone or marble finishes. There is also decorative plaster from ordinary putty. To create a relief pattern, you need to use notched trowels, structural rollers, brushes and other tools that create volume.
Ways to decorate walls with putty
There are many ways to form an artistic wall covering, some of them are shown below:
- Plaster is applied to the wall in an even layer of a couple of millimeters. The relief is smoothed out in a circular motion.
- Decorative plaster fromconventional putty is used in work according to this principle: with a small spatula, the mixture is applied to the walls in different directions, as if drawing with a brush. You can move randomly or in a certain direction.
- One of the easiest ways: applying a plaster layer with a special spatula with teeth. By smoothing the wet mixture, they draw a simple pattern.
- You can also get a unique pattern and texture by going over the plaster with a roller or sponge.
- Special stamps can be used to create a specific pattern.
20-30 minutes are allotted for completion, as the plaster begins to dry out. The outer coating of putty will resemble the application of decorative plasters on the wall. At the end, only the final finishing will remain.
Final stage
After the plaster is applied and the pattern is created, it is necessary to prime the wall with white primer and let it dry for about 2 hours. After that, you can start painting. In order to emphasize the volume of the created relief, two matching colors and the following tool are used: a roller with a long pile, which will paint over all the irregularities in a single color, a roller with a short pile for protruding parts of the wall relief. After the paint has dried, glaze is applied with a sponge. Then the entire surface is covered with acrylic varnish.
With a little practice, it will be difficult to distinguish wall coverings made from improvised materials from expensive and sophisticated finishes. Decorative plaster, the price of which depends on its composition,that's why it's so common. Plus, there are many options for wall decoration, in each room you can create your own special relief.
Carrying out any plaster work requires certain skills and the correct sequence of events. As for the quality of the obtained decorative coatings, it directly depends on the qualified selection of materials and mixtures. This article will help you answer questions about decorating walls, you will also learn how to make decorative plaster, what to look for when buying. But in any case, consultation of specialists in this field of activity is necessary.
