In our article we will tell you about an interesting finishing material with a beautiful name - pebble plaster. It has a fairly long service life and is equally successfully used both for interior work and for giving nobility to the exterior of structures.
Decorative pebble plaster will help make the interior of the premises unusual, and the facade of buildings - eye-catching. About what it is and what is the technology of its application, and will be discussed further. By the way, many are familiar with it, but only heard a different, more prosaic name - "fur coat".
Characteristic
In principle, what this finishing material is is clear from the very name - pebble plaster. The construction market offers a wide variety of mixtures, which include fine crushed stone of fractions of different sizes. Usually it is, as a rule, marble chips. Thus, it is possible to choose for yourself the option that suits the texture. In addition, manufacturers now offer notonly gray-white options, but also already painted compositions, which makes it possible to diversify the appearance of facades and interiors.
If even in order to save money you get a regular solution, then there is nothing to worry about. Pebble plaster paints beautifully, so in some cases, if you want some creative color, this is even better. The solution dries in a day, it can be applied at temperatures from +5 to +30 degrees. In addition, the solution does not dry out for quite a long time, that is, you can work with it for four hours, which is great for a novice home craftsman who does not have professional skills.
Dignity
It is not for nothing that such a coating as pebble plaster began to be called a "fur coat". It is really able to protect the outer walls of buildings from the effects of atmospheric precipitation and the adverse effects of temperature changes, without suffering at all and without losing its attractive appearance. For the same reason, it is great for interior decoration, which also suffer from high humidity - bathrooms and kitchens. In addition, it can be applied to almost any surface - from stones to wood and drywall.
Pebble plaster belongs to the category of environmentally friendly materials, which makes it especially attractive to use when carrying out internal finishing work. Well, perhaps one of the most important advantages can be considered thatapplying pebble plaster is a very simple procedure, so that finishing work can be done by hand. This, in fact, will be discussed further.
Preparatory work
The coating will serve you for a long time only if you are not too lazy and carefully prepare the base surface. In principle, there is nothing complicated here, since any finishing process requires preliminary preparatory work. So, the base base must first be cleaned of all existing coatings. That is, you will need to remove not only, say, wallpaper, but also paint or old cement mortar from the walls. Then it is necessary to close up significant defects, and also, if possible, try to level the surface as much as possible. After that, the base will need to be primed, and certainly twice, which will contribute to better adhesion and, as a result, improve the quality of the coating.
Applying pebble decorative plaster, as we have already mentioned, is a relatively simple procedure. But the final result depends not only on your skill, but also on the quality of the preparatory work.
What you need to have on hand for a home master
In principle, no special tools are required. Stone plaster is applied with a metal trowel. You will also need a mixing container and a construction mixer (for the same). The last attribute is required, since the mixture is not mixed in the bag, so you will need to cook the entire amount at once. Manually make a quality solution will not work. You will also need a roller, but notsimple, and special - textured.
Preparation of mortar
As mentioned above, you will have to prepare a solution from the entire amount of plaster in the bag. And this is not so little. As a rule, it is sold in bags of 25 kg. Usually five liters of water will be enough for this amount. But still, it’s better to play it safe and read the manufacturer’s recommendations, which will accurately indicate the ratio you are looking for. As for the process itself, experts recommend kneading gradually, at intervals of two minutes and always at low speeds. This is the only way to achieve a truly homogeneous composition.
Finishing procedure
How to apply pebble plaster? Manually and only manually. There are, of course, special devices for this, but they are used, as a rule, only on external surfaces and for large volumes of work. For yourself, your beloved, you will have to try and work with your own hands. So, the first layer is applied first, which must dry for at least four hours. By the way, the excess solution removed from the trowel should not be smeared on the wall, they must be mixed with the mass that is in the bucket. Then a second layer is applied. Here there is no time to wait. After ten minutes, the plaster must be leveled, and after another thirty - carefully polished with the same trowel. Experts call this method ironing.
Breaks are highly recommended notmake. The entire area with applied pebble plaster must be treated in strict accordance with the requirements of the process. If you do not comply with it, then in the future, defects will form on your walls.
Textured coating
An attentive reader may ask a tricky question: “Why did we stock up on an unusual roller?” And it will be needed for those who want to have not an ordinary, but a textured coating. What needs to be done for this? Add one more manipulation to the procedure described above. Ten minutes after applying the second layer, you need to walk over the treated area with a textured roller. It will give the surface the desired structure. Well, after that it is necessary to iron.
Tips
If you are doing this kind of work for the first time, then be sure to purchase plaster with larger grains, since it is much easier to work with it, especially for a beginner, and the flaws in the finish on such a surface are not so noticeable. If you really want to have a fine-grained coating, then nothing can be done - you still have to turn to specialists, since in this case only a professional can ensure the quality of work.
When applying a layer, be guided by the diameter of the grains. Its thickness must fully correspond to the dimensions of the latter. When applying plaster, it is not recommended to press hard on the tool. Also, try to keep it parallel to the work surface.
Conclusion
We told you about what isstone plaster. The photos in the article will allow you to better imagine how the surfaces processed by it look like. Well, the choice, of course, will be yours.
