There are a lot of building materials for decorating the room and in particular the walls. A special niche among them is decorative plaster. It is considered the best material for wall decoration, as it is easy to use and gives an effective result.
What is decorative plaster?
Plaster, simple or decorative, which is a sand-cement mortar, has the appearance of a paste, which is applied to the walls. Its composition may be different. The appearance of fungus and mold on the walls is excluded, since the composition of this building material includes bactericidal preparations. In addition, decorative plaster, the price of which is very reasonable, has high resistance to fires and high humidity.
Plastering insulates the walls in the room, and most importantly, evens and decorates them, because with its help you can create intricate patterns and give the surface a different shape. The walls after such decoration look unusual, beautiful and solid, and maintaining them in well-groomed form does not require much effort. It is enough to wash them with a detergent. Due to the elasticity of the material, no cracks will 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 by the type of binder, that is:
- Mineral The basis of the mixture is lime, which is added stone chips, marble flour, colored clay.
- Gypsum . It is rarely used, as it quickly freezes and this creates some problems in work.
- Acrylic or polymer. The basis of these mixtures are acrylic resins.
- Silicone This coating is made with additives of appropriate resins.
- Silicate . The mixture is based on organics from silicon.
The place where decorative plaster is found is a bathroom, a living room, a bedroom, an entrance hall. It is used almost everywhere. The components in its composition determine the structure of the finish, these are:
- A crumb from marble, quartz, granite with a fraction from 0.5 to 5 mm.
- Cellulose fiber.
- Plasticizers.
- Pigments.
- Flocks.
Before making decorative plaster, antifoam, thickener, antiseptic and various preservatives are added to the finishing mixture to give the material better characteristics.
Finishing results for decorative plaster
Using the artistic processing of the walls, you can achieve a change in the interior of the room, as well as create a panel or picture. Before applying decorative plasters, you need to have a clear idea of the future interior, study the entire range of decorative mixtures and get acquainted with the presented samples of materials. Artistic building materials, in addition to creating various patterns on the walls, allow you to simulate the effect of decoration with natural stone, marble, granite or wood. Decorative plaster is classified into several types:
- Structural mixture . It is a granular base with a mineral or silicate binder. Also included in this composition are pebbles, granules, wood fiber.
- Venetian . This plaster imitates marble. It consists of marble flour and astringent - lime.
- Liquid wallpaper . This type of coating is considered a newfangled type of artistic wall decoration. Paint with latex imitates various wallpapers and creates the effect of "antiquity".
- Flock is a colored chip finish applied to glue.
Based on this classification, it is necessary to choose for yourself the most suitable method of wall decoration. Do not forget that decorative plaster is presented on the construction market with a whole gamut of shades and colors.
The choice of finishing material
When choosing a particular type of plaster, you need to pay attention to the following details:
- It is inconvenient to work with the liquid composition of the mixture, since they can no longer be diluted with water.
- The solution with a large filler is applied only by hand.
- Any decoration with decorative plaster containing crumbs of various sizes is much more difficult.
- Plaster mixes based on water are the safest.
Tools required for finishing work
Decorative plaster can be prepared by diluting the dry mixture in water or in a special solvent. Indoor decorative plaster is used to decorate only interior spaces, another type of material is used for exterior work. The following materials are required to complete the finish:
- Rollers and brushes for decorative plaster.
- Corrosion-proof and plastic trowels (special blades for leveling mortar).
- Spatulas, ironing machines.
- Capacity for the preparation of the mixture.
- Textured stamps.
- Applicators, brushes, sponges.
- Sandpaper.
- Flock sprayer.
Surface preparation
To prepare the wall surface on which it is planned to apply decorative plasters, it is necessary in the same way as before finishing with conventional plaster, that is:
- The surface must be clean and dry. It is necessary to remove old wallpaper, peeling paint and more. The wall is cleaned with sandpaper.
- If there are rust, silicone, grease stains on the wall, they must be removed. If it is impossible to remove metal 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, using a mixture of gypsum.
- Thus prepared surface must be treated with a primer. This in the future will strengthen the supporting layer of the plaster layer and increase the service life of the wall coating. It is advisable to prime the surface several times and use acrylic compositions. Before the direct application of decorative plasters is made, the surface of the wall must dry.
Decorative putties
Today, wall decoration with putty is very common. Smooth putty mixes are applied with a spatula in the style of Venetian plaster or imitating a stone or marble finish. There is also decorative plaster of ordinary putty. To create a relief pattern, you need to use gear spatulas, structural rollers, brushes and other tools that create volume.
Methods of decorating walls with putty
There are many ways to form an artistic coating for walls, some of which are presented below:
- The plaster is applied to the wall with an even layer of a couple of millimeters. The relief is smoothed in a circular motion.
- Decorative plaster from ordinary putty is used in the work according to this principle: with a small spatula, the mixture is applied to the walls in different directions, as if painting with a brush. You can move randomly or in a certain direction.
- One of the simple ways: applying a plaster layer with a special spatula with teeth. Smoothing the wet mixture, they draw a simple pattern.
- Having gone through the plaster with a roller or sponge, you can also get a unique pattern and texture.
- To create a specific picture, you can use special stamps.
It takes 20-30 minutes to complete, as the plaster begins to dry out. The external coating of putty will resemble the application of decorative plasters on the wall. In the end, it will remain to produce only the final finish.
Final stage
After the plaster is applied and the drawing is created, it is necessary to primer the wall with white soil 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 combining colors and the following tool are used: a long-nap roller that will paint all the irregularities in a plain color, a short-nap roller for the protruding parts of the wall topography. After drying the paint with a sponge, glaze is applied. Further, the entire surface is covered with acrylic varnish.
If you practice a little, it will be difficult to distinguish a wall covering made from improvised materials from an expensive and refined finish. Decorative plaster, the price of which depends on its composition, is therefore common. Plus, there are many options for wall decoration, in each room you can create your own special relief.
Carrying out any plastering work requires certain skills and the correct sequence of activities. As for the quality of decorative coatings obtained, 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.