Decorative plaster, the technology of applying it to the surface of the walls is of great interest to the owners of their homes. This is one of the most fashionable wall coverings in the renovation of premises.
If earlier plaster was a finishing material that is applied to the surface under the final coating, now it is used for the final coating itself. The technique of applying decorative plaster, video of the process, will show this article.
Features of decorative plaster
The composition of the material includes:
- Watery base.
- bonding polymers.
- Filler, which can be:
- sand;
- lime mixture;
- crumb of marble (see. Plaster with marble chips: types, features, methods of application).
Decorative plaster perfectly levels the surface and can be applied to many building materials.
In this case, the walls can be:
- Brick.
- Plasterboard.
- Wooden and others.
A feature of the material is its high plasticity, which makes it possible to obtain various images from it. By adding small stones and shells, you can create a panoramic pattern.
Tip: Pasty or dry decorative plaster goes on sale. It has different technical characteristics, which should be borne in mind when purchasing material for wall decoration in a room.
The material, according to the type of connecting element and the composition of the filler, can be:
- Mineral plaster. Consists of lime or cement, based on water. Its price is the lowest, but there are a number of disadvantages, of which the most basic is low vibration resistance. Such material can begin to crack even with slight vibration in houses located next to the railway track, which must be taken into account.
- silicate plaster. It has a high resistance to vibrating movements, however, not the highest. In this case, the binding element is liquid potassium glass. The main advantage of the material is not a high tendency to contamination.
- Acrylic plaster. Better coverage than the previous two. The technology of decorative plaster is based on an aqueous dispersion of acrylic resins. Such material is used to decorate the interior walls of the premises and the facades of houses. Its main advantages:
- moisture resistance;
- heat resistance.
In addition, it is very easy to wash. This type of coating for the bathroom and kitchen is unrivaled.
- silicone plaster. This is the most expensive cover. The binding element here are polymers. When applying such a decorative coating with your own hands on the wall, it is easy to understand what excellent plastic properties the material has, which allows even a non-professional worker to apply it. In addition, the surface is perfectly washable.
Different fillers determine the type of plaster.
She may be:
- Textured (see Textured plaster: wall decoration features). This is an inexpensive and fairly popular type of coating. As a filler in it are:
- wood fibers;
- mica;
- small stones;
- crumb mineral.
With such fillers, you can get a three-dimensional pattern of the effect, and the walls, under such plaster, take on the appearance of a real work of art.
- Structural. Here, stone and mineral chips are used as a filler. Quartz elements are also used in the coating.
Repair and decoration of the walls of an apartment or house is often an unpredictable thing. Sometimes, during do-it-yourself repairs, a lot of new ideas are introduced into the original plan that can change the design style of the home furnishings. This happens when, after applying decorative plaster on most of the walls with your own hands, new ideas for decorating walls appear.
Ample opportunities for decorative plaster - it's good and bad
Especially if you are lucky to see interesting and fresh photos or videos about what is best to use and how to properly apply decorative plaster on the wall plane.
Before you enter into the temptation to change the original idea in the design of the walls with your own hands and apply a new pattern, it is worth soberly assessing a few key points:
- The cost of repairs, even if the main work on decorating the walls with your own hands and strictly following the original idea and estimate, always grows by 10-15% at least;
- It is not difficult to apply a new pattern in one room, but such a move may require reworking most of the plaster finish. Apply it with your own hands in other rooms, to preserve the style of wall decoration;
- Repair costs can double and result in a significant loss of time and effort.
Thanks to new materials and techniques for applying decorative plaster, even with your own hands you can achieve impressive results.
Advice ! With all the desire to make the most of the expressive possibilities of decorative plaster, it is worth dwelling on one initial idea for decorating walls and completing repairs at minimal cost.
All interesting thoughts about decorating the walls with your own hands can be collected and postponed until the next time. Perhaps there will be new money, new premises and new ideas.
When and how to apply decorative plaster
Modern wall design options allow you to create the most realistic imitations of various decorative surfaces, from broken stone to bas-relief images. But the main advantage of decorative plaster is the incredible flexibility in choosing the texture of the plane with your own hands. In fact, the use of plaster decor made it possible to apply real artistic images and whole paintings to the walls. Even 15 years ago, individual wall painting with their own hands was within the power of artist-designers, and such a pleasure cost a lot of money.
We use the possibilities of decorative plaster
New decorative materials for wall decoration with plaster can be called more like a decoration method than a means of leveling and protecting masonry walls. Polymer binders, water-soluble paints and various fillers are used as components and bases of plaster materials, which, in fact, determine the appearance of the decorative component of the walls.
Among the many approaches to the process of applying decorative plaster, there are several dominant areas:
- If you have a steady hand and good skills in decorative modeling or drawing, perhaps with a little practice you will be able to apply ornament or abstract drawings to the surface in a theme that matches the style and purpose of the room. It is expensive in practical implementation, and even more expensive then to remake what has been done into something new;
- With good taste and sufficient financial resources, you can use a combination of specific shades and colors with a monotonous relief applied to the plane. This is simpler than the previous decorative finish, but will require serious design skills to coordinate and combine all the premises of the apartment into a single plan;
- Simpler and more practical compositions make it possible to apply plaster decors with a simple structure with a restrained relief or even a simple imitation of natural stone, brick or classic decor options.
Advice ! If the reserves of time and finances do not allow you to apply decorative plaster in all rooms, you can, as an experiment, select the most crooked and nondescript plane in an apartment or house and try to apply different types of plaster. This will allow you to personally understand and see the advantages of different methods over a general overhaul.
Works with decorative plaster
The first two areas of work with decorative plaster will require you to accurately understand all the nuances of the colors and textures of the walls, so before applying a complex decorative pattern with relief images, it makes sense to first make sketches or pick up a photo of the relevant design solutions.
The more intricate the pattern, the more difficult it is to apply it to the walls. For example, without practice, not everyone can do decorative plaster with a moire effect, as in the video
A decorative composition in the style of a panel will require a good knowledge of the properties of the plaster and a lot of patience in working with it, but the resulting effect is worth it. The beauty and accuracy of the work can be assessed by the video
In such cases, it is better to apply the decor by the hands of specialists; it is very difficult to achieve such quality on your own.
Important ! In addition to artistic taste and knowledge of the technological intricacies of working with decorative plaster, it should be understood that applying the material to the surface is physically difficult, and the process will require considerable effort and endurance.
In the first experience of using decorative plaster, it is still better to choose the simplest version of the pattern and try to apply it yourself.
How to apply decorative plaster the easiest way
One of the most popular options for decorative plaster is lime composite compositions that imitate natural materials. Most often they use proven practice and long-term use of plaster:
- "Venetian composition", giving the texture of the wall in the form of an unimaginable number of intertwined relief elements;
- "Marmorino" and "Marseille", similar to the surface of marble calcite, with a network of inclusions and cracks and polished surface transitions;
- Imitation of the surface of natural limestone with an uneven, deliberately rough and scratched surface known as "Travertino".
Important ! All of the above decorative plaster compositions are very easy to apply on the wall with your own hands, obtaining almost 100% surface quality.
Venetian pattern of decorative plaster
The secret of the recipe is to use ordinary ready-made plaster mixtures - starting and finishing - to obtain decorative plaster. This cuts costs by about half. The initial plaster mass is prepared by mixing both mixtures in a 50/50 ratio in the amount necessary to apply the composition to 1-1.5 m 2 of the surface.
Before applying the composition, the walls are primed with an acrylic primer, and the composition is carefully applied with a spatula and trowel to a slightly dried surface. The thickness of the layer of decorative plaster is on average from 3 to 6 mm. As the decorative base is applied with a trowel on wet material, it is necessary to apply a relief pattern. The specifics of such work is well understood from the video
Important ! Sometimes there is a problem of the correct connection of two sections of the wall, on which a solution of decorative plaster is applied with a gap in time.
Most often this is due to the need to prepare a new portion of the plaster mass. Therefore, the boundaries of the sections have to be “passed” by the tool several times.
After a little drying, the relief pattern is rolled with a special tool that makes the pattern flatter and more expressive. As a finishing operation, which is the "highlight" of Venetian plaster, a tinting paint is applied to the surface of the wall with a roller, giving the plaster the color of "old silver". To do this, in 250 gr. primers add about 50 grams of dye.
After the drawing dries, it is necessary to apply acrylic varnish with a small amount of glitter. Decorative plaster dries for quite a long time - up to two days, after final drying it acquires a slightly lighter shade.
Travertino, what could be easier
This is a plaster composition based on lime and calibrated quartz sand. If it is important for you to combine the beautiful texture of the surface with the benefits of lime plaster, then the choice is obvious. Among the advantages of the Italian formulation is the possibility of applying plaster even on cement ground of concrete or brickwork, subject to preliminary cleaning of the surface from dirt and deposits and applying a special primer mixture based on sandy quartz dust.
Such a primer will level and hide the "flaws" of the wall and improve adhesion to the decorative layer. On a prepared surface, such as drywall sheets or plastered walls, decorative plaster can be applied in one layer, but with an acrylic primer beforehand.
The decorative composition is applied with a spatula and a wide trowel, achieving a uniform layer, 3-4 mm thick. The plaster pattern must be applied with a roller with a porous surface, the process of surface formation itself is well understood from the video
If you like "brick" wall surface ornaments, with the help of Travertino you can get a pattern of brickwork. To do this, strips of construction tape are glued onto the previously prepared wall surface, imitating the seams between brick blocks. Next, you need to apply plaster and separate the strips from the main layer, due to which a texture is formed that imitates silicate or ceramic bricks.
Conclusion
Simple compositions of decorative plasters do not mean their primitiveness in beauty or design. Most often, these options are used to apply the basis for hand-painting, painting or applying bas-reliefs from putty mass.
To date, there are many different finishing materials. The most popular of them is decorative plaster.
Its leadership in the market is explained by the fact that it has many advantages. It is durable, easy to care for, moisture resistant, while its cost is low.
Consider how to make decorative plaster yourself.
Types of plaster
This material for decorating rooms and facades can have different properties. Depending on the:
- Chemical composition and components.
- Texture and style.
- Number and size of granules.
Chemical composition and components
Mineral, excellent value for money. Made from cement and lime. In stores, it is sold in the form of a dry mix. Therefore, before starting work, it must be diluted in water.
It is used not only for interior work, but also for decorating facades. Since it contains water-repellent substances.
In addition, it has a number of advantages:
- vapor permeability;
- fire resistance;
- resistant to mechanical damage.
Acrylic plaster is sold ready-made, in the form of a water-dispersion material for decoration.
In its production, a polymer solution is used that connects the filler. This type of plaster is tinted, so you can choose any shade.
Silicone is used to decorate external walls. Because it has various positive characteristics:
- High service life.
- Elastic structure.
- Self-cleaning material.
- High vapor permeability.
- Weather resistant.
Silicate or mineral plaster is very expensive, however, reliable and practical. Since the main component is potassium glass. This will protect the walls from the appearance of fungus.
This plaster is commonly used in the decoration of building facades. But you can find it in the decoration of interior walls.
If it is not possible to buy a ready-made mixture, then at home you can make decorative plaster from putty. With it, you can create textured images.
Texture and style
Venetian creates walls from marble. In the photo of decorative plaster, you can see how the room is being transformed. It is produced from an aqueous solution, lime and marble sand. This type of material is applied only to flat walls.
Structural is a heterogeneous mass with granules. It is made from latex and water. Its granules can have any color. The color scheme is tinted at the factory. However, choosing a color is not difficult, as manufacturers offer a large palette of different shades.
Textured is the most popular among consumers. Because with its help in the interior of the room you can create a relief or image on the wall.
Note!
Flock turns the wall into a mosaic. As a rule, it is sold in two containers. The first contains glue, the second contains mosaic elements. They are already pre-painted by the manufacturer. The wall is applied in stages, first glue, then mosaic pieces.
Glazing is used in cases where it is necessary to create a certain effect on the surface of the wall. For example, the effect of silk, velor, sandstone. Application of decorative plaster is possible on the facade of the building.
Instructions for applying decorative plaster with your own hands
Preliminary work must be done. You need to remove the old finishing material.
The surface is cleaned, in the presence of cracks and holes puttied. After the wall must be treated with a primer.
After all preparatory work is completed, plaster is applied using a construction tool. The material is laid in horizontal or vertical movements. The thickness of the application is measured by granules. After application, it dries for about a day.
This completes the application of decorative plaster. If desired, it can be painted in a different color or decorated with different design elements.
Note!
Decorative wall plaster is a great way to quickly and inexpensively change the interior of a room.
DIY decorative plaster photo
Note!
Recently, the application of decorative plaster has again won the laurels of superiority. Thanks to innovative compositions, a huge tinting palette, a wide range of tools and accessories, this method of finishing exterior and interior walls and even ceilings is popular when decorating interiors in fashionable restaurants and apartments, shopping and entertainment establishments, apartments and cottages.
Characteristics and advantages of the material
Plaster, which is applied in a thin layer of just a few millimeters, can take on all sorts of shapes and textures. The very designation "decorative" directly indicates its main purpose - to give the base a complete, aesthetically flawless look.
Depending on the design idea, plastered walls can be smooth and shiny, velvety matte or imitate interesting natural surfaces - stone, tree bark, reptile skin. The texture depends on the shape and size of the fraction of the granular filler in the mixture, as well as on the techniques and tools that you use when applying and distributing the composition over the surface.
The TM DALI-DECOR® collection includes decorative plasters of the latest generation, which are created taking into account all the requirements of a modern person for finishing materials. Our coatings adhere perfectly to any type of substrate, be it concrete, plaster, masonry, drywall, wood or cement.
The plaster is delivered in plastic buckets ready for application. You just have to mix the solution thoroughly, and you can start applying it to the previously prepared walls. Among the important advantages of our products it is worth noting:
moisture resistance, which allows the use of compounds in rooms where high humidity is always present. This is an ideal solution for finishing kitchens, bathrooms and, of course, the facades of buildings and structures;
- elasticity, thanks to which the stability of the plaster is ensured before the formation of cracks;
- ease of application and cleaning. Even a novice home master can plaster the surface, and caring for it consists in periodic wet cleaning using ordinary detergents;
- resistance to ultraviolet rays, temperature changes;
- unparalleled durability- a natural advantage, which directly follows from all the listed properties.
Stages of work
Step 1. Preparing the walls. Regardless of which top coat you choose, the walls must be prepared before applying the decorative plaster. When carrying out interior work, all furniture must be removed from the room, the walls must be freed from furniture, shelves, paintings, etc. You also need to remove all remnants of the old coating (paint, wallpaper, whitewash). Clean all swollen and protruding areas on the walls, remove crumbling surface elements, traces of corrosion, fungus, mold.
Expand pits and cracks, free from debris, dust, particles of building materials and seal with mortar. However, minor surface defects can be left as is if you plan to use textured compositions. But smooth ones, such as Venetian plaster, need an ideal evenness of the base.
Step 2 Hanging the walls. Now you need to check the quality of the walls and determine the degree of their "curvature". Based on the results obtained, you will be able to determine how many coats of plaster will be required. Armed with a plumb line and level, hang the walls, focusing on the above diagram. To ensure the correct verticality and horizontality of the bases, set marks and beacons in different places, to the level of which you will subsequently apply the plaster solution.
Step 3. Primer. To improve the adhesion of the decorative mortar and ensure it dries properly, the walls must be primed. This process is necessary when applying both smooth and textured, structural plaster, flock coatings, etc. ROGNEDA Group of Companies offers a range of primers, so you can easily choose the one that is right for the type of surface to be treated and the selected finish.
The technology of applying decorative plaster requires allowing the walls to dry completely in a natural way. The use of a blow dryer or heater with a fan is not recommended, as this may give an undesirable craquelure effect (small cracks). The optimal conditions for drying the primer are a room temperature of 18–25 degrees and a humidity of at least 20%.
Step 4. Applying decorative plaster. The textured composition is simply applied to the surface with a spatula, metal trowel or a special spray gun, then with the help of certain tools and hand movements holding the working tool, the wall is given an appropriate pattern or relief. You need to act almost continuously to keep the solution from drying out, so lunch breaks are out of the question.
After that, you must wait for the complete drying of the finish. With Venetian plaster, the situation is more complicated. Instead of one main layer, several very thin ones are applied, and not on the entire base, but in spots, so that a spectacular game of halftones is obtained. You can fix the base and provide it with a noble shine with the help of ТМ DALI-DECOR® wax.
Popular methods of applying plaster
"Spray". Of all the technologies for applying decorative plaster, this is perhaps the simplest. The relief in this case is created by spraying. After applying the first layer of plaster, wait for it to dry, and then apply another one, on which you will create the texture. No one limits you in choosing a working tool - you can even take an ordinary broom, dip it into the mixture and spray it on the wall in a chaotic manner. In this case, it is not at all necessary that the main layer and the embossed "splashes" be of the same color.
"Bouffant". On a fresh layer of plaster, go over with a brush with metal bristles - vertically, diagonally, in a circle, or whatever you like. After 24 hours, when the surface is dry, use a spatula or rag to remove particles of the finishing material that do not adhere well. As a result, you will get a very non-trivial ornament.
"Stamping". Decorative plaster is applied to the surface with a special roller with a pattern. However, from an ordinary tool and a coil of rope wound around its working surface, you can create an excellent device for creating a fashionable texture that will create the effect of grass stalks.
"Sgraffito". Unlike the methods described, this method is somewhat more complicated, but the highly artistic result is undoubtedly worth the effort. The plaster is applied to the surface in several layers, which differ from each other in color or shade. On the top layer, a drawing is cut out using a stencil (it can be an ornament, a pattern or a whole picture on the entire wall), and pieces of decoration are removed using cutters or scrapers.
Video of applying decorative plasters with various application technologies
More videos with different application technologies.
Dali-Decor conducts master classes in the application of decorative coatings in its training center. You can find out more about classes on the page.
Decorative plaster together with firmly holds the palm among finishing materials. Using natural materials and traditional technologies do-it-yourself decorative plaster saves up to 80% of finishing costs or allows you to start a highly profitable small business: the components are cheap, and the work is difficult and expensive.
Another important advantage is the huge wealth of colors, textures and reliefs, which are approximately equivalent in terms of labor intensity and cost. The figure shows only a small part of the available textures, each of which also has varieties, and may vary depending on the method of application. In the interior, decorative plaster gives freedom of design: you just need to say what surface is needed, and the craftsmen will do it, so long as the customer does not require a different type of finish.
People with artistic ability only stucco can, see the next pic. A skilled craftsman can achieve the effect of the full presence of the present in the fictitious, as in fig. left. But, of course, before undertaking such work, you need to fully master all the technology and feel the material to the finest nuances.
Finally, there are many ready-made polymer-based mixtures on the market that are durable, resistant and designed for different temperature and humidity conditions. Although they are not cheap, the technology for applying decorative plaster of industrial production is not complicated, careful labor-intensive leveling of the underlying surface is not required, so in general, finishing with decorative plaster can be cheaper than ordinary plaster, followed by wallpapering and painting.
So what is it made of, this wonderful material? Is it possible to make it yourself? How to work with him?
It is not difficult to make decorative plaster yourself from natural components, you only need accuracy and a simple tool. Ready-made polymer-based mixtures require industrial manufacturing technology, but decorating walls with them is easier than plastering under wallpaper or painting. Working with decorative plaster is not technically difficult, but the most accurate robot cannot cope with it: a certain amount of artistic taste is needed.
And most importantly, we are not talking about one material, but about many types and varieties. The main ones will be described in this article, but first of all - about the composition and its components. Then - the preparatory work, and only then - for the cause.
Composition and components
Decorative plaster for interior work consists of a filler that gives a general tone, strength and durability, a pigment (colour), structural (modeling) elements, surface or volumetric, and a binder that holds it all together into a monolith. The finished coating is glazed to increase surface resistance - a reinforcing composition is introduced into a thin surface layer.
Fillers
The most common filler was and remains pure fine white river sand or finely ground quartz sand. For real Venetian plaster (see below), it is partially or completely replaced with marble flour. Synthetic self-forming fillers are becoming more widespread (drying, the plaster itself wrinkles into a unique relief), but mixtures with them are produced only industrially and are sold ready-made.
Pigments
Mixtures give color (tint) with pigments, mineral and organic synthetic. Natural organic pigments (cochineal, indigo) in plaster burn out quickly. The pigment can be in the form of a powder, then it is introduced into the filler before mixing; paste-like and liquid pigments are introduced into the mixture ready for application.
To create any color, in principle, red, green and blue are enough - the main basic colors, but the plaster itself does not glow, its color is created by subtracting complementary colors from the reflected white. In colorimetry, this method of colorization is called subtractive.
Therefore, in order to get pure and / or deep tones, additional colors are needed: yellow, blue (turquoise), magenta (lilac, violet), and key color; with a white backing, the key will be black. There are more than enough synthetic pigments of any color on sale, and the following can be recommended from mineral ones for natural plaster:
- Red- red ocher, calcined hematite, red cadmium. Cinnabar - no way, it's a mercury compound! Cadmium is also toxic, but not volatile, chemically resistant and does not migrate from the plaster layer.
- Yellow- yellow ocher, orpiment, red lead.
- Green- malachite (ground), pseudomalachite, kerchenite, chrome green, brilliant green powder.
- Blue- blue (next point) mixed with zinc or titanium white; azurite and dioptase are expensive.
- Blue- lapis lazuli (lapis lazuli), cobalt blue, vivianite (mineral indigo).
- Violet– calcined lapis lazuli, oxides of manganese. Pharmacy potassium permanganate is not suitable, and not at all because of the regulated circulation: it is chemically aggressive (strong oxidizing agent), actively migrates.
- Brown- dark ocher, iron minium.
- Black- soot gas, charcoal.
Notes:
- Violet, mauve and magenta; blue with turquoise - visually different colors. But they belong to the same zone of the spectrum - mixing them with yellow, you can get the same red or green, only the ratio of the components will be different.
- Gas soot is not scraped out of the chimney. It is sold precisely as a pigment in construction and art stores.
In general, any mineral pigments for easel painting will go for decorative wall plastering, it's just a matter of price. There is a difference - to paint an icon, which will then be bought for several thousand dollars, or to finish two dozen squares, keeping within the family budget. For shine, metal powders are used as a pigment.
Organic pigments are cheaper than many mineral ones, they can be iridescent (pearl, metallic) and fluorescent (self-luminous after exposure to the Sun). But keep in mind - there is no organic matter that would not burn out for decades, not to mention centuries, and in principle cannot exist. Its highest UV resistance to date is 80 years, at a coating price of $4 per square inch.
Modeling elements
To form a textured surface, various flakes, fibers, granules, up to golden balls, are introduced into the mixture or sprayed onto the finished coating. This will be discussed in more detail in the description of the types of plasters, but it is important to know: mineral plaster mixtures are structured very poorly. You need to either strictly follow proven recipes, or have extensive experience in order to experiment yourself.
Binder
For plaster, mineral and organic polymeric binders are used. The former are not very sticky, but have been tested for centuries and are cheap; the second - tightly stick to anything except clean glass, polished metal, polyethylene and fluoroplastic, stretch well when dried, but are expensive and in operation for less than 100 years.
Mineral
Cement and simple gypsum are not used for decorative plaster: the first gives a too rough surface and a dirty tone of color, and the second is fragile. On sale there are mixtures based on gypsum modified with polymer additives, but their reliability has not yet been tested for centuries.
Natural decorative plaster is most often made on lime paste. It is cheap, strong, durable, allows the use of a variety of decorative techniques, but its adhesive power is low, so good, and rather laborious, surface preparation is required. The relief can only be obtained by wet modeling or stenciling - it is not plastic, it does not stretch.
Sometimes, for coatings that are not particularly responsible in design, but require increased durability (for example, in the hallway), they take plaster on a binder of liquid glass - silicate. It is durable, sticks well, but is rough, and not every pigment can be introduced into it.
For especially critical cases, the binder is taken magnesian: caustic magnesite (magnesium oxide) MgO, mixed with an aqueous solution of magnesium chloride MgCl2. The components are caustic, individually dangerous, the mixture must be prepared immediately before use, strictly following the rules of chemical technology, but the plaster comes out exceptionally durable and moisture resistant.
organic
The main organic binders are acrylic resin and silicone, which is already organosilicon. Both of them stick well and stretch. Acrylic is much cheaper; the price of the finished coating is comparable to that of the "mineral water"; layer thickness - up to 12 mm. Silicone is very expensive, but it allows you to make convex bas-reliefs, high reliefs and even a round sculpture.
Mixes
The standard composition of plaster mixtures for interior decoration is as follows:
- filler - 3 parts by weight;
- binder - 1 weight part;
- pigment - 2-12% by weight of the mixture according to the results of coloring, see below;
- modeling additives - according to secret proprietary technology or the results of our own unique experience.
Note: up to 80-90% of the filler with pigment in total can be introduced into plaster on an acrylic binder, as for liquid stone. The wall for such plaster should be prepared, as under the Venetian on an acrylic substrate, see below, and still be limited to 4 parts of the filler with pigment per 1 part of the binder - the plaster is not a countertop, it does not lie, but hangs on the wall.
Vykras
Wall decoration with decorative plaster is unthinkable without test paints. They are needed not only for selecting the tone and checking the texture, but also for testing the strength of the fit: after complete drying, the samples are turned upside down or placed on the butt and tapped on its back side with the handle of a roller or spatula. If it doesn't fall off, it will stay on the wall.
Vykras is done on a plywood board 0.5x0.5 m thick 8-20 mm. Plywood is needed without impregnation, the simplest, on casein glue, from coniferous or birch. It is impossible to replace plywood with drywall or other board materials: it is simple plywood on casein that holds the plaster in the same way as a prepared wall.
Note: plywood for painting is needed not stratified and new, not dusty and not seized. Dust and grease drastically reduce the adhesive susceptibility of the substrate.
Glazing
Glazing is the final operation of decorative plaster. Its purpose is to give relief and / or painting surface resistance. The traditional way of glazing old mineral plasters is with beeswax: the surface is lined with a piece of wax crosswise, then rubbed with a horn sponge, thin felt or rawhide polish.
wax for glazing
Wax glazing is a labor-intensive and responsible operation. Wax is applied and rubbed repeatedly, and at the same time, you must not erase the relief and wipe the drawing. Suffice it to say that the quality of glazing in the old days was checked by placing a palm on the opposite side of the wall: it should have warmed through from friction heating.
Nowadays, they are glazed either with transparent acrylic varnish - it easily penetrates into the surface layer of any plaster - or with special single-use glazing compounds; they are simply applied with a roller or brush. But there is a nuance: if a ready-made mixture is used, then it is necessary to glaze with the composition of the same manufacturer, and intended specifically for this mixture. It is physically impossible to check for compatibility all plaster products on the market.
I must say that some manufacturers shamelessly use this circumstance for selfish purposes: the mixture seems to be inexpensive, and the glazing for it ... there are no words, one primordial Russian non-normative. Therefore, when choosing a ready-made mixture, be sure to read in the FIRM instructions how it is recommended to glaze it, and ask how much it costs. In extreme cases - acrylic varnish has not yet spoiled any plaster.
Video: an example of glazing in a lacquer manufacturer's video
Tool
To work on decorative plaster, in addition to the usual plastering tool, you will also need a special one: textured rollers, stamps, a rubbing sponge, see fig. A set of notched trowels also comes in handy, especially if you're thinking of a modern clone design.
Rollers and dies must, firstly, be soft-elastic, otherwise it will turn out not a unique relief, but roll rolling. Secondly, they should not stick with the mixture. For permanent use, it is better to get rollers with a Teflon or polyester coating - they are durable. For one-time amateur work, it is better to purchase cheap polyethylene ones.
Special mention should be made of sponges for rubbing. The luxury finish is still rubbed with natural sea horn sponges; they go on sale as "coral", although the sponge is not coral at all, and are expensive. Two types of horny sponges are mined: toilet and horse. The first is softer, goes to the final grout, and the second, coarser - to the rough.
However, practice shows that horn sponges successfully replace the usual two-layer kitchen sponge for dishes. Its hard fibrous side is used for rough grinding, and the soft foam side is used for finishing. A kitchen sponge on plaster wears out very quickly, but it also costs a penny.
Wall preparation
Preparation of walls for decorative plaster is carried out in the following order:
- Close up cracks.
- durable cement putty.
- a falcon in the air WITHOUT LIGHTHOUSES, even surface ones; perfect evenness, as for painting or wallpaper, does not need to be achieved - the decor will hide minor flaws.
- Thoroughly remove dust with a dry brush, then suck it with a vacuum cleaner with a dust collector.
- Under all plasters, except Venetian - primed with a deep penetration primer on stone or plaster.
- Under Venetian plaster - make a substrate with sand, see below.
Lighthouses in the base plaster cannot be used for the following reason: the base layer may not be very even, but must be perfectly uniform. Closed grooves from remote beacons, dried-up induced beacons violate this uniformity, which in a couple of years will lead to delamination of the decor.
It is better to take the base plaster warm on expanded vermiculite. Styrofoam, etc. not strong, and in decorative plaster, as nowhere else, you must follow the immutable finishing principle: strong and heavy should not lie on light and weak.
Why do you need warm plaster? The decor is inherently heterogeneous, which is why it is sensitive to the temperature gradient (temperature difference) across the thickness of the layer. The load-bearing walls are now being built more of silicate brick and concrete, which have a fairly high thermal conductivity, due to which, with sudden changes in the weather, the gradient may go beyond the permissible range. If the box is made of ceramic bricks, then they are now heated not with stoves, but with radiators, and the walls are not made a meter thick, which can give the same result.
Venetian lining
Applying natural Venetian plaster requires considerable physical effort, and replacing sand with marble dust reduces the adhesion of the mixture. In addition, in order for the Venetian to show itself in all its glory, the substrate under it must reflect light with brilliance.
An old way of priming under a Venetian is painting with lead or zinc white (tucia) in linseed oil mixed with fine quartz sand and ground pearls that have become old and have lost their value. Now the base surface under the Venetian is painted with pearl acrylic paint, also with the addition of sand, to improve adhesion due to roughness.
How much sand do you need? Approximately 5-15% by weight. The test on the nail is precisely determined by the dried color: the nail should go easily and smoothly, and a uniformly rough white spot should remain on it. If individual scratches are visible, there is not enough sand or it is too large. If it slows down, as if on sandpaper, there is a lot of sand.
Is it possible to prime the old fashioned way? Not recommended. Firstly, it makes no sense to replace pearls with a cheaper, but still expensive pearl stalemate: stalemate is made from the scales of small herring fish - sprat, sprat, herring, kibinago - and in terms of its physical and chemical properties it is not pearl at all. Secondly, a city apartment is not a family nest. Once again there will be a repair, and the oil absorbed into the wall will show itself as stains on the wallpaper or paint, and it is very difficult to get rid of them.
Working methods
Methods for applying decorative plaster are somewhat different from those for ordinary plaster, and include additional operations: tinting, sculpting, grinding, glazing. Glazing has already been said; how to make a Venetian will be discussed specifically later. Here we will talk about the general techniques of manual work. Mechanized methods: spraying to get icicles on the ceiling, etc. - the subject of a separate discussion.
There is one more significant difference: the decor can, and should, be made multi-layered for an artistic effect. She should not keep anything else on herself, and glazing will strengthen her. Layers can be up to 15 or more, as long as the material allows: the thickness of the finished coating along the depressions of the relief should not exceed 6 mm. Layers can be either continuous or piecewise, but always wet on wet. Let the previous one have already begun to set, but it should be wet in appearance and to the touch.
Application
The finished “decorative” must be applied, of course, not with a falcon and a rule for lighthouses, but with a wide spatula in weight. The mixtures are quite viscous, it is more convenient to pull the spatula with both hands, and small irregularities do not matter, because. further finishing is not expected.
The spatula, smooth or notched, is pulled from the bottom up in vertical or oblique stripes. Unlike the usual one, it is permissible, for the sake of heightening the aesthetic effect, to apply the decorative effect with rays apart or with a drive to the center. The spatula is pulled with small waves, swaying across; so the mixture will stick better to the wall.
Coloring
The applied layer can be tinted (tinted) on top by applying a thin layer of the same mixture on it with a shaggy roller or a flute brush, but with additional color and diluted water. You can tint both wet on wet, for modeling, and already seized, but still damp layer - for grinding.
modeling
Modeling (which can be done with rollers, stamps, or just a finger in a latex glove) not only creates a relief. Modeling a wet tinted layer disperses the pigment to the tops of the relief, which already gives a certain transition of colors.
Rubbing
Layer rubbing is done for the following:
- Rough sponge - under the next layer.
- She also rough and clean - to shade the stained color scheme.
- With a falcon or a spatula on a barely set relief - to smooth its tops into one level and highlight it with color; this is how bark beetle plasters are rubbed.
Stencil plaster
Semantic images with plaster can be made using a stencil with a thickness of 1.5-4 mm. The stencil layer can be both final and intermediate. If the previous layer is even, the stencil is easier to make from cardboard; if embossed - from foam or soft rubber. The mixture is rubbed into the stencil with a narrow spatula or driven in with an end brush. To highlight the color, a slightly dried-up pattern is overwritten, or vice versa, rubbed into it with a color sponge.
Video: applying decorative plaster on a stencil
About drying
Decorative plaster is dried in a ventilated room only in a natural way. Exposure to direct sunlight is unacceptable: in addition to hanging open windows with gauze or tulle, you need to arrange a temporary visor above the window or shading screens inside. It is unacceptable to speed up drying in any way, except for separate areas for craquelure, see below.
You can open your creation for viewing in a day in clear weather or two in cloudy weather, and use the room in a week. It takes from 2 to 12 hours to set the next layer, depending on the type of plaster and temperature. 15 hours after application, the coat is considered unsuitable for wet-on-wet work. This is either the finish, or all the work is spoiled.
Types of plasters
Types of decorative plaster, with all their diversity, are not so difficult to classify, based on the final result:
- Venetian - can be considered the progenitor of all others.
- Stucco (discussed earlier).
- Ottocento (fibrous) plasters.
- Textured.
- Structural.
- Flock plaster.
- Modeling plasters.
Venetian
Venetian plaster was invented in ancient Rome. In ancient times, marble was a mass building material, from the processing of which a lot of waste remained. Practical Roman women ground it into dust and replaced it with white sand, which is not so much in nature. Then they noticed that a thin layer was translucent, and began to apply in layers, carefully rubbing each layer (slave labor was cheap), which made it possible to obtain coatings that were translucent almost like real marble, but suitable for weak and curved walls. By applying piecewise layers filled with colored ground stone, travertine and other facing materials were imitated.
He perfected the technology of the Venetian in the 16th century. one of the titans of the Renaissance, the greatest architect of the West, Andrea Palladio. He was the first to create artistic images using the Venetian technique. Now the Venetian is reviving, which is greatly facilitated by cheap prices for marble flour (mining companies vying with each other) and the emergence of inexpensive and low-labor acrylic paints and varnishes for substrates and glazing. The Venetian woman has been described many times and competently, so we will reveal only some secrets.
Craquelure
The Venetian is often artificially aged, making cracking - craquelure. The technology is simple: the layer is covered with a special craquelure varnish (expensive). As it hardens, it shrinks and pulls the plaster along with it.
There is a way to reduce the cost of craquelure and make it look more natural without reducing the strength of the coating. But first you need to practice on the colors:
- The cracked area is dried, constantly visually controlled, with an infrared emitter with a reflector; an ancient electric fireplace bowl is well suited.
- Cracks appear a little or earlier, depending on experience, the heating is stopped, the cracks will spread themselves.
- A plaster composition is rubbed into the cracks with a dental spatula, tinted to black or dark gray with gas soot; you can add a dark minium.
- The remains of the filler are washed with a sponge.
- Apply a thin translucent solid layer without color.
Video: how to apply Venetian plaster craquelure
Carrara
Do not get carried away with colored spots. If you are not too lazy to apply 10-12 layers, and you already have some skill, you will take pure white marble flour on lime as a filler, and glaze it with wax, even a connoisseur will not immediately distinguish such a Venetian from the most exquisite Carrara marble, the deposits of which are now almost exhausted.
veins
Darkish veins on natural marble are inclusions of bituminous marble. Their imitation is easy to obtain artificially: the next portion of the mixture is tinted with 5-15% carbon black, smears are made with a curved medical spatula and rubbed with a sponge. The next continuous layer without color is required.
Video: Venetian plaster lesson
Wax
The Venetian woman has a serious flaw and at the same time dignity: she breathes, i.e. hygroscopic. But even in the bathroom you sometimes want to make decorative plaster under some kind of natural stone. Here the French turned out to be the inventors: someone came up with the idea of introducing 1/4-1/5 cellulose (vegetable) fibers into the filler, finely ground and boiled in wax. This is how Marseille wax plaster appeared, in fig. on the left, completely waterproof.
Replacing cellulose with lignin from wood waste, they then obtained Andalusian wax (center), which is rougher in appearance, but also cheaper. Now all "wax" plasters for rooms with high humidity are made ready for use on acrylic; their collective name is mizuri-type plasters, on the right in fig.
Video: an example of Roman plaster under a stone
fibrous
The next step in increasing the strength and aesthetic merits of plaster coatings was made again by the Italians. Instead of plant fibers, they used animals in the form of silk threads, obtaining a velvety ottocento plaster, on the left in fig. In modern times, the classic expensive ottocento has again been replaced with synthetics on acrylic, which is in no way inferior to it.
Trademarks for Ottocento analogues are velveton (center) and velvetex (right). What is the difference between them, the manufacturers themselves cannot really explain. In the conventional wisdom, it is believed that in velveton the fibrous additive is collected in more or less distinct conglomerates, and in velvetex it is more or less evenly distributed. Both are sold ready to use.
Textured
- the invention of the era of high technology. In essence, this is no longer plaster, but liquid wallpaper: textured elements are introduced into the finished mixture during manufacture. Textured plaster is applied without features; the finished surface is flat. Most of the time no grinding is required. There are textured plasters imitating a Venetian, but they do not breathe.
The texture can be either chaotic (see the figure on the left) or regular, and even with a claim to expressiveness: leaves, flowers, butterflies, etc. Textured plasters are in a state of rapid evolution in the direction - splashed on the wall from a bucket, dried up, Gioconda or Venus Botticelli turned out.
Textured plasters are used, as a rule, in the kitchen and in other small rooms with difficult temperature and humidity conditions, but where a colorful cheerful design is required: they are too expensive for finishing large areas, but they are absolutely hygienic and hygroscopic. They are not suitable for a bedroom and a nursery - they glare and do not breathe.
Structural
With structural plasters, there is some confusion in the definitions: some refer to them as any relief plasters, incl. stucco and stencil (see the figure in the paragraph and at the beginning of the text); others consider only ready-to-use self-forming ones to be structural, i.e. those that acquire a random unique relief when dried. We adhere to the second point of view, since the technology of applying those and others is very different: some need to be finished with hands in the presence of a fairly developed artistic taste, while others are simply smeared with a spatula, and the final result does not depend on the will and desire of the master.
Self-forming ready-made plasters are produced in industrial conditions, but the choice is unusually rich, and the range is constantly expanding. They are made on acrylic with synthetics, suitable for interior decoration of any premises.
Running textures - bark beetle (second and third from the left), terraco, extreme on the right - cheaper due to the mineral filler; are obtained by rolling with a roller and grouting over the top with a spatula. Structural plasters are easily supplemented with screen plasters, because relief is low.
Video: structural plastering
Flock
Flock is German for snowflake. Flocks (not ice, of course) are sprayed with a special sprayer onto a plastered surface covered with glue, see left in fig. After the glue dries, poorly adhered flocks are brushed off with a brush or brush and, also from a spray gun, acrylic varnish is applied. Flocks, adhesive and underlying plaster mix are sold ready to use in sets or individually. In this case, the packaging of the flocks indicates which underlying plaster and which adhesive they are compatible with.
Some craftsmen make flocks themselves, throw them in handfuls and blow, as soon as the glue starts to set, with a strong narrow stream of air from a vacuum cleaner to gently press down. Homemade flock plaster works well only on acrylic base; weakly adhere to silicone or mineral flocks.
Modeling
Modeling plasters, in essence, are a kind of flock: foreign granules are introduced into the ready-to-use mixture during its manufacture. By varying the composition of the mixture, the size, material and shape of the granules, coatings are obtained "lamb", under a fur coat, "orange peel", "rain", etc., see previous. rice. Application technique - conventional or spraying.