Anyone dreams of living in a beautiful apartment with a high-quality renovation, in which tastefully selected and modern furniture, and comfortable interior... However, if the room has uneven walls, there is no visibility of this magnificence. Often, to hide a small blockage, apartment owners try to close it with furniture or use other tricks.
However, all these efforts are in vain, because only aligning uneven walls will help correct the defect, and not masking them. For example, furniture can only emphasize these shortcomings.
Why walls are crooked
There are uneven walls for a variety of reasons. Most often, the ceilings and walls in the old housing stock are very uneven. However, it is difficult to meet perfect walls and in apartments in new buildings.
Most panel high-rise buildings have curved walls, since the panels are uneven. However, this unevenness allows the house to be exploited, since the unevenness does not affect the reliability. When the slab is installed, it can unfold slightly.
To understand this clearly, take a scrapbook sheet and put it on the table. The sheet is even, however, try to lift it by grasping the ends diagonally, pull the ends in different sides- this will open to you interesting fact that will happen to the album sheet.
In the same way, they bend and concrete plates... They have slight deviations, which are sufficient to form a blockage of the walls and disrupt the geometry of the corners in the room.
How to determine vertical deviations
Exists real opportunity self-leveling of the walls, however, first you need to determine the place of the blockage. To do this, pay attention to each corner to guess if any of the walls are uneven, and then check if you thought correctly.
This can be done very simply: tie a heavy object to the end of a strong and thin rope. Attach its opposite end to the corner where the top floor joins the walls. If the rope is parallel to the walls, then they are even, and when observing deviations, you can understand about the existing blockages that need to be eliminated.
It is best for two people to check the evenness of the walls: one needs to hold the cord, and the other from a side of several meters to see if the lines are parallel.
You can use another option to assess the condition of the surface of the walls. To carry out this work, it is necessary to have a homemade plumb bob with a non-rotating weight. Hanging is performed in every corner of the room, for which the cord must be fixed on a nail driven into the wall.
The place for driving the nail should be near the ceiling so that the plumb line is located near the wall, without touching its surface.
After that, the plumb line moves along the nail until it reaches the optimal position. Further, at the bottom of the wall, another nail is hammered, the head of which should touch the plumb line.
A similar operation is performed with the other edge of the wall. The next step pull the cords along the lighthouse points, of which there are only four. The result is an accurate picture that allows you to judge the state of the wall surface.
If the deviation is small (up to 10 mm), when carrying out repairs, carry out work on the walls, using gypsum and cement mixtures for leveling.
If vertical deviations exceed this figure, it is necessary to level the walls with drywall.
First you need to prepare the surface
Before starting work on leveling the walls, you need to know which order should be followed. First, the surface must be prepared, since it is very important that the base is strong and there are no crumbling areas in it. At the preparation stage, old wallpaper and worn plaster are removed.
After cleaning and preparing the wall, it is carefully primed using a roller, brush or spray. Having primed the base, you need to let it dry for at least 12 hours. This circumstance makes it advisable to prime the walls in the evening so that they can dry overnight.
In what ways can walls be aligned
Taking into account the materials used for work, the curvature of the walls is leveled in two ways:
- The first is the raw method, in which building mixtures are used.
- The second method can be considered dry, which is associated with the installation of the structure.
The methods are equally good, but only if all processes are strictly followed. Each method has its own distinctive features in the form of advantages and disadvantages.
Aligning walls using plaster is most often applied if there is small drops- up to 50 mm. You can also use plaster for surfaces with a large curvature, however, you need to prepare for the additional financial costs that will be needed to complete the work and purchase additional materials... It means that the best option to align the large curvature of the walls is to carry out the installation of the frame and sheathing it with plasterboard.
We align the walls with plaster and lighthouses
After determining the possible unevenness of the walls and preparing their surface, work begins related to their direct leveling.
Do not forget in time, before starting work, to turn off electrical energy... And when cleaning the walls, do it carefully, being careful not to harm the elements. electrical wiring hidden in the walls.
To make the plaster anchored firmly, be sure to prime the walls. Thanks to this operation, unwanted delamination of the materials can be prevented. The primer improves moisture resistance. Cement milk, which contains cement, water and sand, is widely used for cement mixture.
The most popular and in a simple way To avoid curvature of the walls is to level the walls with plaster.
If wet leveling with plaster is used, it is convenient to use the technology of "beacons", which are special metal elements made of flexible material - aluminum.
It is necessary to embed the lighthouse into the curved wall in order to align the wall along it in the subsequent time. In order to better understand the function of the lighthouse, we will take it: if the wall is heaped from above, then the lighthouse rests against the wall below, and on top, between the lighthouse and the wall, some material is placed to eliminate unevenness.
The size of the tool with which you will apply the plaster affects the distance that should be between the beacons.
How to install beacons correctly
Beacon rails are installed together with the installation of profiles on opposite walls. To check each lighthouse for verticality, plumb lines are used, and these profiles are attached to the wall using stucco... Gypsum must be applied to the rail in several places, observing the distance between them up to 50 cm. After that, the cord is pulled through the lower, middle and upper profiles. The following rails are also mounted on the wall, but the cord should only lightly touch them.
You can attach beacons with self-tapping screws, but this slows down the speed of work, which subsequently greatly simplifies them. Even a layman will find it easy to adjust vertical lines by twisting or unscrewing the screws.
What is better to use for leveling walls
The use of a leveling compound depends on what is maximum thickness leveling layer. It is also influenced by the type of binding components used - cement or gypsum. The use of a cement mixture is advisable for rooms with high humidity(bathroom, kitchen), and gypsum compositions are used for residential premises, since gypsum is able to well maintain the desired microclimate in the room.
Using the "wet method" to level the walls
After the end of the display of the lighthouses, the following work remains to be done: dilute 10-15 liters of plaster and apply it to the wall between the lighthouses. The mixture should have a certain consistency: not very liquid, so that it does not slide off the walls, and not too thick - in this case it is difficult to apply. When using gypsum compositions in work, they should be in such quantity that they are worked out within an hour.
After you have applied the mixture to the wall, take a rule of the required length and press it against the beacons, then leveling the surface, performing movements from bottom to top or top to bottom. If the mixture is not enough in some places, it is added and again carried out by the rule. Repetition of such actions is necessary until the wall is perfect and even.
After the applied layer of plaster has dried, you will notice that the wall is rough. Therefore, it is necessary to process it by applying finishing putty and then sanding using fine sandpaper.
This method wall alignment is not without its benefits. This does not reduce the usable area of the room. There are also disadvantages, which are expressed in the need for preliminary cleaning of the walls and the laboriousness of the process, which leaves behind a large amount of debris and dust.
A separate aspect of wall alignment is the alignment of the corners of the walls, which, undoubtedly, are considered by everyone to be the most problematic areas. To carry out these complex works, use an angle trowel, a level and other auxiliary tools. Aligning corners is painstaking and difficult. This work requires experience and knowledge. In order for the solution to set faster in the corners of the walls, a little gypsum is added to the mixture.
How significant wall irregularities are eliminated
It is not easy to line up walls in rooms with large drops and terrible curvature of the walls. In this case, it is best to use specific structures, which first need to be mounted and then sheathed with drywall.
This method has several disadvantages, the main one being the reduction in usable area. Is in the way and positive sides: not carried out preliminary work for surface preparation, in addition, communication lines are easily hidden inside the installed frame and a layer of sound and heat insulating material is laid.
This method has more positive qualities than negative ones, so it is often used. First, it is necessary to complete the installation of the frame, and then sheathe it with plasterboard.
This is how the rubble is leveled, which does not disappear anywhere, but only hides under the cladding material. This is not very convenient for a small room, since it becomes even smaller this way.
Preparing walls for wallpapering
Any renovation that apartment owners begin with begins with the question of leveling the walls under the wallpaper. For wallpaper as well as for others decorative coatings, a smooth surface is required, which must be prepared.
For minor irregularities, the walls are treated with ordinary putty... The work is carried out using a spatula designed to join the cracks and putty them. It is most convenient to use two spatulas of medium size.
If the volume of work is large, the putty is diluted in a basin so that you do not have to jump from top to bottom and back. If it is necessary to cover up small holes and crevices, use a small container.
When performing large volumes of work, the mixture is diluted using a drill and a special nozzle on it.
If it is necessary to apply a thick layer, the surface is treated with a special starting putty before this. If you follow the correct application technology, the putty must be applied in several steps, applying each layer after the previous one has dried. Most often, three layers are laid, the last of which is performed finishing putty for final work. After drying, the entire surface of the wall is cleaned with sandpaper.
Bathroom is not an exception to the rule.
The most common reason for the alignment of the walls in the bathroom is the appearance of the upcoming decoration. If you are going to lay tiles, then you will need knowledge of how to properly align the walls for laying tiles. Work performed with tiles is considered a responsible and serious process, which must be properly approached, and in this case it is unacceptable to lay tiles on an uneven wall. Therefore, before starting the main process, think about a way to level the walls in the bathroom using existing technology.
Ceramic tiles can be laid exclusively on a flat wall, because if you ignore this condition, the results will be disastrous: the masonry will bulge out and the room will be damaged appearance... It is best to level the walls with beacons.
The walls with lighthouses have great strength, because when all the leveling work is finished, the lighthouses do not get out of the walls, as a result of which they support the plaster. If the work is done with plaster triangles, excellent 90 degree angles are obtained.
The plaster is applied using the "casting" principle, so a trowel is used. First cover small area walls. After applying the mixture, it should dry out, after which the excess parts of the solution that go beyond the beacons are cut off. Water is added to the cut solution and they again need to wipe the following areas.
When the plaster dries, the walls must be primed, and tiles must be laid on top of the primer. Thanks to the primer layer, a better adhesion of the adhesive solution and the base occurs.
Knowing several options for leveling the walls, using all the subtleties and tricks of this process, you can come to good results... Plasterers, masters of their craft, work relying on a quality surface, correct composition plasters and precision beacons.
If you are aiming for better life, you will not live anyhow. Human housing must be designed as it should: the walls must be even, the decor must be beautiful, the furniture must be suitable. Having created such conditions in your home, you will feel how your life has become more comfortable. This is better than the daily contemplation of crooked corners and fallen walls. Perfectly flat walls should become the norm. It is necessary to strive for this ideal, since curved walls cannot be hidden not behind high-quality and expensive wallpaper, or chic furniture.
The walls in the apartment take up most of the visible structures in the house. If the floors can be covered various materials, and make the ceilings hinged, then the uneven walls cannot be hidden anywhere. Especially if there are no carpets or other distracting coatings on them, the verticality and unevenness will be immediately noticeable. Therefore, leveling the walls with your own hands, the most the best option improvement of the interior of the premises in the house (apartment).
When building houses, everyone Finishing work most often carried out by contractor construction organizations, and in private buildings by hired teams. Often, their lack of control leads to drops along the entire length of the walls up to 5-10 cm. Plaster made by inept guest workers without using professional tool and sometimes even any experience in finishing, forcing the owner of such a newly built housing, upon settling in, to make additional alignment of the walls.
Required materials and tools
The following materials are used to align the walls in the apartment:
- dry building mixtures, with their subsequent dissolution in water (dry plaster, putty, etc.)
- panels made of plastic, metal, wood-based panels or plasterboard.
To carry out leveling with wet mixes, you need a special tool:
- spatulas of two or three sizes (a tool with a rubber grip is recommended), the metal part should not be too soft,
- a bowl with straight walls or a bucket with a capacity of 15-20 liters,
- a special mixer mounted on an electric drill (manual mixing takes a lot of time and effort),
- brushes or roller for priming,
- usually a special leveling tool,
- surface cleaning material.
Aligning walls is classified as a dirty job, so it is necessary to have working clothes made of tarpaulin material.
Flattening with sheet material
Due to the high labor intensity of the plastering process, many homeowners with little construction experience perform wall cladding sheet material- drywall. This method is also loved by professional teams - also because of the time savings. The panels are attached to the previously equipped metal frame or glued to the wall with special glue.
The main requirement for such work is the removal of the vertical level of the wall surface during the installation of a metal profile.
Aligning walls with wet mixes
The most common method remains the use of a wet type of wall alignment. To perform this type of work, minimal skills in using a spatula and removing beacons are required. Wall leveling mixes can be purchased at any store building materials... There you can also find instructions for preparing solutions.
Before the main stage of leveling, you need to remove the old coating (wallpaper, whitewash, paint) from the surface. In necessary situations, a flimsy, falling off old plaster in corners and other places. In practice, the entire old coating is often cleaned to the base concrete or brickwork.
The wall alignment procedure begins by measuring the differences along the entire length of the wall. This can be done with a long special tool - a building level. Or by pulling any cord along the wall. The verticality of the surface is measured with a simple plumb line. If there are differences of no more than 30 mm, they begin to work. The largest layer of the laid plaster should not exceed the permissible dimensions.
Beacon alignment
Preparation of the surface for painting is most often carried out according to beacons, which serve as a guide. The initial leveling of the walls with putty is done by applying it between the beacons and the distribution of the solution with the rule from the bottom up. The ends of the tool should be in contact with the surface of the beacons installed along the entire height of the wall at a certain distance from each other, corresponding to the length of the rule.
The final leveling of the walls consists in grouting the surface with a special device - a plow. After its completion, it is recommended to apply a primer on top of the putty for better adhesion of the paint.
Working with spatulas
If you have no experience with the rule, you can use two spatulas. One will serve as a "palette". It will be possible to dose the quality and quantity of the solution. And another spatula, smaller, will be working. They apply a layer of the mixture to the wall. When using the trowel, it must be held at a 45º angle to the surface. In this position, the mixture will lie flat.
The surfaces are usually carried out in three layers, each with a thickness of at least 1.5-2 mm. The temperature in the room should not be lower than 10 ° С and the sun's rays should not be allowed to enter the applied putty. After applying the putty, the wall must be primed.
When erecting buildings, builders often fail to perfectly withstand the main geometric shapes the object to be created. Therefore, small defects arise load-bearing structures walls, ceilings that do not affect strength characteristics home and safety of people living, but worsen the visual perception of the interior of the premises.
Such shortcomings need to be corrected. Experienced builder Dmitry Vladimirovich Chernov shares his practical experience in this matter. His real advice are meant to help home master choose one of the recommended ways to effectively level the walls with your own hands when performing repairs in an apartment.
Technological sequence of repair work
Any unevenness and roughness of surfaces cannot be ignored. They immediately catch the eye, significantly degrade the design of the room. Therefore, the walls of the apartment must be perfectly flat. Only in this case the paint will fit well on them or the wallpaper will reliably stick.
There is a generally accepted algorithm for apartment renovation:
- leveling the floor in the room;
- marking and preparation of the wall surface;
- installation of internal communications: electrical wires with switching devices (sockets, switches, junction boxes), plumbing and heating pipes, ventilation ducts and other building systems;
- plastering of door and window openings;
- direct alignment of the walls.
Depending on the specific surface condition, one of two methods can be chosen:
- plaster - leveling the surface with adhesive mortars;
- plasterboard coating - installation of gypsum plasterboard sheets on the walls to ensure a uniform wall plane.
They differ from each other in the materials used, cost and time spent on repairs.
To choose any of these construction methods, you will need to be clear on two questions:
- how much the real wall deviates from the ideal vertical plane:
- how to ensure electrical safety during repair work.
Electric current, and even an ordinary household tool, carry the risks of various injuries. Necessary This requirement becomes especially relevant when working in rooms with electrical equipment and live wiring. It is best to turn it off.
Leveling the surface of the walls with plaster mortars
This method should be used when the deviation error of the building wall from the vertical does not exceed four to six centimeters. The work is carried out in several stages.
Preparatory stage
Before applying a layer of putty, you will need:
- clean the wall surface from old putty, wallpaper, mold and other dirt;
- impregnate the wall material with special primer solutions that will degrease the surface and will work as an antifungal protection.
Installation of plaster beacons
This is the simplest and most reliable way that will allow a home craftsman to do the job with high quality with basic practical skills.
Beacons are specially prepared planes or profiles located in the vertical direction, along which the surface is leveled. They can be created by:
The first method requires good skills in working with building mixtures and solutions for plastering.
The second method is a little easier to implement. Let's take a closer look at it.
When placing beacons strictly vertically, use building level or a plumb line. They are fastened along the edges of the wall with plaster or alabaster mortar.
However, to ensure a more durable building structure screws with dowels can be used. You will have to install them.
When the extreme landmarks are installed, then between them stretch the construction line in 3 ÷ 4 rows. The remaining beacons are mounted along it with a step of 0.5 ÷ 1 m, leveling them with the help of stretched rows of fishing line. Light cord contact with the reference surface provides an even vertical plane.
If there are bulges in the middle of the wall, then the first lighthouse must be attached to the largest ledge, and from it guide landmarks in both sides of the wall along extreme points and a stretched line. All surfaces must be located strictly in the same vertical plane.
When is the installation planned hidden wiring and pipelines, it is necessary to mark the locations electrical outlets, boxes and switches, routes of passage of pipelines and cables. Beacons can be used to secure electrical wiring and switching devices.
If the thickness of the putty turns out to be insufficient for its installation, about 1 ÷ 2 cm, then it will be necessary to grind the wall in order to reliably hide the wiring.
Applying a primer layer of putty
Preparation of the composition
To create the soil, it is necessary to prepare a mixture consisting of a binder (cement, gypsum, alabaster) and an aggregate (sand or chalk). The solution is prepared in the ratio:
- one portion of the binder;
- three servings of filler.
There are ready-made mixtures of industrial production. They can be purchased commercially and simply diluted with water according to the instructions. It is convenient to stir the composition in a construction bucket.
When the solution is prepared, PVA glue can be added to it. It will give an additional increase in the viscosity of the solution.
By designation, plaster mixes are divided into three groups:
- simple formulations used without special finishing. They are applied in two layers;
- improved mixtures intended for covering under wallpaper. Created in three layers - sprinkling, priming and covering;
- high quality plasters used for walls to be painted.
According to the structure of the incoming components, plaster is:
- wet - based on cement-containing mixtures;
- dry - with a base of gypsum or lime components.
For priming the walls, it is necessary to apply plaster mixtures with minimum thickness layer. Excessive volume of the solution leads to cracking of the drying surface. The wall material affects the volume of the layer.
Brick
Its surface has a characteristic relief, and a mortar layer less than 5 mm is very difficult to level. Its thickness can be increased to five cm, but for this you have to lay a reinforced mesh. Without it, you can create a layer up to 2.5 centimeters.
Concrete
It has excellent adhesion to all finishing solutions and a well-leveled surface. A layer of plaster can be applied from two millimeters to seven centimeters. Reinforced mesh must be applied from 2 cm.
Aerated concrete
Concrete-like structure. A layer of plaster is applied from two to 15 mm.
Wooden surfaces
Plaster on wood in the usual way does not lie down. Reinforcement from metal or plastic mesh with cells up to 40 mm. They are fastened with self-tapping screws or glue.
The plaster solution is applied in two layers:
- hide the grid for the first time:
- in the second, the created surface is leveled.
Insulation materials
Plastering is the same as for wood surfaces. The coating layer with a solution as insulation is no different from the coating method
Solution application technology
Plastering is carried out in several sequential stages that solve specific problems:
- splatter or pre-layer for adhesion plaster mix with wall material. For it, a liquid composition is used, which is thrown onto the surface to be treated in order to create irregularities. On brick, concrete and aerated concrete blocks, 5 mm are thrown, and for wood - 9 on a reinforcing mesh;
- priming is the main layer. It is applied by spraying after the start of setting, but incomplete solidification. The thick consistency of the mortar is poured onto the wall surface and at the same time leveled with a spatula. The process is repeated until the wall is completely aligned;
- cover or a final coating to smooth out remaining defects and inaccuracies. In order for this layer to perform its functions, the thickness of its fractions must be up to 2 mm, and the spatula is used with a wide blade. They are pressed tightly with the solution and evenly leveled, making circular movements;
- grout finishing plastering.
It is convenient to apply and level the primer along the beacons. It is simply thrown over the entire surface between them, and then immediately smoothed with a wide and long aluminum rail moving along the surface of the lighthouses oscillating movements upwards.
The composition of the solution must be selected according to the operating conditions. A plaster or alabaster base works well for living rooms, and indoors with high humidity, it is better to use a mortar from a cement component.
Dry chalk mixtures can be added to the alabaster solution in the ratio: 1 portion of alabaster to 1 portion of the mixture. This will give more elasticity and strength, and also prevent the mortar from drying out quickly.
Additional tips for working with plaster mortars We recommend watching in the video of the owner Isolux "Plastering the walls".
There are a lot of useful tips on the use and preparation of various building mixtures.
Plasterboard wall alignment
This work can be done in two ways:
- fastening sheets directly to the wall;
- creating a mounting frame.
Both methods have already been discussed in the article on apartment renovation and
Frameless technology
This method involves gluing each sheet of drywall using mounting glue or its analogues. It is convenient to purchase them in the store and prepare them according to the attached instructions.
You can also make a DIY glue mix:
- we take alabaster;
- add PVA glue to it, observing the proportion: for 1 kg of mineral - 100 ÷ 150 grams of glue;
- dilute with water and stir until jelly.
This mixture dries quickly, so it is necessary to work not only quickly, but to prepare the solution in small portions.
Apply a layer ready mix can:
- pointwise;
- stripes.
Point method
The finished mixture, in small cakes with a diameter of 10 ÷ 12 cm and a height of 3 ÷ 5, is applied to the surface of the drywall, placing parallel stripes with a distance of 0.3 ÷ 0.4 m between each other.
The prepared sheet is applied with flat cakes to the wall and lightly tapping a rubber hammer to align its position vertically relative to the wall.
The blows are applied only to those places where there are cakes, and to protect the fragile gypsum plasterboard base, they put a small piece under the hammer wooden board or plywood.
Sticking sheets in strips
A strip of glue is applied to the surface of the wall or drywall. Then the sheet is glued and aligned in the vertical plane, as in the first case. This method creates good fastening, but the consumption of mortar increases.
It is recommended to glue composite sheets of drywall from top to bottom. This allows you to make sure that they are securely attached to the wall.
Fastening drywall to the frame
This method is called dry wall leveling. It is performed by installing plasterboard sheets. For installation, you will need to create a crate from a metal profile.
The standard width of the gypsum board sheet is 120 cm.Knowing this size, it is convenient to calculate the area by the height of the room, which is for:
- 200 cm - 2.4 sq m;
- 250 cm - 3 sq m;
- 300 cm - 3.6 sq m.
This method allows you to quickly estimate material consumption in your mind, plan the course of work.
The installation procedure for the vertical profile is, in principle, the same as for the installation of plaster beacons described above.
It is important to strictly observe the exact distance of 60 cm between the centers of each profile. This is necessary for screwing in self-tapping screws along the edges and in the middle of the gypsum board sheet.
Profiles are mounted using screws and plastic plugs- dowels. For a more durable structure of the lathing, it is recommended to install cross-members with a height of 50 cm.If the height of the sheet is not enough to fill the wall, then it is necessary to mount additional cross-members of the required size
Install on the finished crate with self-tapping screws drywall sheets... Screws are screwed along their edges every 10 ÷ 15 centimeters, and in the center the distance can be increased to 25 ÷ 30 cm. All screw heads must be sunk into the surface of the drywall.
If necessary, the sheathed wall can be insulated and soundproofed. For this, use the appropriate building materials.
After fixing the drywall, its surface is treated with a finishing putty. It will reliably hide the mount and all joints between the sheets.
Additional tips can be found in the Stone Guys video "How to make a drywall frame" with your own hands.
There are many ways to finish walls, but most of them require an even and straight base, but in reality everything turns out to be not so smooth. The walls of modern houses, and even more so of old buildings, only seem to be flat, but are not suitable for facing with tiles, laminate or panels, since they have horizontal or vertical differences that are invisible to the eye. In this article we will tell you how to properly level the walls for finishing with any materials.
Any renovation begins with preparation, and leveling the walls is no exception. In this case, first of all, it is necessary to determine the degree of unevenness of the surface in order to know the best way to level the walls and how much materials are needed.
How to determine the degree of curvature of a wall:
- Arm yourself with a long building rule 2-2.5 m long. Drive a nail into the corner of the room closer to the ceiling, leaving the cap sticking out 2-3 mm (so that a lace can be tied behind the nail). This nail is your starting beacon.
- Tie a nut or any other weight to a string or strong thread and hang it by the nail so that the weight does not touch the floor. Wait for it to stop wobbling and the thread forms a straight line.
- Drive in the second lighthouse nail at the bottom of the wall and drive it in just enough so that the head and thread are on the same level.
- Repeat this procedure with a different angle on opposite wall... As a result, you will get 4 beacons around the perimeter and 2 straight lines, respectively.
- Take a long string or cord and pull it between the top nail on one side of the wall and the bottom nail on the other (diagonally). Repeat with a second pair of beacons. When you fasten the threads crosswise, make sure that they do not touch the surface of the wall.
- Now, with the help of these threads stretched over four points, you can determine the state of any wall in the room.
Choosing the alignment method
Leveling with dry mixes
To level the walls with plaster, as practice shows, is the most universal option, relevant for any finishing material, be it wallpaper or tile... Despite the high labor intensity of working with mixtures, you get a better and more durable result.
How to level the walls with putty:
Helpful Hint: When choosing a dry mix, pay attention to the thickness of the layer, as well as the nature of the binding component. For example, gypsum solutions it is recommended to take for rooms with a low or normal degree of humidity, since in the kitchen or in the bathroom, such walls will quickly become damp and cracked. For wet rooms, choose a mineral-based mixture. Cement plaster you can make it yourself by mixing 1 part of cement grade at least 400 with 6 parts of sifted fine sand and diluting everything with water to a creamy state. You can vary the amount of sand in order to obtain different plasticity of the solution - the less sand, the more plastic the solution is, and it is easier to work with it (but then more cement will be needed, which means that repair costs will increase). Attention! It is necessary to use the ready-made solution in 1-2 hours, otherwise it will harden or lose its properties, so do not mix large volumes at once.
Plasterboard leveling
It is much easier to level the walls with plasterboard than with dry building mixtures. This job is much cleaner, faster, and more suitable for novice builders. A wide range of gypsum boards allows you to work in almost any room, even with high level humidity. In addition, drywall allows you to align walls with strong differences in height and horizontal, which would require an overly thick layer of plaster. And although this method is relevant for wallpaper or paint decoration, in some cases this is the only way to get even and smooth walls.
There are two ways to install the gypsum board for leveling the walls: on the frame and on the glue. The first method is suitable for surfaces with severe drops and helps to level wooden walls, the second can hide minor surface defects and get a perfectly flat base for finishing. It is also permissible to combine these two options in order to achieve a neat joining of the walls and ceiling. The wireframe method is the most common, so we will look at it first and in all details.
For the manufacture of the frame, a special metal profile is used under the gypsum board. Fixation is carried out by means of self-tapping screws and screws. Before telling the instructions on how to level the walls under wallpaper or tiles, one should mention one nuance of the frame method - due to the large thickness of the resulting cladding, several centimeters of the usable wall area on each side (about 4-5 cm) leave. And if in a spacious room this may not be noticeable, then for small rooms it is better to use a different method.
Instructions and video on how to properly level the walls:
- Remove the old wall covering and sand the surface.
- In this case, priming is necessary not to increase adhesion, but to strengthen and protect the walls from moisture and fungus. If you are covering an exterior wall or wall in a damp room, treat it with an antiseptic.
- Build a frame from a galvanized profile by first mounting the UD profile on the floor, ceiling and adjacent walls to create a frame. Then, inside this frame, you can fix jumpers from a thinner CD profile, which will hold the drywall sheets. In more detail, all the subtleties of the fastening process are described in the article "".
- When the frame is ready, you can start installing the gypsum board, but before that you need to measure, outline and number them so that they clearly fit into the given area. GKL is convenient because it can be easily processed at home with improvised tools. In the article "" everything is described in detail.
- Use a self-adhesive mesh to seal the seams between drywall sheets. Apply it to the seams and then cover with starter putty to bring it flush with the surface. The subsequent treatment of the wall depends on the selected cladding. If you will be laying tiles or other dense, non-translucent material, you can simply cover the joints with putty and that's it. But before painting or gluing wallpaper, the wall should be completely covered with a white finishing putty with a layer of 1-2 mm, sanded and primed. The article "" says a lot of useful information on this topic.
Now you know how you can level the walls with tiles, wallpaper or any other finish. We hope this article will help you quickly and efficiently make repairs with your own hands. Finally, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with one more useful video how to level the walls with plasterboard:
Or putty.
How well it was carried out this part works will directly depend on the appearance of the finished surface and its performance.
If we neglect pre-treatment, then an uneven base over time can begin to deform and crack, which will violate the aesthetics of the top, topcoat.
Any type cosmetic repair, or painting, tiling, presupposes an indispensable preparatory procedure. It can be done by hired finishing specialists, but you can do it yourself.
First, you need to inspect the entire room, determine the size and nature of defects and irregularities. Without this, it will be difficult to plan the course of the upcoming work.
What is the best way to align the walls, how to do it quickly and easily?
To accurately assess vertical flaws, you can use water or.
So the degree of curvature of the existing defects will be more clearly visible.
When the assessment activities are completed, the actual leveling of the wall surfaces begins.
How to level the wall yourself. Preparation
Depending on the type and size of flaws, the number of defects and irregularities, the different methods aligning the walls.
- Dry... It involves the installation of auxiliary structures different types... For example, it can be drywall. The method is more laborious, because it will require the manufacture of a frame, on which sheets of material will then be attached.
- Raw... This method involves the use of special building compounds: putty and plaster, including. This method works well when there are irregularities ranging in size from three to five centimeters. All holes are carefully sealed with mortar, the resulting irregularities are carefully smoothed out.
Required materials and tools
For each type of finishing construction works materials are needed that are indispensable. To align the walls, you will have to stock up on:
Types of mixtures
Numerous manufacturers finishing materials offer different kinds solutions with different properties and compositions. According to their main characteristics, they can be divided into the following groups.
Cement
They have some disadvantages: drying time, not very good adhesion to, slight cracking. The first type of mixtures can be considered more versatile.
Gypsum
Gypsum-based compounds are especially popular for work.
Leveling the surface with plaster allows you to apply a fairly wide layer that dries quickly, has excellent plasticity, high heat and sound insulation properties.
There are special gypsum compositions of rothypsum and rotband: special additives in them significantly increase the adhesive properties.
Heat saving
Straw is used as a filler, sawdust and others natural materials, thanks to which it is possible to maintain an optimal microclimate in the room.
Wall alignment process
Leveling walls with plaster
What is the structure of the wall preparation work?
Before starting work on leveling the walls, it is important to do special preparatory work: dismantle the old coating, evaluate the work surface intended for.
It should not flake off or crumble. Often, already in the process of working on the old layer, after the freshly applied one has dried, defects that were not visible before become noticeable. In order for the result of the work performed to please you, observe the following conditions:
- the wall should be properly;
- the building mixture must be chosen correctly;
- beacons are required.
For brickwork it is best to use one of the types cement mixtures, the cost of which is very insignificant. The material can be applied in a sufficiently thick layer, which is especially important when processing masonry walls. But it is important to remember that if the applied layer is thicker than two centimeters, a plaster mesh is certainly used to reinforce the composition.
For smooth concrete surfaces leveling compounds are suitable for gypsum base... They contain microparticles of quartz, which give the surface some roughness. Before that, the wall must be primed. For reinforcement, a polymer mesh of five by five millimeters is used.
For foam concrete surfaces they also use gypsum-based mixtures with a mandatory preliminary primer.
Installation of beacons
What are called lighthouses in construction?
These are a kind of guides with the help of which the surface leveling is controlled when using liquid products... In this capacity, a special perforated profile is usually used under the plaster, whose width is determined by the thickness of the applied composition.
It is very convenient to use purchased factory products, which do not have to be cleaned after the events, and, accordingly, mask the irregularities formed from this.
Such beacons are located vertically, on strips of quick-hardening mixture intended for plastering. The distance between individual beacons is calculated according to the size of the rule so that it does not slide off them, relying on a pair of adjacent ones.
Plastering technique
To do this, you need a tool with a handle, which is called a "falcon": outwardly it resembles a familiar trowel, but has a much larger base. With such a "falcon" and a trowel, an excess amount of solution is thrown into the gap between the individual beacons.
From the "falcon" the mixture is collected with a trowel, then thrown onto the wall. The use of such a device improves labor productivity, since there is no need to constantly approach the working container for the mixture. This reduces the time required for the event.
Next, the solution is carefully distributed from the bottom to the top. To apply a more voluminous and massive layer of plaster, make a rough outline without leveling. When this preliminary layer dries up, a final batten is carried out, which is to be leveled.
Leveling the wall with putty
Before starting work, the surface is primed. The process of filling with your own hands is not difficult.
But the method is not suitable in all cases: it is possible to align the wall in this way only if the height differences are not very significant indicators.
What will be needed for work?
You will need:
- narrow and wide spatulas,
- low cuvette.
The mixture should be thick enough so that the mixture formed during stirring does not change its shape.
Over time, the composition begins to thicken, so a little primer or water is periodically added to it.
If the mixture has the required thickness, then it does not slip off the spatula and adheres perfectly to a vertical surface.
The diluted putty is transferred to a cuvette and, so that it does not dry out, cover it.
With a spatula, a little composition is applied to the surface, which is then leveled with uniform vertical and horizontal movements.
Holding the spatula at a certain angle, the mixture is distributed to a thickness of 1-2 millimeters: the thickness of the mixture will be the smaller, the greater the angle formed by the spatula and the surface. It is convenient to fix the spatula blade with the second hand.
When the composition sets slightly, it is washed with a primer. This removes various irregularities and sagging. When the first layer is completely dry, for which after washing it will take at least a day, it is treated with fine sandpaper, getting rid of roughness.
If you plan to apply a second layer, then the previously putty surface is primed again.
If you skip this procedure, then moisture can be absorbed into the already applied one. After about a day, the surface is again treated with sandpaper. For convenience, it is wound on a small block or small board.
Drywall
It is not uncommon to find walls that are very uneven and have large indentations and potholes. These are almost impossible to fix by plastering.
It is best to use drywall for this purpose.
Getting rid of irregularities with its help can be considered one of the most effective, and at the same time low-budget options.
It can be carried out with or without a framework.
Align the walls with the frame
If you prefer wireframe method, then it is first necessary to make the actual frame - sheets of material will be mounted on it.
It can be made from:
- metal profile (rack and guide)
- or a wooden bar.
The latter is less durable, since wood is afraid of exposure to moisture, microorganisms, and may deform. And it's a little more difficult to mount it. It is for this reason that a metal profile often acts as a base.
For the construction of the frame, we screw a pair of parallel profiles (in relation to each other) to the ceiling.
After 40-60 cm, taking into account the width of the sheet, we place the guides. On this stage it is most rational to carry out insulation with foam or mineral wool, if there are intentions to do this.
When the frame is ready, they begin to attach plasterboard sheets to it. To do this, you need special self-tapping screws made of oxidized metal.
The distance between the individual fasteners should be between 40 and 60 centimeters. The hats "sink" a little into the material.
Align walls without a frame
The frameless method has significant differences. The sheets of material are glued directly to the surface to be finished with glue. The obvious disadvantage of this method is that walls with large-scale defects cannot be corrected with its help.
There are other ways to level the walls. To do this, use plastic panels or sheets of durable plywood. The technology for their installation is similar to the actions with drywall, only wooden blocks are used instead.
It's uncomplicated and pretty economical way popular. Among other things, it allows you to mask all communications. They are actively used when decorating bathrooms, country houses and garages.