Plastering the base with your own hands. Plastering the base as a way of decoration and protection. The best way to plaster the foundation of a house.

The most inexpensive finishing plinth - plastering it. Eat decorative options finishes that make the building beautiful and unusual. This solution is optimal for sinking foundations that require cosmetic repairs. Since plastering the base is not difficult to do, many owners use this method to insulate and finish the base of the house. To make the building look more presentable, a blind area needs to be made along its perimeter.

The advantage of plaster is the ability to imitate any surface.

Which base can be plastered?

If the foundation is brick or block, it is perfect for this finish. If the house is on pillars or stilts, you will first need to close the gaps between the supports. This can be done by installing brick partitions, concreting or installing fences. After this, plaster can be applied to the base.

If the house is old and its foundation is deformed and cracked, such finishing will be short-lived: the cement-sand layer will quickly collapse on an unreliable foundation.

Therefore, repairs will be required first. If such a house is being prepared for sale and is decided to be more attractive, but there is no time or money to repair the foundation, it is better to abandon plastering and use another finish: installation flat slate or asbestos-cement boards. They will help hide defects and last much longer. Plaster applied to a cracked, sunken or protruding base will only highlight all its shortcomings.

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What are the advantages of this finish?

Diagram of time costs when working with manual plaster mixtures (left) and mechanical plaster (right).

This coating is always simple and easy to repair or update.
Of all the methods for finishing a basement, it is the most inexpensive and accessible to every homeowner.
To complete the work you will not need plasterer skills. It is enough to familiarize yourself with the rules and stages of the process.
Materials for preparing the solution are available and inexpensive.
You can do all the work yourself.

How to plaster the foundation?

You will need the following materials:

sieve or metal mesh for sifting sand. It should be noted that river sand, the purest, is not suitable for cooking plaster mortar due to the small size of sand grains. The best option will buy quarry sand of medium grain size. The clay, stones and dirt it contains will be removed during the sifting process;
for the solution you can take cement grade M400 or M500;
to increase the plasticity of the composition, you can add a small amount of the most inexpensive washing powder;
if possible, it is advisable to add a little PVA glue to the solution. This will make the plaster more flexible and sticky.

Plaster defects: causes and their elimination.

The cement-sand mortar is prepared either using a concrete mixer or independently. To work you will need:

wide spatula or trowel;
beacons for leveling the plaster layer;
marking lace;
solution container;
metal mesh for plastering works.

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Mixtures and additives that can be used to finish the foundation base

“Latex Pro”

Main characteristics different types plasters.

It is an aqueous solution of a synthetic polymer. It is added to cement-sand mortar and gives it water-repellent properties. This is very important characteristic plaster, as it will have to withstand the destructive effects of rain, snow, wind and sun. “Latex Profi” can be purchased in canisters of 10 or 11 liters. The composition is added to water, which is poured into the concrete mixer.

Dry mixes “Knauf”

This manufacturer offers big choice ready-made plasters with different properties. Most of them are made on a cement base. Such compositions are good because they contain the optimal proportion for all their ingredients. To start work, you need to add water to the dry mixture, and it will be ready for use. Knauf products are produced in 25 kg paper bags. The use of these mixtures guarantees high quality finishing.

Many masters advise using for facade works waterproof tile adhesive. It is cheaper than plaster mixtures from well-known manufacturers, but is very convenient to use due to its plasticity and ease of application. Leveling such a surface is simpler and easier. If you wish, you can decorate the surface of the base using shaped rollers. With this tool you need to process the plaster at a time when it is still damp, but already sufficiently “set”.

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How to properly plaster the foundation?

The hand movements when throwing mortar onto the wall are comparable to playing table tennis.

A brick or block base requires preliminary preparation. From the grooves between the building stones, select the dried cement mortar. This can be done using a spatula or a wire brush.
The cracks on the concrete strip are first sealed, having previously widened them. This can remove those parts of the mortar that are weakly attached to the base.
If the surface of the foundation base is dilapidated, a metal mesh is attached to it. It will keep it from further cracking and will serve as the basis for applying a plaster layer.
If the solution is laid on cement without a metal mesh, the base is covered with a layer of deep penetration primer.
After this, they begin marking. A string is pulled from one corner of the house to the other in two tiers: the first should be 10-15 cm from the ground, the second should be the same distance from the bottom trim of the house.
Beacons are installed - metal or wooden pins, which should be in close contact with the lace, but not bend it. Beacons should be located in the corners of the house and every 3-4 meters along the foundation line. They will help you figure out how thick the solution layer is needed.
First they put plaster on where the lighthouses are. There should be a bump of a certain thickness on the base. After it dries, the beacons are removed.
The cement-sand layer is applied only to wet surface, so the base is either watered with water or sprayed with a garden sprayer.
The first batches are prepared more liquid, as they will be needed for “spraying”. The consistency of the solution should resemble liquid sour cream. In the intervals between the mounds of the mortar, a thin layer of plaster mortar is sprayed onto the base with a brush for painting or whitewashing.
Plastering of the foundation is continued by applying a covering layer. In the work, they focus on the mounds along the foundation line. Now you need to add ingredients to the solution to make it waterproof.
The final stage of foundation plastering work is finishing. You can apply a layer decorative plaster, stick ceramic tiles, simply level the foundation using a grinder and a grinding wheel.

Over time, the part of the foundation protruding above ground level inevitably collapses under the influence of atmospheric phenomena, if you don't provide her reliable protection. Plastering the base yourself can protect it from the aggressive influence of melt and rainwater, sunlight, sub-zero temperatures and other destructive factors.

This kind exterior finishing, in addition to protective, also performs strengthening and decorative functions. This makes it very popular among both private and municipal developers, because the house should not only be reliable and durable, but also aesthetically attractive.

For the coating to serve for a long time and reliably, it is not enough just to follow the rules for preparing and applying the solution. It is necessary that the selected material meets certain requirements in its composition and properties.

What should the basement plaster be like:

Moisture resistant. The lower part of the building is more susceptible to moisture than other structures: snow, rain, melt water, which often contains aggressive chemical compounds. The coating must withstand such exposure and not allow moisture to pass through to the base.

Durable. Mechanical impacts of a destructive nature can cause no less harm. Finishing the base with plaster is designed to provide protection against them.
Frost-resistant. The plaster must withstand repeated cycles of thawing and freezing without losing its properties.
Resistant to ultraviolet rays.
Resistant to fungi, bacteria, insects and plants that cause biological corrosion.

It is especially important to comply with these requirements when insulating the base, since thermal insulation materials need protection from all of the listed influences even more than the base material - concrete strip, stone or brickwork.

What materials to use

Based on everything said above, you can decide how to plaster the basement of the house:

Gypsum mixtures are not suitable for this purpose - they are afraid of moisture and do not have sufficient strength.
The price of polymer plasters, taking into account the fact that the layer must be quite thick, is unreasonably high. They can be used as thin layer decorative covering after the main protective layer has matured.
What remains are cement-based compositions. They are the ones that best meet all the specified conditions, while having low cost and availability.

Ready-made formulations

Produced by many domestic and foreign manufacturers special plaster cement base, into which, in addition to cement and fractional sand, chemical additives are introduced that improve the quality finished coating and adhesive properties of the solution.

The following brands are most popular among specialists:

Volma Sokol;

Ilmax (Ilmax) 6820;
Eunice Silin basement;
Sockelputz Knauf.

Some cement mixtures contain solid mineral inclusions (for example, marble or quartz chips), which improve them strength characteristics and imparting decorative properties to the surface. But more often for decorative finishing In the lower parts of buildings, thin-layer polymer mixtures are used, which are applied to a surface leveled with cement compounds.

Another option for decorating the base is to give a certain relief to the still wet cement coating using special rollers (see Rollers for decorative plaster and creating a relief surface), stencils, metal brushes and other devices. And its color can be changed by simply painting with permanent paints or adding pigment to the solution during its preparation.

Homemade plaster for the base

You can prepare the mortar for finishing the plinth with your own hands, fortunately, cement and sand are quite suitable available materials. But there are several nuances regarding the brand of cement and the origin of the sand. In addition, these components alone are not enough; the solution must contain plasticizing and water-repellent additives.

The instructions below will help you cope with this task perfectly:

Sift quarry sand (not river sand) through a metal sieve with small mesh to free it from clay, plant debris, pebbles and other foreign matter;

Pour sand into a container for preparing the solution or into a concrete mixer, add the required amount of cement and mix the dry ingredients;

Note. The proportions depend on the brand of cement. For one part of grade M400, take three parts of sand; if the cement is M500, then the number of parts of sand can be increased to four.

Next, prepare the mixing liquid by adding plasticizing and waterproofing components to the water. This can be PVA glue and Latex Pro polymer dispersion. Also at this stage, you can introduce pigments or colorants to give the plaster the desired color;

The finished liquid is gradually added to the dry mixture and mixed, achieving the required thickness.

For reference. The solution for the priming layer should be liquid, flowable, and for the covering layer it should be plastic, convenient for application and smoothing.

Finishing the base with plaster mortar

Let's move on to how to properly plaster the basement of a house. The process consists of several stages - surface preparation, priming, installation of beacons, application of the main and decorative coating.

Preparatory work

Preparing the base involves cleaning it. First of all, the dried mortar is cleaned from the brick or stone masonry, from the seams between the blocks. If the foundation is concrete strip with large cracks, then they are embroidered - deepened and made wider in order to remove weakened areas.

The work can be done by anyone convenient tool: hard spatula, chisel, etc. After that, the remaining small particles of dust and sand, and fragments of plaster are swept out from the resulting recesses and from the entire surface with a stiff brush.

Before plastering the base of the foundation, it must be primed with special compounds (see Primer for concrete - a preparatory stage for subsequent finishing), penetrating into the thickness of the base and strengthening it. This will also bind the remaining dust on the surface and increase the adhesion force to the plaster mixture.

Advice. When priming, special attention should be paid to seams, cracks, chips and other defects.

Instead of a primer, it is allowed to use a liquid working solution, which is applied by spraying with a brush or broom.

Finishing work

Immediately after the primer layer has dried, work on plastering the base begins, which is performed in the following sequence:

First of all, all cavities, cracks, and masonry joints are filled with cement mortar;
Then a metal reinforcing mesh is mounted on the base. Mesh plaster is more reliable and durable;

The next step is installing beacons. You can do this in any way convenient for you. For example, by placing them on plumb lines, as is done when plastering interior walls. If there is no blind area around the house yet, you can drive even pegs into the ground along a horizontal line drawn on the ground parallel to the base and at a distance of at least 2 cm from it. In this case, the space between the pegs and the wall is filled with mortar from bottom to top, after which you need to wait for it to dry and remove the stakes;
The distance between the beacons should be less than the length of the rule that will be used to level the solution. And the distance from the outer beacons to the corners should be 20-30 cm;

The hardest part is over, all that remains is to spread the solution in a thick layer between the beacons and level it with the rule.

Note. It is advisable to remove metal beacons from the coating, otherwise over time they will appear in their place. rust spots. This is done 5-6 hours after application, and the remaining recesses are filled with solution and leveled.

Further actions depend on how you are going to decorate the base. If as finishing If you choose painting, tiling or decorative plaster for the base, then the coating needs to create conditions for proper drying.

To do this, cover it with waterproof material to protect it from precipitation and sunlight and wait 2-3 weeks, depending on the thickness of the layer. During this time, the surface must be moistened with water twice a day. After drying, it is primed and a decorative coating is applied.

Note! Under no circumstances should you artificially accelerate the process of hardening and maturation of the solution by acting on the surface covered with it with heat guns and other devices.

But you can decorate the base in another way. To do this, create a relief on a fresh layer of solution using any available means. There are plenty of options.

For example, you can make a stencil in advance, the imprint of which will leave a stone or stone pattern on the surface. brickwork. The same pattern can be easily applied with any long and thin object, making grooves in fresh plaster.

You can also use a notched spatula or comb, a stiff brush or textured roller. Or with my own hands V rubber gloves depict an ornament, abstract design, etc. on the base.

Conclusion

Plastering a structure such as a plinth is a great way to practice for those who want to gain skills in this construction field. Relatively small area, lack of high requirements for leveling the surface, working at ground level without the need to use scaffolding - a task just for beginners.

After watching the video in this article, you will be convinced that you can do it. You just need to take a responsible approach to the choice of materials and strictly follow the instructions for preparing the surface.

The plinth is the part of the foundation that rises above the soil surface. It serves as a transitional support from the foundation of the house buried in the ground to its walls. This structural element of the building performs, first of all, a protective function: it prevents the penetration of wind and water into the underground room and prevents moisture from rising through the capillaries of the walls. However, the decorative load on this part of the foundation is also important. If it looks neat and tasteful, it greatly enhances the building. Since houses are simplest, most developers do just that.

Preparatory work for applying plaster

The base of a house can be not only a continuation of the concrete monolith of the foundation, but also a separate structure located on it, made of other materials. For example, a superstructure made of bricks, blocks or rubble concrete can be made on a cement-sand tape. This will be the base. That's why preparatory processes before plastering, each material is different.

Brick base.

Its peculiarity is the presence of mortar seams. Typically, over time cement mixture It dries out, begins to crumble, cracks and rather large gaps appear on it. Therefore, each seam must be cleaned, removing those particles that hold weakly. This can be done using a narrow spatula, piercing with a strong screwdriver, and sweeping with a brush with metal bristles. After removing the collapsed mortar, all the cracks between the bricks must be swept out, removing dust and sand.

The base is made of rubble concrete.

The preparatory stage in this case is in many ways similar to working with bricks. But here Special attention You should pay attention to the strength of fixing the stones in the base of the house. If any of them are found to be loose, they should be removed and immediately put in place using freshly prepared cement-sand mortar. This need is caused by the fact that rubble concrete of old masonry may lose its load-bearing capacity, and deformation of the base of the house is possible.

Concrete base.

If it has deep cracks, you should check how strong their edges are. Weak spots needs to be destroyed and cleaned out. If part of the foundation has shifted and it requires reinforcement, this work must be done before plastering. If the protrusions are small and it is possible to level them with cement mortar, this can be done in the process.

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Priming the concrete surface

You should buy deep penetration compounds in such quantity that it is enough to treat the entire foundation of the house. It is worth considering that you will need to apply two layers of primer: before you start plastering and upon completion, before painting or other finishing works. But the composition in the second case should be different: façade adhesive, often acrylic-based.

Many homeowners ignore these processes, believing that priming the surface is not really necessary. But this decision is wrong. Compliance with plastering technology greatly increases the service life of this covering layer. To avoid having to watch the solution applied to the base crack and peel off after a few years, you should not neglect its priming.

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Which primer should I choose?

Deep penetration.

The purpose of these compounds is to penetrate the surface to the maximum possible depth, while simultaneously strengthening it. If the base was previously covered with plaster on lime mortar, then its traces will certainly remain on concrete or brick. This mixture is loose and poses a serious obstacle to the adhesion of the new plaster layer. Therefore, you can’t do without a deep penetration alkyd primer here. It will strengthen the lime surface and eliminate the “chalky” effect, and will become a connecting component between the old and new compositions.

The best choice would be a deep penetration primer with water-repellent properties. This will provide the building's base with additional waterproofing protection. It’s written on the packages: façade (or for exterior finishing) water-repellent primer. This category includes “Knauf-Izogrunt”, “Betokontakt” from the manufacturers Knauf and Feydal, and the Russian “Consolit”.

In order for the paint to be applied evenly and the surface to be visually attractive, uniform and without sagging, you should use a special acrylic primer. Depending on the basis on which the paint will be made, buy:

“Acrylate-Grunt” or “Proacryl-Contact” - for acrylic-based decorating compositions.
“Facade-Grunt” or “Proacryl-Grunt” – for water-based paints.

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Plastering the base: rules for preparing the solution

For external works will do only cement composition, not lime and not gypsum.

In order for the plaster layer to be strong and durable, the proportions of the solution should be as follows: 1 part of a binder grade M400 or higher and 3 parts of sand. The latter must be carefully sifted and must be of quarry origin. River sand is not suitable for adding to the solution due to the grains of sand being too small in size, which are not able to form a dense base of the plaster layer.

The mixture needs to be made more plastic so that it is easier to apply and forms a sufficiently even, smooth layer. For this purpose, special plasticizing additives are purchased. At the same time, you can add a coloring pigment to the composition, which will give the base of the house the desired color and will certainly decorate the building. It is highly advisable to supplement the solution with an additive that will give it water-repellent properties. The facade always has to come into contact with unfavorable conditions external environment, one of which is exposure to water or water vapor. The base, covered with a waterproof compound, will retain its attractive appearance much longer.

The cement mortar is prepared as follows:

sand is sifted;
the required amount of cement is added and mixed with sand;
if the pigment is dry, then it is added;
The necessary additives are dissolved in water and gradually added to the mixture of dry ingredients. The solution should have a creamy consistency;

If you don’t want to prepare cement mortar yourself, you can buy any dry mortar. An excellent option is the M-150. When diluting it with water, you need to monitor how “fat” the composition is. If there is a lot of sand in it, then add a small amount of any tile adhesive. This will allow the mixture to “stick” to the surface it is treating.

The basement is the lower part of the building down to the floor of the first floor. As a rule, it protrudes beyond the plane load-bearing wall, forming a step. Often it acts as an enclosing structure for basements or semi-basements.

In cottage construction, the base is assembled from reinforced concrete foundation blocks, monolithic concrete or red ceramic bricks. These materials need protection from rain, snow, seasonal temperature changes, and they should not stand out against the background of the facade. Therefore, in most cases, plastering the foundation of a house is done with your own hands.

Plastering a plinth or a wet facade is the application of a cement-sand or other coating that performs protective and decorative functions:

Protective. The plaster layer separately or as part of a more complex coating (stone, ceramic granite, relief plaster, insulation) partially or completely protects the surface from mechanical damage, freezing. It creates a water-repellent barrier, protects against the formation of fungus, and the plaster does not transmit ultraviolet rays.
Decorative. Mosaic plaster for the base hides all flaws and irregularities and decorates the facade of the house. It helps to create a unified color and stylistic composition.

Advantages and disadvantages

Finishing the base with plaster is the most popular method, but like any construction technology, it has a number of advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages

Plaster can be applied both on a clean base and on insulation.
The plaster mixture is easy to prepare at home; you can buy it ready-made in bags. Application does not require special and expensive tools. All work can be done with your own hands.
Huge selection of dry textured plaster mixtures. The finished surface can be painted in any color, which allows you to create a unique facade for each home.
High coefficient of vapor permeability. The walls breathe without accumulating moisture in the thickness of the building structure.
Affordable price. Reasonable prices for materials and work per square meter.

Flaws

The service life of a plastered plinth is much shorter than that of a stone one.
In some cases, the plaster layer is not strong enough. It can be destroyed or damaged. Even a small chip or crack gets water, which gradually destroys the plaster layer.
Ordinary cement-sand mortar absorbs moisture. Ready-made complex plaster mixtures have a lower moisture absorption coefficient, but still not sufficient. Therefore, the finished surface is painted with special façade water-despresion paints.
In its pure form, plaster freezes. Eat thermal insulation types plaster mixture but they don't give good result without the use of sheet insulation.

Kinds

Which better plaster for the base. There is no direct and unambiguous answer to this teenager. Plastered mixtures can be divided according to the composition and texture of the finished surface.

Example of textured plaster

They are divided according to their composition:

Plaster based on Portland cement and sand. Inexpensive material, which is used for the first leveling layer, exclusively on a clean stone or concrete base. It is also possible to plaster the base using a mesh and then apply a second finishing layer or. You can buy a ready-made mixture or mix the solution directly at the construction site.
Plaster based on Portland cement with additives that allow it to be applied to a surface covered with basalt mineral wool or polystyrene foam. Used to obtain a base layer or as the only finishing material.
Plaster based on acrylic resins. It can be applied either to a clean concrete or brick surface or used for “wet facade” technology. It is moisture resistant and does not crack due to seasonal temperature fluctuations. Due to the presence of mica, small stones or flax fibers in the composition, it is suitable for creating a decorative textured surface.
Silicone plaster. The most expensive and high quality material. It is elastic and durable, does not collapse due to shrinkage deformation and seasonal temperature fluctuations. It has a high coefficient of vapor permeability, which allows the base to “breathe”. Used only for the final decorative coating of the facade.

By invoice

Classic smooth

The first base leveling layer is made of cement-sand plaster or plaster with additives. The second layer is from . Then the base is painted.

Decorative

A more effective option. Due to additives in the solution or mechanical action on the surface, a relief pattern is obtained. There are several types:

"Bark beetle." A popular mixture for finishing the base. After application it turns out original surface, covered with small grooves;
A composition that imitates a surface covered with granite or marble chips;
“Venetian”, After application, the effect of cladding the base with large pieces of marble is created.

Under the stone

Consists of natural binders, plasticizers and filler from natural stone. To imitate different types of natural stone, fine or medium fraction filler is used. The finished surface is very durable and protects against getting wet and mechanical destruction of the base.

Application technologies

Plastering the base is accessible to everyone. You can do it yourself. The main stages of work are the same when using different materials, the set of tools is also no different.

Let's consider several options for plastering the basement of a residential building.

Under the stone

Plastering a plinth under a stone with your own hands consists of several stages:

Preparatory work. They involve applying a base coat of plaster to the surface of the plinth. Before application, all deep potholes and uneven areas are sealed. Then the surface is treated with deep penetration primer, which dries for 3-4 hours. The base plaster layer is applied over a clean base or over a mesh. It all depends on the unevenness of the surface.
If the difference between the top and bottom of the plinth is insignificant, then a layer of plaster without a mesh 20-30 mm thick is sufficient.
If the difference between the top and bottom of the base is visually noticeable, then a galvanized stack with a cell size of 25-25 mm is used.
The base surface is treated with deep penetration primer.
Apply finishing layer stone plaster with a thickness of 10-30 mm. The solution is mixed in a wide bucket using a mixer or a hammer drill with a special attachment.

The pattern of stonework can be chaotic or regular.

To obtain a surface from wild stone the mixture is applied in small areas and compacted with a trowel. After setting, the plastered area is treated with a trowel.

Using a decorative plaster mixture and a chisel, an imitation of facing the surface with pieces of stone of the correct or irregular size is created.

Basement of a house with a “wet” facade

In this case, the base is pre-or. They are mounted on wet facade.

Applying the base layer. Plastering is always done over a fiberglass mesh. It is attached to the mortar and then sealed with plaster mixture. To finish the insulated base, simple cement mortar is not used. Ready-made mixtures with additives are used;
Applying the second layer. The surface of the base is treated with soil. Then decorative or smooth plaster is applied. The thickness of the decorative plaster layer is 10 mm;
The finished base of the wet facade is painted. Paint of darker colors than for the main surface is often used.

Plastering the plinth under the tiles

Finishing the base with a plaster mixture is good way quickly, efficiently and inexpensively equip the basement of the house. Manufacturers' instructions and recommendations must be followed finishing materials, as well as perform work at acceptable weather conditions. The end result is a beautifully crafted and durable foundation for your home.