If there is a need to make repairs inold apartment, then there is a high probability that you will see whitewashed walls. The fact is that 25-30 years ago this was one of the most popular ways of finishing walls and ceilings - simple to perform and low-cost. But today the choice of high-quality finishing materials, equal in cost to the cost of whitewashing, is quite large, and few people want to mess around with whitewashing every 2-3 years, if it is possible to glue wallpaper on the walls for the same money and forget about the need for their repair for ten years.
Wallpaper must be glued onto the prepared surface.primed surface. But it is well known that wallpapering technology requires preparatory work. First of all, this is cleaning the wall surface from the old coating, as well as priming it and a number of other works. Without such preparation, it is impossible to guarantee that they will serve for a long time and reliably.
How to make repairs easier
In the case of whitewashed walls, this ismethod means piles of garbage and clouds of dust throughout the apartment. Therefore, many who encounter this situation quite naturally have a desire to make their work easier. As a result of such a desire, the question arises whether it is possible to glue wallpaper without removing the old lime. It is impossible to give a clear positive or negative answer to this question. The most accurate statement would be: under certain favorable circumstances, it is possible to glue wallpaper on lime, but even in this case there is a great risk of wasting both time and materials.
Wall priming scheme.First of all, you need to check how the whitewash is holding on to the wall. If it has started to peel off in layers, then there is no alternative - you need to scrape off all the whitewash. To do this, first you need to cover the floor in the room with at least old newspapers. The applied whitewash is soaked in warm water, and then scraped off with a scraper or a hard brush. You need to soak small areas of the wall, since the lime dries quickly, and it is impossible to remove large areas of whitewash. After completely removing the old layer of lime, the wall surface must be putty and primed in 2-3 layers. In this case, a mandatory condition is to wait until the previous layer dries, and only then apply the next one. After the putty and primer have completely dried, you can start gluing the wallpaper. In the same case, if the whitewash is firmly attached, does not flake and does not have large chips and cracks, you can take a risk and try to glue the wallpaper directly onto the lime. But this must be done wisely, very patiently and carefully. Return to contents</a>
Correct work algorithm
Before gluing the wallpaper, it is necessary to putty andsand the walls to a perfectly smooth surface. The main condition for high-quality pasting of any wallpaper is the presence of a reliable base. In the case of whitewash applied to the walls, this condition is difficult to achieve, since even if the lime normally holds firmly, after wallpaper glue is applied to it, it can soften and begin to peel off or appear as streaks on the surface of the wallpaper, spoiling their appearance. Therefore, before pasting the wallpaper, you need to painstakingly prepare the surface of the walls for pasting, strengthening and protecting it as much as possible. If there are noticeable depressions on the whitewashed walls, they must first be puttied, then allowed to dry and sanded. It is better to do this in a respirator, since there is usually a lot of dust from such work. First, the walls directly on top of the whitewash must be primed in several layers with a high-quality deep penetration primer that also has water-repellent properties. It is better to use acrylic primer, it most fully meets all the requirements in this situation.
Preparing walls for wallpapering.The primer will reliably bind the whitewash layer and improve the adhesion of the lime to the wall, in addition, its water-repellent properties will protect the lime from excess moisture and will not allow the formation of prerequisites for mold and mildew. The primer is applied in 2-3 layers, taking a break after applying each layer for 1-1.5 days for it to dry. You can use a roller for application, but in the case of lime, it is better to use a paint brush. This will allow you to coat the entire surface of the wall with primer more thoroughly and evenly. After the primer has dried, you need to additionally fix it by coating the walls with a weak solution of wallpaper glue. To do this, the wallpaper glue must be strongly diluted with water and this mixture must be applied over the applied primer. This will not only provide additional protection for the wall surface. Wallpaper glue, as the heavier component of this mixture, will settle in small cracks and uneven areas, leveling them and creating a smooth base for gluing wallpaper. Return to contents</a>
Ways to wallpaper the wallpaper on the lime
In order not to waste time and materials,First, it is advisable to do a test pasting, i.e. stick one strip of wallpaper on the wall and wait until it dries completely. If the strip does not hold well or streaks appear on it, then further pasting over the whitewash is pointless, you will have to remove it from the walls. If the strip sits firmly on the wall, the surface of the wallpaper remains clean, then you can continue working. No one will give you a guarantee that the lime will not start to peel off or soften in another place, but the overall chances for a successful outcome of the planned repair are still quite high.
Tools and materials for wallpapering. For gluing on lime you will need a standard set of wallpapering tools:
- meter ruler or tape measure with steel tape;
- pencil;
- scissors;
- a bucket for preparation of a glutinous solution;
- mixer;
- paint brush;
- rubber spatula or wallpaper brush;
- ladder;
- knife (kitchen or perforated, but necessarily very sharp).
Before you glue the wallpaper, you need to take care ofthe desired microclimate in the room. To do this, if necessary, lower the temperature in the room to 17-18º, and also eliminate all sources of drafts by securely closing all doors, windows and vents. Usually, wallpaper strips are glued to the surface using the butt-joint method. It is also suitable for whitewashed surfaces. Wallpaper rolls are cut into strips along the length of the wall plus 5-10 cm of reserve each. If you need to match the pattern applied to the wallpaper, then it is better to make a larger reserve - 30-40 cm, so that you can easily join the pattern applied to adjacent strips.
Wallpaper is coated with glue in a horizontal positionand leave to soak for 3-5 minutes. After cutting the strips, you need to coat their back side with glue. You need to coat the edges of the strips especially carefully, since poorly coated edges will definitely come off the wall. After folding the strips in half with the glue-coated side inward, you need to leave them for several minutes (from 5 to 8, unless otherwise indicated in the instructions for preparing the glue) so that the glue is properly absorbed into the canvas. During this time, you need to coat the surface to be pasted with glue. Having finished with the surface, you can proceed directly to pasting. The folded strip is straightened, coated with glue again and immediately pasted to the wall. Glue the strip of wallpaper, starting from the top and moving down to the floor. Use a rubber spatula or wallpaper brush to smooth the surface, squeezing out air bubbles from under it and removing folds. To do this, press the spatula or brush to the center of the strip and move towards the edges. The excess glue that comes out should be carefully removed with a rag. After gluing the strip, you need to go over its entire width again with a spatula or brush, but in the direction from the ceiling to the floor. And only after this can you start gluing the second strip, doing the same thing with it as with the first, and not forgetting to make sure that the pattern applied to the strips matches. After the second strip, it is the turn of the next one, so, moving along the perimeter of the room, they paste over the entire room. After finishing pasting each wall, the pasted wallpaper should be adjusted to the desired size, carefully cutting off all excess allowances in the upper corner and at the baseboard with a sharp knife. You should not wait until you completely paste the wallpaper in the room, since you need to cut off the excess before the wallpaper strips dry. There is nothing complicated in gluing wallpaper on lime, the technique of this process is no different from ordinary pasting. But still remember that when doing such gluing, you rely much more on "maybe" than on the reliability of the glue and your own skill. Good luck!
