The ceiling comes into the field of view of the person enteringthe person's room is one of the first. Therefore, it is recommended to put it in order in a timely manner. Do-it-yourself ceiling repair is not too difficult, but some knowledge in construction matters will be necessary.
The ceiling is one of the most important elementsrooms, so it requires timely maintenance. The impression of the interior can be spoiled if the ceiling is uneven, dirty or with traces of leaking water, so it is very important to maintain the ceiling in good condition and repair it in a timely manner. This is not the easiest task, so in order to repair the ceilings, choose the most durable coating of all possible. The types of ceiling repairs that you can do yourself are different, among the most common methods are the following:
- coloring;
- whitewash;
- wallpapering;
- suspended ceiling;
- stretch ceiling.
High-quality ceiling finishing will make the interiorrooms completed. Each of these types of surfaces has its own advantages and disadvantages, design features, consisting of the cost of repair work, the effort and time spent. Any type of repair begins with surface preparation. It is necessary to remove the old coating and level the surface with a primer, while simultaneously repairing the seams and joints on the ceiling. The time and effort spent on cleaning and preparing the surface directly depend on the planned resulting coating. Suspended and stretch ceilings do not require a perfectly flat surface, but it is necessary for painting or wallpapering.
Repair the ceiling with your own hands: surface cleaning
The original coating can be removedskip only if the ceiling is being repaired in the room immediately after its construction. In other cases, priming the joints and repairing them is done only after the surface has been cleaned. Most often, the coating of old ceilings is whitewash, plaster or wallpaper. Such finishing materials can be removed without much difficulty. In order to repair the ceiling with your own hands, an ordinary paint roller with a long rod will come in handy. It is moistened in warm water and wrung out so that water only slightly drips from the surface. When rolling over the surface, before repairing the ceiling, you need to start with light pressure, which is increased each time. As soon as there is little water on the roller, it must be wetted again and the entire operation repeated on an adjacent section of the ceiling.
When renovating, the first thing you need to do is clean the ceilingfrom the old coating. When an area of 1-2 m² is wetted in this way, take a spatula and start scraping off the soaked whitewash or wallpaper. To do a quality repair, you need to clean down to the concrete base or to a layer of strong putty. The detected layers of old putty must be tested for strength using a spatula. A well-adhering coating can be left on the ceiling. If the putty crumbles and peels off, it is easier to remove it completely and apply a new one. It is most difficult to prepare a ceiling for repair with your own hands if it was previously painted with water-based or oil paint. Such a coating can be removed mechanically or chemically. When cleaning with sandpaper or a spatula, a lot of dust is formed. When softening the paint with a special remover, an unpleasant odor will constantly appear in the room until it is completely softened. A spatula with a thin metal blade can be used to remove decorative elements or polystyrene foam tiles glued to the ceiling. Some types of glue are difficult to remove and only with the help of special means. If you are repairing a ceiling with stretch or suspended structures, you will first need to disassemble and remove them carefully so as not to damage them. Return to contents</a>
How to prime the ceiling?
Ceiling priming scheme.After the entire surface of the ceiling has been completely cleared of the original coating, you can begin the preliminary priming. First, check all the seams and joints on the ceiling. They are filled with a plaster or gypsum solution, which will hold firmly and reliably in them. If the solution in the joints begins to crumble after drying or is destroyed by light impacts, it is better to clean the joints and fill them with a solution of a different composition. A special construction solution with the addition of fiber, used in many construction works, gypsum or cement mortar is usually used for this. When the seams are filled, the surface is leveled flush with the rest of the ceiling plane, the solution is left until completely dry and hardened. To strengthen the surface and improve its adhesion, you can apply a deep penetration primer, without which ceiling repairs cannot do. When applying any compositions to the ceiling with a brush or roller, it is imperative to take care of hand and eye protection. The primer is left to dry, after which do-it-yourself repairs can be continued. Return to Contents</a>
How to repair the ceiling: putty and plaster
This stage of work is considered a necessity, becausehow rarely concrete slabs are perfectly flat. It is especially critical to approach puttying if the ceiling repair will be done with wallpaper or painting. Each craftsman makes the choice between puttying and plastering independently, focusing on the repair conditions. Plastering will reduce the height of the room by 2-3 cm and is heavy. Applying puttying requires several layers, the material shrinks, which generally requires additional time and is quite difficult to perform. But ceiling repairs are most often performed using puttying, since this material allows you to achieve a perfectly flat surface with minimal weight and a small layer thickness. Before repairing the ceiling using plastering, you need to prepare everything you need:
Tools for plastering.
- a primer for concrete;
- building mix;
- building beacons;
- rule of 1.5 m;
- perforator;
- drill;
- self-tapping screws;
- guides;
- construction level.
After the ceiling surface has been cleanedall the rules, step back 15-20 cm from the wall and put a mark for the guide in this place. The second one is put in the same way at the opposite wall. A thread is pulled between them. Then step back 1.25 m from the first beacon and repeat the sequence of actions. When the markings are applied to the entire ceiling, you need to drill holes for fasteners. Do-it-yourself ceiling guides are attached to screws. At the same time, using a level, you need to carefully monitor that all the guides are in the same area and strictly horizontal. Self-tapping screws intended for height adjustment can be slightly unscrewed or screwed tighter. As soon as all the guides are set in one plane, they need to be fixed with a plaster mixture, mixed thickly enough, and left until completely dry.
Scheme of execution of the first and second layersceiling putty. The free space between the guides is filled with plaster mixture and leveled with a metal rule, focusing on the guides. The process is more complicated than plastering walls, although the sequence of actions is the same. The difficulty lies in the non-vertical surface located above the head. When the plaster dries, you should get a smooth surface prepared for applying the finishing coat. To perform putty on the ceiling surface, you will need:
- putty rough;
- putty finishing;
- Painting mesh;
- primer;
- a set of putty knives;
- capacity.
Leveling the surface with puttytakes more time than plastering the ceiling. Construction and finishing experience in handling tools and knowledge of the properties of the material will come in handy. If, after the ceiling slab has been cleaned, potholes or large differences in plane height are found on its surface, then rough putty is applied to them in thick layers first. The shrinkage of such putty is small, while the thickness of the applied layer can reach 5 cm. To level the ceiling plane and remove excess material, use a rule and a wide spatula.
Stages of applying plaster to the ceiling.When a layer of rough plaster is applied, a painter's mesh is placed on it, and this must be done before the composition begins to harden. This is an alternative to reinforcement, which gives the whitewash and the entire surface additional strength. To place the mesh inside the putty layer, it is pressed inward over the entire surface of the ceiling, passing with a small pressure with a wide spatula. If the ceiling surface can be considered smooth and does not have large distortions and potholes, you can immediately use a fine, fine-grinding putty on it. It is applied with a wide spatula, excess material is removed in the same way. Using a finishing putty, you can use a painter's mesh to further strengthen the ceiling. When the base layer of putty dries completely, you can apply the finishing layer of putty and finally level the plane. In order to obtain a surface that is perfectly smooth and ready for painting, specially designed floats are used, covered with sandpaper on top. When the surface is leveled and sanded according to all the rules, checked with a level, it can be covered with wallpaper or paint, whitewashed according to the original plan. Return to the table of contents</a>
How to paint the ceiling?
Ceiling painting scheme.All the tools and consumables for ceiling painting repair work are easy to get, and their use does not require any special skills or experience. In rooms such as a bathroom or kitchen, a painted ceiling is the most practical way to preserve a high-quality finish for a long time. The surface to be painted must be perfectly leveled, since the slightest irregularities on the painted surface are noticeable. To carry out the work, you will need:
- paint;
- roller;
- brushes;
- capacity;
- ladder.
Usually the ceiling is painted with oil orwater-based paints, mixing them beforehand to the desired consistency. Painting begins with the corners and edges of the room, carefully painting them with a brush. The remaining area is finished with a roller. It is necessary to apply at least 3 layers, allowing each layer to dry, so that the coating turns out high-quality and durable. Return to contents</a>
How is the whitewashing of the ceiling done?
Until recently, the most commontype of repair was precisely whitewashing of the ceiling and walls. A surface whitewashed in compliance with all quality requirements is suitable for any interior. But whitewashing a ceiling is much more difficult than painting it. The whitewash composition is most often made from quicklime mixed with water and strained through a fine sieve, after which the solution is ready to be applied to the ceiling or wall. A roller, brush and spray gun are used for the work. Application with a brush or roller must be done in several layers, otherwise the coating will not be uniform enough, therefore a spray gun is considered the best option. Whitewashing the ceiling cannot be considered as durable a coating as painting. At least once a year, whitewashing needs to be renewed or simply cleaned completely and reapplied. But at the same time, whitewashing the ceiling is a budget option, since the materials are available and inexpensive.
