Plastering is one of the oldest andthe most reliable ways to level walls. In addition, plaster makes surfaces more durable. Although plastered surfaces serve for a very long time, they also need repair, as cracks appear on them over time. In addition, the condition of the plaster is affected by many factors - from the level of humidity in the room to the degree of exposure of the surface to mechanical loads (plaster coating deteriorates faster in window and door openings). In addition, frequent repair of plaster is inevitable where low-quality mortar was used or the walls were not carefully prepared for work. The tips described below will help you avoid mistakes when repairing interior walls. Following the recommendations, you can forget about frequent repairs of partitions in the apartment. In addition, they will become a reliable base for any finishing material.
From time to time, walls finished with plaster need to be repaired, as they can become unusable due to dampness in the room or poor-quality mortar.
How to prepare the walls for repair?
Before repairing, you need to remove the old layercracked and swollen plaster. A radical way to repair the walls inside the room might seem to be a complete replacement of the plaster, but it is unlikely that such an operation would seem reasonable if the walls look good overall. New plastering may be necessary before laying tiles on a surface that was previously, for example, painted. But more on that later. In the meantime, if you are only planning to slightly update the partitions before wallpapering or repainting, it is enough to identify the most problematic areas of the surface. Cracks, for example, are visible to the naked eye, and "suspicious" areas can be checked by tapping on them with a wooden or plastic mallet. A dull sound will immediately reveal where the plaster has peeled off the surface. In these places, the old mortar is removed with a spatula. In this case, it is necessary to check what caused the peeling. Perhaps, under the plaster that has peeled off the wall, there is a surface that has not been properly prepared: traces of paint, grease marks, or whitewash remain on it. All this will need to be removed, otherwise the new layer will suffer the same fate as the previous one. Cleaning the wall should be done until all the dirt is removed. Return to contents</a>How to deal with fungus?Another factor in the peeling of the plaster layer from the wall may be fungus. Its appearance is most likely in rooms with high humidity and leaks. The primary task in this case is to eliminate the causes of the fungus: insulate the walls, eliminate the leak, improve air circulation in the room.
If there was mold on the wall, then a new onea layer of plaster cannot be applied until the wall is dry and treated with an antiseptic. As for removing crumbling plaster, it must be removed not only in the area with obvious signs of fungus, but also go beyond it by a few cm, removing the “healthy” solution around the affected area. It is worth adding that before removing old plaster, the treated area must be moistened. This is done not only to reduce dust, because fungal spores fly freely with it. It is also necessary to clean the base under the area infected with fungus as deeply as possible. If the wall is brick, then the masonry seams are cleaned 2-3 cm deep. All insufficiently strong fragments are removed from the concrete partition. Further repair of the plaster can be continued only after thorough drying of the wall. And when the surface dries, it must be impregnated with fungicidal compounds that will destroy the spores remaining in the wall and prevent the appearance of fungus in the future. Once again, it should be recalled that antifungal treatment is effective only after eliminating the causes that lead to its appearance. Return to contents</a>Crack Treatment Crack Treatment forsubsequent repair of plaster looks much simpler. All cracks are moistened with water, after which peeling fragments along the edges are removed with a spatula. Using tools, a kind of groove is made along the crack with a narrowing in depth. After cleaning, the cavities are treated with primers that improve the adhesive properties of the walls being repaired. The primer is applied to all surfaces on which the plaster will be applied. Return to contents</a>What is needed at the preparatory stage?
Tools for plastering walls. The work of cleaning interior walls from defective plaster is best carried out with the following tools:
- spatulas of different widths;
- trowel;
- steel brush;
- a building hair dryer;
- perforator.
The latter may be useful if necessary.to go deeper into the concrete partition to remove traces of fungus, and a hair dryer is used to remove old paint from the wall (however, this work must be done in a ventilated room) and dry damp surfaces. To impregnate the areas to be repaired, use:
- plain water;
- antifungal solutions;
- primer.
They are applied to the surfaces to be repaired with a brush or sprayer. Return to contents</a>
How to repair plaster?
Large sections of the wall require reinforcement.Large areas with damaged plaster and the largest cracks require additional reinforcement. Reinforcing tape is placed in the cracks, and the area to be plastered is covered with reinforcing mesh. Areas adjacent to door and window frames are also reinforced. It should be added that for deep and wide areas where repairs will be carried out, the walls are plastered in several layers. The first of these is done by spraying with a liquid solution. After it dries, another layer of plaster is applied to the wall, which must dry before applying the next one. Sometimes, to repair a problem area, it is necessary to plaster it in 3-4 layers. The last of them can be leveled with a rule, if its length allows it to rest on the edges of the cut surface, or with a float. It may be necessary to install beacons if the area to be repaired is too large (how to do this will be discussed below).
Stages of plaster repair.All defects on the walls are repaired with a solution of the same type of composition that was used for their plastering earlier. It should be said that it is not worth preparing a solution with the maximum content of the binding component (cement). This will not so much improve the strength characteristics of the plaster as lead to the appearance of new cracks in it. For better plasticity, add glue to the solution (for example, PVA). The solution for the finishing layer is made with a slightly lower content of the binding component, compared to the previous ones. If the partitions are lined with plasterboard or MDF panels, then the plaster repair can be completed at this point, however, before gluing wallpaper to the interior walls, the surfaces need to be putty, before which the slightly hardened finishing plaster of the walls is treated with a block of expanded polystyrene. With its help, small irregularities are rubbed down, and the surface becomes more uniform. Return to the table of contents</a>
How to repair the walls in damp areas?
Often the walls of many bathrooms, kitchens andtoilets are covered with paint. Many homeowners want to renovate these rooms and tile their partitions. Plastering the walls cannot be done over paint, so it will have to be removed. The method for removing paint has already been described above. After that, internal plastering is carried out, correcting surface defects and leveling it before laying the finishing material.
Scheme for installing plaster beacons.Do not forget that bathrooms and kitchens are rooms with high humidity, so the likelihood of mold appearing in them is quite high. To avoid problems in the further use of these rooms, treat the walls with fungicidal agents. High-quality alignment of walls is possible only with the use of a beacon profile. This stage of repair of internal walls can be considered the most labor-intensive, as it requires the most responsible approach to work. To install beacons, you will need:
- plastic dowels 4 x 60 mm;
- self-tapping screws;
- beacon profile with fasteners;
- plumb or level;
- hammer drill;
- drill-screwdriver;
- synthetic yarn.
Near the top and bottom corners of one of the wallsholes are drilled for dowels. Two vertical profiles are attached to the wall. The correctness of their installation is determined by a plumb line or level. Threads are pulled between the extreme beacons, creating a plane for future plaster. The remaining profiles are attached with an orientation to these threads. The distance between the beacons should be slightly less than the length of the rule. The same operation is repeated on the remaining partitions. Beacons can also be attached to the walls using gypsum. The first layer of plaster consists of a liquid solution, which is sprayed onto the surface, the following layers are stretched over it with a trowel, smoother or spatula. The finishing layer is leveled with a rule resting on the beacons. Excess mortar in the corners is removed with a corner leveler. Some time after leveling, the plastered wall is rubbed with a float. Return to contents</a>How to extract beacons?It is best to remove the beacons after plastering the walls. This operation can be neglected only if tiles are to be laid on the wall, as they will hide the red stripes that will show through the plaster after the metal profile oxidizes. The beacons are removed quite easily. Do not pull them out immediately after plastering, as significant fragments of the plaster will peel off with them. It is best to remove the profiles a day after the work. Pliers are best suited for this. It is advisable that you know exactly where the beacons are located, so it would be a good idea to make appropriate marks before installing them. Using a scraper, the edge of the beacon hidden under the plaster is exposed. It is grabbed with pliers and pulled away from the wall. Grab another section of the profile with the tool and pull it out. Do the same thing further. Do not be afraid that grooves will form in the surface, because they just need to be filled with mortar and leveled with a spatula. Before laying the mortar, the cracks are treated with a primer. After sealing, the groove is rubbed with a float. You can be sure that the walls in the bathroom or kitchen will not be affected by fungus by using plaster specially created for finishing walls in damp rooms. Such compositions, for example, include the Rotband mixture. In any case, you will be able to choose the most suitable composition in the store, since all manufacturers indicate the scope of application of their products, their components and the technology of preparation on the packages with mixtures. Now the walls of the room are ready for further work. They can be pasted over with tiles or covered with decorative plaster, or they can be painted over again. The main thing is that the high-quality plaster repair you have carried out will allow you not to worry about the condition of the interior walls for many years.</ ul>
