A beautiful apartment and high-quality renovation, tastefully selected modern furniture and a comfortable interior are the dream of any person. But only all this splendor fades in rooms with uneven walls. Very often, people try to hide a small blockage and cover it with furniture or resort to other tricks. In vain, since uneven walls need to be leveled, not masked. For example, furniture only emphasizes such a disadvantage. Therefore, in this article we will talk about how to align the walls and achieve the desired result.
The reasons for uneven walls can be different. Ceilings and walls in old houses often leave much to be desired, but in many new buildings they are also not ideal. Most panel houses have curved walls due to the fact that the panels are a little uneven. But only not to such an extent that the house cannot be put into operation - this aspect does not affect its reliability in any way. During the installation itself, the plate could turn around a little. For a more visual representation of the situation, you need to find a landscape sheet of paper and put it on the table. The sheet is even, but if you take it by the ends diagonally, and then pull one end up and the other down, you can see an interesting picture. What happens to the sheet? A concrete slab can also be bent according to the same principle. This deviation is insignificant, but it is enough to block the walls and violate the geometry of the corners in the room.
Definition of vertical deviations
It is quite possible to level the walls with your own hands, but first you need to determine where there is a blockage. To do this, you should pay attention to the corners, if there is an assumption that some wall is uneven, then you need to check the correctness of your thoughts. This is done in an elementary way: a heavy object is tied to one end of a thin but strong rope, and the opposite end must be attached to the corner of the junction of the upper ceiling and the wall. Well, are the line of the wall and the rope parallel? This means that the walls are even, and if deviations are observed, that is, there is a blockage and it needs to be eliminated.
Important: it is advisable to carry out such a check together - one person holds the cord, and the second evaluates the parallelism of the lines from a distance of several meters.
There is another option for assessing the condition of surfaces. For this process, you will also need a homemade plumb line with a weight that does not rotate. In each corner you need to perform the so-called hanging. To do this, the plumb line is fixed on a nail driven into the wall.
Important: the nail is hammered near the ceiling, so that the plumb line is located near the wall, but does not touch its surface.
A similar operation must be carried out with the other edge of the wall. The next step is to stretch the cords along the four lighthouse points, as a result, you can get an accurate picture of the state of the wall surface.
Determination of the verticality of the walls
With a slight deviation of 10 mm during the repair, it will be necessary to carry out putty work using gypsum and cement mixtures for leveling. And with more significant vertical deviations, it will be necessary to resort to leveling the walls with drywall.
Getting Started - Surface Preparation
How to properly align the walls, that is, what order should be followed? First, the surface is prepared: a solid base and the absence of crumbling areas are important. It is also necessary to remove the remnants of old wallpaper and dilapidated plaster. Next, the prepared wall is carefully primed with a roller, brush or sprayer. The primed base should dry for about 12 hours, so this work is best done closer to the night, so as not to waste time waiting.
Ways to level walls
Depending on the materials used, there are 2 ways to level the curvature of the walls. The first is raw (using building mixtures) and the second is dry (assembly of structures). Both methods are good, but only with strict observance of all processes. And each has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Basically, leveling with plaster is used for small differences (30-50 mm). Of course, they can also be used for surfaces with greater curvature. But these are additional financial costs for both labor and materials. Therefore, the best option in such cases is the installation of the frame and lining it with drywall.
Plaster leveling with beacons
So, if the irregularities have already been determined, and the surface of the walls has been prepared, you can proceed to direct leveling.
Important: do not forget about electricity - you must first turn it off. And when cleaning the walls, act carefully so as not to damage the electrical wiring elements that are hidden in the wall.
For a strong fixing of the plaster, the walls must be primed. This process prevents extremely undesirable delamination of materials, and also increases moisture resistance. For cement mixtures, cement milk is used, consisting of cement, water and sand.
Installation of beacons before "wet" leveling with plaster
When wet leveling with plaster, it is best to use the “beacon” technology. This is a special metal element made of flexible aluminum. The lighthouse is built into a curved wall, and it is along it that the subsequent alignment takes place. For greater clarity, we can give the following example: if the wall is littered at the top, then it can be understood that the lighthouse must be rested against the wall from below, and some material will be placed on top between the wall and the lighthouse, for example, a rotbant - it eliminates unevenness.
Beacon installation process
The installation of lighthouse rails begins with the installation of profiles on opposite walls. The verticality of each lighthouse is checked by a plumb line, and such profiles are mounted on the wall with building plaster. Gypsum is applied to the rail at several points while maintaining a distance of 50 cm. Then a cord is pulled through the lower, middle and upper profiles. The following rails are also mounted on the wall, but so that the cord barely touches them.
Important: the distance between the beacons is selected based on the size of the tool with which the plaster will be applied.
It is also possible to fix the beacons with self-tapping screws. This slows things down a bit, but then it makes it a lot easier. Even a non-professional can easily adjust the verticality of the lines by twisting or unscrewing the screws.
What is the best way to level a wall?
The leveling composition depends on the maximum thickness of the leveling layer, as well as on the type of binder - cement or gypsum. The cement mixture is most suitable for wet rooms (bathroom, kitchen), and it is advisable to use the gypsum composition in living rooms, because it perfectly maintains the microclimate of the room.
Wet leveling
When the display of lighthouses is over, there is little left to do. Now you need to dilute 10-15 liters of plaster and apply it between the beacons. The mixture should have a certain consistency, it should not be too thin (will slip) and too thick (will be difficult to apply). If gypsum compositions are used in the work, then their quantity should be such that the mixture is worked out within an hour.
After applying the mixture, a rule of the required length is taken and pressed against the beacons, and then the surface is leveled with movements from the bottom up, or vice versa, whichever is more convenient for you. If in some places there was not enough mixture, then it is necessary to add it and again carry out the rule. These actions are repeated until the wall becomes perfectly flat.
When the applied layer of plaster dries, it will be possible to notice the roughness of the wall. For this reason, there is a need for its processing with finishing putty and grinding with fine sandpaper.
The advantages of this leveling method are that the usable area of the room is not taken, and the disadvantages are that preliminary cleaning of the walls is necessary and this is a rather laborious process, after which a lot of debris and dust remains.
Plaster square - a device for forming ideal angles
A separate moment of the alignment process is the corners. How to align the corners of the walls, because these are the most problematic areas? It is advisable to use an angle trowel, level and other auxiliary tools in this work. Aligning corners is a painstaking task and requires experience and knowledge. For a faster setting of the mortar in the corners, you need to add a small amount of gypsum to the mixture.
How to eliminate significant irregularities?
How to level the walls in an apartment with large differences and terrible curvature of the walls? In this case, it is rational to resort to the installation of specific structures, followed by sheathing them with drywall. This method has the main drawback - “eating up” the usable area, but it is also characterized by positive aspects: there is no need for preliminary work, and communications can be hidden inside the constructed frame and sound and heat insulating materials can be laid.
This method has the right to life. First, the frame is mounted, which is subsequently sheathed with drywall. It is possible to level the blockage, but still the blockage does not disappear anywhere, but simply hides under the skin. If the apartment is small, then such frauds will make the living space even smaller.
Preparing walls for wallpaper
If repairs have begun in the apartment, then the question will surely arise, how to align the walls under the wallpaper? Wallpaper and other decorative coverings require a smooth surface to be prepared.
If the irregularities are minor, you can safely treat the wall with ordinary putty. For this purpose, it is necessary to use a spatula, which is designed for jointing cracks and their subsequent puttying. The most convenient option is to use two medium-sized spatulas.
Perfectly smooth walls - a beautiful room
With a large amount of work, you can dilute the putty in the basin so as not to constantly jump up and down. And for small holes and crevices, a small vessel is used.
Important: if the volumes are still large, then it is better to dilute the mixture with a drill with a special nozzle.
And if the layer is thick, then the surface must first be treated with a starting putty. With the right technology, putty is applied in several stages, but only when the previous layer dries. Three layers are usually applied, the last one is the finishing putty to finish the job. Then the entire surface is cleaned with sandpaper.
The bathroom is no exception to the rule.
The most common reason for leveling the walls of the bathroom is the type of future finish. If it is a tile, then you need to know how to align the walls under the tile. It should be noted that working with tiles is a responsible and serious process that needs a competent approach, and uneven walls are no exception. So, before proceeding with the main process, you need to think about how to align the walls in the bathroom, adhering to the technology.
Laying ceramic tiles is possible only on flat walls, because if you ignore this issue, the result can be disastrous: protrusion of the masonry with bumps and spoiled appearance of the room. The most common alignment method is the same beacons.
Scheme for installing beacons for alignment
Walls with lighthouses are more durable, because after the completion of work they are not removed from the wall, but continue to support the plaster. When working with plaster angles, you can get excellent 90-degree angles.
The plaster is applied according to the principle of "throwing" the wall. For this purpose, it is advisable to use a trowel. A small area is covered at a time, and not the entire surface of the wall. After the mixture is applied, you need to give it time to dry, and then you can cut off the excess protruding parts of the solution that go beyond the beacons. Water is added to the cut solution and the following intervals are rubbed again.
Installation of beacons with gypsum mixture
After the plaster has dried, the walls are primed, and then the tiles are laid. The primer promotes better adhesion of the adhesive solution to the base.
There are options for leveling walls, knowing all the subtleties and tricks of this laborious process, you can achieve a good result. The work of a plasterer, a master of his craft, is based on a quality surface, plaster composition and accurate beacons.
Video instruction for leveling walls
If you still have questions and need to learn everything in detail about how to align the walls - a video example with well-written material should help.
The main thing is to strive for something better, and not live on the principle of "it will do." No, it won’t do, a person’s housing should be properly designed: with smooth walls, beautiful decor and suitable furniture. Living in a room with such conditions is much more comfortable than contemplating crooked corners and collapsed walls every day. Perfectly even walls are the norm to strive for, since neither high-quality wallpaper nor compositionally installed furniture will hide the curvature.
Why align the walls?
The walls are aligned for many reasons, of course, initially it is an aesthetic component. The appearance of your apartment entirely depends on the geometry of your walls and the smoother they are, the more expensive and refined your apartment looks. Of particular value are the aligned walls with putty, and not sheathed with drywall, because. the latter visually reduces the space of the apartment, and also creates inconvenience associated with its operational properties (it is difficult to hang pictures, mirrors, etc. on drywall).
In addition, the owners of apartments with broken wall geometry (this is especially common in the so-called "Khrushchev") suffer from wavy skirting boards (both ceiling and floor), which follow the contour of the wall and break the visual geometry in your apartment. If you are faced with a similar situation, then this is a great solution for you.
Materials and tools required for alignment
Prices for mixtures for leveling walls and ceilings
Mixtures for leveling walls and ceilings
Step-by-step instructions for leveling a wall in an apartment without beacons
- So, materials and tools are ready, it's time to start leveling. Initially, we prepare the walls, tear off the old wallpaper and clean the surface. In order to free the wall surface from old wallpaper, it is necessary to moisten the wallpaper with water using a spray bottle (which is sprayed with flowers), which will make it easier to remove old wallpaper.
- Next, we unscrew all the screws and bolts, there were no screws on my walls, except for the stretch ceiling, which I removed, as well as a special mount on which I. We unscrew all the fasteners and screws from the walls.
- Attachment removed. The next step is sockets and light. For my TV, which will be located on the wall, I decided to make an outlet. So, with the help of a grinder, we cut the wall and, it is advisable to lay the wiring in the cable channels.
- The hole for the socket must be drilled using a special round nozzle on the drill.
- The next step is this. Priming of the walls is necessary so that the adhesion of the putty to the wall is strong enough.
- Has the wall priming been completed? Now let's start sewing the seams. In order to seal the walls as well as possible, it is necessary to add PVA glue to the solution, and then mix the solution with a drill with a special nozzle. You can see the process of mixing the solution in the video below.
- Then comes the next stage - this is the application of a rough layer. The rough layer is applied using plaster, which is sometimes worth mixing with PVA building glue, for stronger adhesion to the wall surface.
- The application is not carried out spontaneously, ideally, you need to install special building beacons, adjusted using the building level, and then, based on this, use the building rule to apply plaster to the wall, but this is a very costly method in terms of plaster consumption. It is easier to use the building level and mark the gaps with a pencil in the differences, and then apply plaster to these places. The process of leveling a wall without beacons will be shown in the video below.
Video - how to level a wall without beacons part 1
Video - how to level a wall without beacons part 2
When the rough finish is finished, the next part comes - this is the finishing with the finishing coat (Vetonit putty). It is worth noting that Vetonit putty is applied quite simply, unlike plaster, the application process of which is very heterogeneous and causes difficulties for novice builders.
Wall worn with a rough layer of plaster - photo
Uneven walls can spoil even the most beautiful interior design. Unfortunately, both in new buildings and in “secondary” housing, wall surfaces rarely allow you to immediately move on to finishing. Of course, you can limit yourself to masking irregularities with wallpaper with a small pattern or arranging large furniture, but it’s better to even out the walls.
Most often, plaster is used to solve this problem. In addition, doing plastering work with your own hands helps to significantly reduce repair costs. To get perfectly smooth walls, you just need to know and follow the simple rules for using this material.
Peculiarities
There are two ways to make a wall even: using plaster and using drywall sheets. Already aligned walls can be additionally puttied to bring the surface to the ideal.
It is easier for beginners to work with drywall, but plaster also has its advantages:
- The material does not require the installation of a frame for sheathing, thereby saving room space. For wiring electricity or plumbing, special recesses are made in the wall itself.
- The wall is monolithic. Seams and joints, which are always present with plasterboard sheathing, do not happen when plastering.
- Even a thick layer of gypsum plaster is protected from cracks.
- Plaster is most often an environmentally friendly building material, does not contain and does not emit substances harmful to humans.
For all its advantages, leveling a wall using gypsum or cement mixtures also has significant disadvantages:
- To work with plaster, much more time is needed than with the “dry method” of leveling.
- It is quite difficult for a non-professional to calculate the amount of ingredients needed to work on a given area.
- The property must have water.
- For a plaster station, according to SNIP, a 3-phase voltage is required. Although when repairing small rooms, you can also use a station that operates from a conventional outlet with a voltage of 220 V.
- Plastering is a “dirty” process that requires accuracy and subsequent major cleaning of the premises.
How to align?
There are several types of plaster mixtures: with cement, with clay and with gypsum. When working with any kind of material, it is necessary to use special tools: spatulas, brushes, levelers, scrapers, containers, a mixer for stirring, a trowel and sandpaper. To facilitate the process, you can also use various guides, beacons and corners.
For outdoor work and decoration of non-residential premises, it is better to use cement plaster. It is cheap and durable, and the proportions can be changed depending on preferences and purpose. However, physically working with such a mixture is quite difficult. It does not adhere well to concrete surfaces. In addition, with a large thickness of the plaster layer, cracks may appear. It is worth noting the fact that any cement mixtures dry for a long time.
Aligning the walls of the apartment with gypsum plaster considered the best option. It is environmentally friendly, has high moisture absorption, provides good thermal insulation. The consumption of such mixtures per 1 sq. m is significantly lower than the consumption of cement products, but the cost of such materials is higher.
Clay plaster is used much less often, since certain experience is required to work with it. This material is also environmentally friendly, elastic and has a high moisture absorption, like gypsum mixtures. But, unlike gypsum and cement, such plaster must be updated annually, because small cracks appear on it around the perimeter.
Preparatory work
Before directly leveling the wall surface, it is necessary to prepare:
- First you need to remove the old coating (wallpaper, paint or the top layer of old plaster).
- You should also thoroughly rinse and clean the surface of dust, dirt and stains.
- All cracks and chips are carefully cleaned with a spatula. To carry out preparatory work at the joints of the walls, you can use a special tool - an angled spatula.
- At this stage, it is necessary to remove all switches and sockets, isolate and hide de-energized wires in the recesses.
- It is better to cover the cleaned wall with a primer so that the plaster adheres better to the surface. The primer is selected taking into account the wall covering material (concrete, wood, brick or old plaster layer). Also, the primer allows you to strengthen the plaster layer and repels excess moisture. For its application, you can use a regular brush, roller or spray gun.
Following the instructions, you must wait until it dries completely. Then you can proceed to the measurement of curvature and the choice of work technique.
Selection and alignment technique
There are two ways to level the surface with plaster with your own hands:
- rule(in non-residential and auxiliary premises). In this case, it is necessary to use a rule with a length of at least 1 m. It is worth considering that the surface of the wall still cannot be leveled to the ideal. It is necessary to fill the recesses and cracks with plaster in advance, knock down the protrusions with a spatula and a hammer. The composition is applied to the wall with throwing movements from the floor to the ceiling and stretched over the entire area using the rule. Then they take a longer tool (from 2 m) and spend it several times in the direction from the bottom up, correcting minor defects and irregularities.
- By lighthouses(most often this is how walls in living rooms are aligned). In order to find out what the curvature of the wall is, you need to apply a level and measure the difference between the start and end points. If the difference is 10 mm or less, there is no need to plaster the surface, you can get by with putty. In the case of a larger difference, it is necessary to correctly apply beacon landmarks. To do this, drill two holes in the upper corners of the wall and insert screws into them. Then, pressing the plumb line to one of the selected points, you need to select the largest ledge and screw the screw at the bottom strictly vertically to this ledge. The same must be done at the other end of the wall. Then you should check the correctness of both guides using a level.
The rest of the wall space is divided into strips equal to the length of the rule, and screws are also screwed in at the top and bottom. After that, the wall must be cleaned again, primed and the guide plumb lines removed from it. After the primer has dried, plaster is applied along the marked lines, and beacon profiles are inserted into it. Excess plaster must be removed.
batch
The leveling itself begins with the mixing of gypsum or sand plaster according to the instructions on the package. The dry mixture is poured into the prepared container, water is added and thoroughly mixed using a construction mixer or any long-handled tool at hand. The mixture should stand for a while, after which it must be mixed again.
Rough layer
In order to make the first (rough) layer, it is necessary to apply the mixture with a spatula on the wall with throwing movements. The application is carried out from the floor to the ceiling in the space between the two lighthouses. If the curvature of the wall is minimal, then a rough application is enough to make the layer equal to the profile.
Repeated layers
If the application of the rough layer is not enough, then after it has dried, it is necessary to repeat the application as many times as necessary to hide the leveling profile under the layers.
Rule Alignment
After the last layer has slightly set, it must be leveled using the rule. The tool is firmly pressed against the surface and moves smoothly upwards. It is necessary to repeat the action until the edges of the beacons appear from under the coating. After this, it is necessary to allow the composition to completely seize.
Beacon extraction and polishing
As soon as the coating becomes strong enough, beacons are removed from it, and the recesses remaining from them are filled with plaster. A completely dried wall is moistened, and then all defects are smoothed out with a trowel, grater and sandpaper.
Smooth walls
You can level any curved wall with plaster using the method described above. However, depending on the type of composition used, the characteristics of the wall surface and subsequent finishing, The workflow may vary slightly.
- Brick walls must first be moistened with water. So the mixture will stick better on the brick.
- To level the clay walls, it is necessary to use only those plasters that weigh less than the clay.
- If the wall has been previously plastered and the strength of the old coating is still high, you can put a new layer on top of the old plaster without knocking it down. In order to determine the strength of the old layer, it is necessary to knock on the wall surface. Where the sound is muffled, the plaster holds perfectly and does not need to be dismantled. If the sound is resonant, the old masonry must be dismantled with an ax or a hammer and a spatula.
The alignment of the walls with plaster in the apartment is carried out the same way in almost all rooms. The exception is work in the bathroom and toilet. Since humidity is high in these rooms, the applied mixture can deform and move away from the wall.
The solution in this case is better to choose cement, as it is more moisture resistant. The mixed mass must be completely homogeneous. The surface of the wall must be covered with a primer. If several layers of cement plaster are applied, shallow notches must be made on the previously dried bottom layer in order for the top layer to better adhere to it. If it is planned to lay ceramic tiles in the future, deviations in the level of the wall should not exceed one centimeter.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to plaster a wall already lined with drywall:
- To do this, you need to prepare the surface in advance.
- It is necessary to clean and prime it, putty all the seams and attachment points of the GKL to the profile, correct the corners with the help of special corners that are laid under the plaster.
- The mixture itself must be selected with the lowest liquid content, or initially moisture-resistant GKL should be installed.
It is not recommended to glue wallpaper on a wall plastered with a cement mixture, as the surface is too grainy. However, if you remove the crumbling layer and treat the wall with special impregnation or glue, the wallpaper, in principle, can be glued. However, it is better to glue them on gypsum plaster, puttied with special mixtures and carefully sanded.
Hard to reach places
Working with plaster on the surface of the wall is not particularly difficult even for those who do it for the first time. However, plastering corners, slopes or ceilings can cause difficulties.
In order to plaster window and door openings, you must follow certain rules:
- It is important to carry out all the preparatory work. It is necessary to cover with a film all window and door elements that can be damaged and stained. It is best to use corners that act as beacons and additionally reinforce the plaster layer. They need to be installed in advance. It is also necessary to attach a bar that defines the plane in which the composition is applied.
- The paste-like solution should be kneaded in such an amount that it is enough for one hour of work. If you make a large volume of plaster at once, the mixture will thicken before the end of the process.
- The plaster is thrown from the bottom of the opening or slope to the top, a small rule is applied for leveling. The excess mortar is removed with a trowel, the surface is inspected, and defects are eliminated. The procedure is repeated as many times as necessary to obtain a neat, even surface.
- After complete drying of the finished slopes and openings, you can cover the surface with paint or lay tiles.
It is recommended to level the corners of the room with plaster using beacons or a reinforcing mesh with a counter-shoulder.
Almost all decorative wall coverings require an even base.
There are only a few of them that can somewhat hide bumps, but the limit of such coatings is rather limited.
They can hide only small cracks or make irregularities invisible through the use of light shades of a decorative coating.
In most cases, the walls must be prepared before applying the finish. All types and methods of leveling walls in an apartment can be divided into two large categories:
- wet leveling.
Various water-based building materials are used. various types, putties, special building mixtures with the addition of modifiers to give them specific performance properties;
- dry leveling.
For work, only dry materials are used; during the work, water mixtures are not used at all or their amount is extremely small. For leveling, drywall, OSB boards or sheet plywood, edged boards, etc. are used.
In order to make it easier to make the best decision in each individual case, it is necessary to become more familiar with these two ways of doing work.
The most reliable method is used on brick or concrete walls. Some have special additives, which allows you to combine alignment with, slight insulation, etc.
It is best to level the walls with Rotband gypsum plaster mixture.
In this way it is good to align the walls under the wallpaper. The cost of wall plastering ranges from 250-35 0 rub / m 2.
To level relatively small irregularities and cracks, putties can be used.
Work is carried out quickly and with minimal manual labor.
The price for services for leveling walls with putty starts from 300 rubles / m 2, depending on how and with what the finishing decorative finish will be performed.
Advantages
The highest rates of strength, the longest operating time. The ability to align walls with large deviations along the plane, however, in this case, the work must be performed in several stages.
Too thick a layer of plaster, applied at one time, will definitely crack during drying.
The relatively low cost of work can also be attributed to the advantages.
In many cases, an ordinary cement-sand mortar is used for plastering; they prepare it on their own. You can also use complex solutions with waterproofing, but such work is carried out in exceptional cases in special-purpose rooms.
Flaws
Plastering is a time-consuming process, only professional builders can perform these works.
Quite a lot of construction debris is formed, leveling with plaster can only be done in non-residential rooms.
If the apartment is being renovated, then all the furniture has to be removed from the room, there is a big risk of damage to the flooring.
Dry leveling walls
You can cope with irregularities of various depths, the work is done quickly, the walls are leveled quickly, the result is a perfectly flat surface. The use of gypsum boards for leveling has now become very popular.
The main reason for such popularity is the manufacturability of the material.
It is easy to cut, while working with plates there is no need to use special expensive tools and fixtures.
But from the point of view of consumers, this material has one very significant drawback - low physical strength. Even with medium dynamic or static impacts, gypsum boards lose their integrity.
Plywood and OSB boards have much better physical strength characteristics. But their price is higher than that of drywall counterparts, and working with them is somewhat more difficult.
In addition, plywood and OSB boards have many other disadvantages. This can explain such a widespread use of drywall.
It is necessary to use drywall carefully, carefully select the plates in terms of thickness and moisture resistance, taking into account specific operating conditions.
Advantages
The speed of work, the walls can be made perfectly smooth. After leveling the walls with drywall, you can use any materials for decorative finishing.
Flaws
The relatively high cost of work, the price of materials and additional elements can significantly exceed the cost of plastering.
Several ways to level walls with drywall
Today's technologies allow you to level walls with these materials in several ways.
- or wooden crate.
It is used to level large irregularities, it can be used on brick, concrete and wooden walls.
Advantages - there are no restrictions on existing irregularities, it is possible to perform simultaneous insulation.
Disadvantages - the manufacture of the frame requires time and additional financial costs, the usable area of \u200b\u200bthe interior is reduced.
It is also called by the people.
Gypsum boards are fixed on the surface of the walls with liquid nails, the solution is applied in several places on the board.
Advantages - the speed of work, saving money on the purchase of frame elements, high labor productivity.
Disadvantages - only small irregularities can be leveled, if the technology for performing construction work is violated, the risks of tearing plasterboard plates from the wall surface increase significantly.
Some "masters" for insurance additionally fix the plates with dowels. This is done not because of concern for the customer, but because of the insufficient qualifications of the performers.
In Moscow, the cost of leveling walls with gypsum boards is 550-600 rubles / m 2. More specific values \u200b\u200bdepend on the number of layers of drywall and the material used to manufacture the supporting structures.
How to choose a wall leveling method
When choosing methods and methods for leveling walls, you need to take into account the maximum number of existing factors:
- The number and magnitude of irregularities.
- the walls are new or old rooms have to be renovated.
- Wall material (concrete, brick, wood, etc.).
- Operating conditions of the premises, what is their final purpose, what indicators will be in terms of humidity and temperature.
In addition, it is desirable to take into account the time allotted for the leveling work, the financial capabilities of the customer and the properties of the materials intended for finishing the walls.
Of course, one of the first places is the qualification of the performer. Some alignment methods require many years of practical experience. Believe the fairy tales that "everyone can do it without much effort" is not worth it. Each work requires not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical experience.
Walls are the first thing that catches your eye in an apartment. Their uneven surface can greatly spoil the impression of the home, even if it is incredibly pompously decorated. In simple interiors, wall defects are especially noticeable. The only way out in this case is to level the surface. Of course, you can use the services of a wizard, but try to do it yourself. I am sure that with our recommendations you will certainly succeed.
Preparing for alignment
Before leveling the walls, you need to perform a number of operations. First you need to set the frame of irregularities. To measure horizontally, you can use a cord that is pulled tight along the wall. It is even easier if you have a building level at least 1.5 m long. A plumb line is used to calculate vertical irregularities. Differences of no more than 3-5 cm are leveled with the help of special building mixtures. In this way, more curved walls can be leveled, but it will take a lot of time and money.
This is the so-called wet method of leveling load-bearing structures. In the dry method, the walls are sheathed. It is used if the walls are too curved. The latter method is more time consuming, but allows you to achieve perfect surface smoothness. In both cases, the key to success is strict adherence to the sequence of actions.
The plaster must be carried out quickly, because the solution for it dries quickly
Regardless of the method chosen, it is necessary to responsibly approach the alignment of corners. curvature imperceptible at first glance may appear when installing curbs or.
Plaster or drywall: all the pros and cons
Both types of wall alignment have both positive and negative qualities. This requires pre-cleaning of the surface. Elements of old plaster can affect the quality of installation of the material using a special adhesive.
Behind the installation, you can easily hide noise and heat insulating materials, hide communications and wiring. The problem is that drywall reduces the size of the room somewhat and can withstand less stress than walls covered with mortar. Pay attention to the color of drywall sheets. Moisture-resistant material is painted in green, and ordinary - in gray. In bathrooms, kitchens and other rooms with high humidity, it is better to use GKLV sheets.
If you prefer building mixtures, the room will retain its original dimensions. However, even here there are buts. The surface will be monolithic, without gaps between the wall and the layer. On curved walls, a large layer of the mixture is obtained, up to 5-10 cm) and a lot of material is required. As a result, this method is rarely used. To carry out such repairs, you will need to remove all furniture, and after completion of work, carry out a thorough cleaning of the room.
Wall plastering
Before starting work, you must completely turn off the electricity in the apartment. After the surface is thoroughly cleaned of old wallpaper, plaster or paint. Then treat the surface with a primer. In this case, the building mixture will be better fixed. The primer increases moisture resistance and prevents delamination of materials. For cement mixtures, a solution of cement, water and sand is used. To make the wall as smooth as possible, it is necessary to fix beacons on it. To do this, profiles are installed on the sides of the wall. The verticality of the beacons is checked by a plumb line.
Dilute about 10 liters of cement mixture and apply it to the wall with a construction spatula in large strokes. Then align the solution along the beacon lines from the bottom up. To do this, use a level or a wooden board. The solution must be added until the surface of the wall is aligned with the beacon lines. When using a spatula, it must be tilted 45 degrees. In this case, the surface will be perfectly flat. Do not forget about the corners, be especially careful in finishing them.
Economical wall leveling method (Video)
When working with dry mortar, pay attention to both the thickness of the applied layer and the type of bonding material. Gypsum-based compositions are usually used for finishing living rooms. This material well supports a microclimate of rooms. Cement mortars are mainly used in high humidity environments (bathrooms and kitchens).
How to level walls with drywall
The second and most popular way to level walls is to use drywall sheets. It is usually used if the size of the irregularities on the wall is more than 5 cm. The plasterboard wall must be protected from moisture, freezing and condensation. For reliable fastening of drywall sheets to the adhesive, it is recommended to clean the wall from the remnants of the old mortar. Then the surface is primed.
If the surface of the wall is loose or porous, it is better to use a deep penetration primer. It is applied with a sprayer or paint brush. On concrete and other low-porous surfaces, a special primer is applied with the mark “concrete active”. Before you install drywall sheets, do not forget to wire. Boxes for sockets must protrude at least 20 mm above the wall surface.
After the plaster is completed, the beacons are removed, and the strips after them are rubbed with plaster
Glue plasterboard sheets directly on the wall or install on metal frames. Corner irregularities are eliminated using special metal profiles. To install this type of construction, it is necessary to use self-tapping screws, dowels and a screwdriver. Places for metal structures are marked with a pencil.
conclusions
Self-alignment of the walls requires a careful approach and the choice of the appropriate method of work. The main thing is not to despair and to approach the matter with responsibility.