How to plaster drywall walls with your hands. Drywall plaster: mix selection and application technology

  • 07.06.2019

During repairs, many people often ask themselves the question: is it worth plastering drywall, which is sheathed with walls or ceilings, before, for example, gluing wallpaper? Moreover, this material is already called “dry plaster”. Opinions of experts differ: there are options both for and against. Some believe that if drywall sheets are of poor quality and not moisture resistant, then this is undesirable. Over time, the material is deformed under the influence of moisture, which is released from the plaster mass. Others do not see anything criminal in puttying the sheets.

It is better to plaster drywall in cases where it is necessary. Since drywall is deformed under plaster.

An exception to these disagreements is one thought: decorative plaster can and should be applied independently only on moisture-resistant drywall using special primers.

For those who have not yet understood, plastering drywall sheets, oddly enough, is a delicate matter. What to do, such characteristics of this material. If you apply a sufficiently thick layer of plaster on drywall, then it is almost impossible to guarantee a good result.

So, you can plaster drywall sheets in the following cases:

  1. If there are significant defects on the sheathed walls, then plastering will definitely not solve this problem, but most likely will only aggravate it. It will be easier for you to eliminate the cause of distortions or displacements, and not to spend energy on dealing with the consequences. It is best to replace drywall sheets with moisture resistant ones.
  2. If you notice slight irregularities on the sheets, then in this case the plaster will do its job. It is also suitable in cases where the drywall has minor dents, and the seams are pre-filled.
  3. If you are to apply decorative plaster. It contains a sufficient amount of substances that provide quick drying and polymerization. Decorative plaster comes in different textures.

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How to apply plaster on drywall sheets

It is necessary to follow the technology and the sequence of work so that the slightest inaccuracies do not spoil the final result. To do this, we highlight several key stages of finishing work:

Before starting, you need to clean the drywall from the dust that formed during installation work. To do this, you can use an industrial vacuum cleaner or improvised means.

After that, you need to putty all the seams, joints and bumps. To do this, you can use both ready-made putty mixtures and dry ones, which are prepared immediately before application. Questions also arise at this stage of the work. Do you need to putty the entire surface or just the bumps? How to putty if there is wallpaper on the wall? Take note of when you need to putty a whole drywall:

  1. Before painting. If you putty the entire sheet, then first of all save money on paint, because gray drywall is much more difficult to paint over. To do this, you will need to apply at least three layers. Sometimes there is a noticeably light texture on the material, so when you process only the seams, after painting it will be noticeable where there are seams and where they are not.
  2. Finishing - light wallpaper. If you stick such wallpaper on sheets of drywall, in which only the seams are puttyed, then gray spots will show through them. They will not go anywhere, so the wallpaper will look ugly. When you use rough wallpaper, this may not happen, but why tempt fate?
  3. Before thin-layer decorative plaster. When buying such decorative plaster, be sure to consult with the master what type it belongs to.

The key step in preparing drywall for applying plaster is the primer. Acrylate primers should be used for a good effect, because they do not isolate water vapor.

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Plaster can be used both for continuous application and for individual decorative elements. Designers often use combined option- wallpaper and plaster finish. If in your plans plaster is the decoration of sheathed walls, then the following tips are for you:

  1. Pay attention to the materials for plastering walls. Among them, lime and cement-sand mortars, as well as gypsum mixtures, are distinguished. Consult with the masters which of these types is best suited for your walls.
  2. When you purchase materials that are needed for repairs, pay attention to their characteristics. There are a lot of drywall sheets, so choose only moisture resistant ones, they have special markings. Be sure to consult with experts and craftsmen.
  3. Be sure to use special wall primers that allow deep penetration into the material (even when wallpapering).
  4. In problem areas (such as dents), the plaster will hold better if it is applied in several layers. To do this, you need to give time to the previous layer, so that it is completely dry. Keep in mind that plaster can easily smooth out uneven walls up to 30 mm.
  5. Use decorative plasters for finishing walls. Application must be carried out strictly according to the recommendations that are in the instructions from the manufacturer.

During repair work if the walls are sheathed with drywall, the question arises: "how to plaster drywall?". At first glance, everything seems to be quite simple, but it is not, because very often this material is called dry plaster.

Plaster

That is why beginners often have questions: “can I use drywall instead of plaster?”, “What better plaster or drywall? Let's deal with this in more detail.

Until today, the masters have not reached the only correct conclusion. Many people think that drywall plaster is not applicable, others argue that plastering on drywall is still possible if certain rules are followed:

  • plaster can only be applied to moisture-resistant drywall;
  • it is better to use primer solutions;
  • correctly apply the plaster thinly, but in several layers;

The only general conclusion that experienced craftsmen came to is that do-it-yourself plasterboard plastering is the most popular way of finishing work.

When should drywall be plastered?

Plastering drywall

Plastering on drywall is a difficult and highly unpredictable task due to the fact that the sheets can deform under the influence of moisture from the plaster mortar and a thick layer of the plaster itself, or you may be lucky and the structure will last for many years.

What types of drywall exist and what they are used for is displayed in the table.

And so, when it is worth plastering drywall:

  1. if the drywall construction has small bumps or dents;
  2. it is possible to plaster puttied joints;
  3. during the coating of drywall with decorative plaster.

Nevertheless, if you follow the technology of applying plaster to gypsum sheets, negative consequences can be avoided.

Preparatory work

As practice shows, the masters prefer a complex and painstaking installation of the profile according to the level, so that after fixing the drywall, an absolutely flat surface is obtained. They are trying with little labor to get the same result that can be achieved when using liquid plaster solutions.

So if one material can be replaced by another, is it worth combining them? The answer is obvious - of course, you can, especially if you plan to use decorative plaster as a finishing treatment, and not wallpaper and paint.

In this case, drywall will serve as a flat surface, which, moreover, does not have to be prepared in a special way. But, it is better not to forget that this material can be deformed by moisture, so choose the right waterproof sheets.

The next thing to think about is a deep penetration primer and top coat, which is better to choose quick-drying masses, so that as a result of hardening of the surface, drywall absorbs less moisture.

If we are already talking about the plastering process, let's assume that you have already mounted all the drywall structures. But, before moving on to the finish coat, you need to prepare the walls as best as possible. Of course, drywall sheets are already quite even, but during their installation you will have material joints and grooves from screws, which will also require elimination.

  • Padding

To increase the adhesion of all layers of the finish to each other, it will be necessary to cover the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe structure with a primer solution. Wide brushes or foam rollers are well suited for such work. Try to squeeze the primer off the roller as best as possible so that excess moisture is not absorbed into the structure and does not lead to its deformation.

  • Puttying joints and seams

Since putties are already sold ready-made, you can safely open the jar, use a trowel to gain weight and thinly distribute it over the joints and grooves from the screws.

  • Corner Correction

At the joints of drywall sheets at an angle, one putty is not enough to correct defects. It is better to use special profiles that are applied over putty. As a result of such pressing, the protruding excess mortar will need to be smoothed over the entire profile, covering it.

How to cover drywall?

After puttying, the surface must be re-treated with a primer solution. This is done so that the plaster lies correctly on the wall.

If you have not changed your mind in the direction of pasting the walls with wallpaper, you can look at the finishing mixes. It must be said right away that there are not many options before you:

  • pasty coarse mixture;
  • dry stone chips from non-ferrous minerals.

If your choice falls on the first option, you will need a metal trowel with a smooth and even edge, and for liquid mixtures, a spray gun.

If you use stone chips for work, everything will be much easier. To begin, you need to apply adhesive solution on drywall sheets, and then with air compressor spray crumb.

So when preparatory work completed, you can proceed to the last stage - covering the walls with plaster. This will require a rectangular spatula, a roller with texture and a trowel (sometimes you may need a trowel).

If you need to plaster both the walls and the ceiling, you need to start from the ceiling, and only then move on to processing vertical surfaces. Since it is not very convenient to work on the ceiling, purchase a roller with a special extension for the handle, which will make it easier to perform “high-altitude” work.

To apply the first strokes, you need to collect a small amount of the solution on the trowel and press it firmly against the wall at an acute angle. Plastering drywall is best done with your own hands, and not using sprayers, while your movements should be smooth, and the applied layer should be thin. If the mass did not lie on the surface too evenly, you can re-draw the trowel to smooth the solution. The next stroke can be applied next to the previous one without making any gaps.

When the first layer dries well, you can proceed to the finishing - the second. For it, the same trowel familiar to you is used, and the more strokes you overlap, the darker the surface will become. Together with the trowel, you can use a textured roller, which will help in creating not only a uniform, but also a relief surface.

There is a certain technique by which the plaster mass is applied only with a roller. In this case, it is required to roll the working web of the roller in a mixture that is poured into a small container, and then cover the structure with a uniform one movement moving from bottom to top. When working with a roller, you do not need to smooth the surface with a trowel, as you need to do when working with a trowel, the finish will turn out to be of high quality and final.

But, please note that for frescoes, plaster should only be applied with a trowel.

Finishing plasterboard for painting

When the installation of drywall is completed, you can proceed to the next stage of finishing - painting.

Thanks to the smooth and smooth surface, painting drywall is the easiest and most enjoyable process.

But, experienced craftsmen advise to do certain preparatory work for better painting, and it is better to paint sheets only after plastering.

It does not take much work to prepare drywall for painting, but this is not an easy task. The leveling layer must be applied with a wide spatula, and then thoroughly wiped until absolutely smooth. Next, it is worth covering the surface with a primer solution and treating the structure with soft sandpaper.

Only when all these works are completed, you can start painting the wall with any PVA-based materials.

Be careful when plastering the surface underpainting, because the paint will not help to hide all the irregularities and flaws, but will only aggravate your flaws made in the preparatory process.

What you need to know about drywall plastering?

The expression “gypsum board plaster” may seem meaningless to some, because drywall itself is mounted in order to level the ceiling or walls, that is, it already performs the function of plaster. But everything is not so simple.

Even perfectly exposed plates must be additionally finished. And just puttying the seams and recesses from self-tapping screws is not enough here - the implementation of the covering layer is mandatory. Below we will talk about the technology of plastering walls and ceilings from drywall, as well as the choice of a suitable working composition.

GKL finishing, types of compositions

Plastering drywall is not a complicated process, since in most cases we strive only for alignment in a plane, and we do not try to straighten the verticality and horizontality of the walls.

Preparatory work

Before applying decorative plaster on drywall, the walls / ceiling should be puttied. We first glue the joints between the plates with a sickle tape, and only then we fill them with putty. If the tape is not self-adhesive, we do the opposite: hammer the seams, then apply the tape and press it with a spatula, sinking the cells in the putty. We close all the places of occurrence of self-tapping screws, only without the use of a sickle. After the composition has completely dried, we remove the irregularities - with a grout mesh or spatula.

Do-it-yourself plasterboard plastering: video of the puttying process

Do not forget about the decoration of external and internal corners. They must be closed with a special profile, which is "planted" on the same putty mass. At this stage, you can slightly correct the vertical angle if it is broken.

  • We apply the working composition to the corner.
  • We install and slightly press the profile.
  • Immediately, without waiting for the first layer to dry, we apply the second one - it will close the profile.

The final stage of preparation for plastering plasterboard walls with your own hands is priming. It is done after the putty has completely dried.

Note:corner profiles are made of very soft metal. Therefore, when installing them, care must be taken to avoid deformation of the element.

Installation of corner profiles

Plaster on gypsum boards with beacons

Irregularities on the surface of the drywall arise due to the poor-quality frame on which it was sewn. Usually these are some kind of “waves” in the plane, the difference along them can be up to 2 cm. If the differences are large, then we work on beacons:

  • We bait metal beacons on small portions of the plaster composition.
  • We apply the building level with both ends to the beacons and sink them into the solution to the desired height.
  • Carefully remove the surplus of the working composition.
  • We attach corner profiles to the outer corners, if this was not done during puttying, and set them to the building level.
  • We maintain time sufficient for the plaster to harden under the lighthouses.

Plastering a plasterboard ceiling with your own hands: the video describes the process of finishing a multi-level plasterboard ceiling.

Note:along with the building level, it is better to use a laser one. So setting beacons will be more accurate and take less time.

Working with small flaws on the plane

If differences on the surface require a layer of up to 5 mm, do this:

  • We take the rule and apply it to the ceiling or walls, in different directions.
  • In areas where there are gaps under the rule - we throw plaster in small portions.
  • We stretch the working composition over the surface.

Here building level do not apply, since the goal is simply to eliminate small irregularities.

Finishing under the rule

Plaster for drywall: which is better and which should not be used?

Most often, for plastering drywall for painting, wallpaper, simple and textured gypsum mixtures are used. They are elastic, dry quickly, form a smooth coating and are well polished after complete curing. The last parameter is very important, since the wall decoration in this case is finishing and the surface must be brought to perfect smoothness. The disadvantage of such solutions is high sensitivity to moisture.

Acrylic mixtures will also be good. They are elastic, which means they are crack-resistant, they form additional moisture protection for gypsum boards. Walls finished with acrylic compounds can be washed even with a brush. Venetian plasters drywall can be used, but only those that have acrylic resins as a binder.

Venetian plaster

Note:cement and silicate compounds are not suitable for plastering plasterboard walls. The former dry for too long, which can lead to deformation of the base, while the latter greatly impair the vapor permeability of the material.

Dry leveling of walls allows you to quickly eliminate surface defects and significantly speed up repairs. But after it, unsightly joints remain, self-tapping screws are visible - therefore, drywall plastering is required. The surface is finished partially (masking joints), or completely ().

In this article, we will consider the main ones for drywall, the features of their choice, as well as the technology for applying them to sheathed walls and ceilings.

How to finish plasterboard walls and ceilings

GCR is a simple and inexpensive way to level surfaces. The sheets are attached to a special crate, which allows you to quickly process large areas, mask irregularities, and provide additional sound insulation.

Advice: if in the room high humidity, it is better to choose moisture-proof material.

Moisture resistant sheets have a green-blue tint

Preparatory work

Rough plastering on gypsum boards is carried out after applying a primer, which will enhance adhesion to the surface. The screws are pre-deepened so that they do not form irregularities, the recesses are eliminated.

Attention: do not wet the sheets with a primer too abundantly, this can cause their deformation.

Leveling the surface with a starting mixture - do-it-yourself plastering of plasterboard walls

Next, pre-treatment of the attachment points and seams between the sheets is performed. The dowels are masked with a thin layer of the mixture, the joints between the drywall plates are reinforced with a special reinforcing mesh tape and plastered. A spatula is drawn across the joints, and then along them. After the putty dries, its remnants are removed by grinding.

On a note: drywall primer plaster is prepared immediately before application, as it quickly hardens.

Banding joints will protect the surface from cracking

The outer corners at which the drywall sheets converge are reinforced with aluminum perforated corners. They are placed on the puttied corners, and covered with a layer of the mixture on top.

Strengthening the corners before puttying will protect them from deformation during operation

Drywall walls depend on the type of finish. Dense wallpaper can be glued by sealing only the seams between the sheets. Under thin canvases, it is necessary to putty the surface completely 2 times. Plastering drywall for painting is carried out in 2-3 layers.

First, a small amount of the mixture is collected on a spatula, transferred to a trowel and applied to the surface at an acute angle, distributing it in a thin layer. Movements are made in any direction, the main thing is that they are smooth, uniform.

Please note: there is no need to take breaks between applying the starting and finishing putty- thin layer gypsum mixture dries quickly.

Applying a rough layer of plaster on GKL

The finishing layer of putty is applied with the same trowel. The more overlapping strokes are applied, the darker and denser the coating will be.

The last layer of plaster is designed to hide all the errors and irregularities that have arisen during roughing.

After drying, the ceiling and walls are polished. To do this, use a grater with a grinding grid, or a grinder with a dust suction function.

Advice: when grinding, it is better to use a respirator, or a bandage, to protect yourself from dust.

Sanding will eliminate all irregularities and prepare the surface for finishing

Read more about how to do-it-yourself plasterboard ceiling plastering - video:

The choice of decorative plaster for drywall, which is better

How to finish GKL? To give relief to surfaces, decorative plaster on drywall is ideal. It is a paste of a homogeneous structure, or interspersed with small / large grains, stone chips.

Advice: for finishing, quick-drying mixtures are selected, the moisture from which will not pass into the base sheets.

Sometimes during the repair of a room whose walls are sheathed with plasterboard sheets, the question arises - how to plaster drywall?

Despite the apparent simplicity, the question is far from being idle, since drywall is often called "dry plaster".

It is in the intricacies of a rather complex and ambiguous relationship between coating and plaster that we will try to understand this material.

So, the first, and main question - is it possible to plaster drywall?

To date, there is no consensus on this issue, alas. Many experts are inclined to believe that plastering such surfaces (and even more so if the wall is made of a fairly cheap, non-moisture resistant sheet) is impossible in any case.

Sooner or later, the base, under the influence of moisture from the composition and its rather large mass, is deformed, which will lead to cracking of the layer.

However, there is an alternative opinion, which says that it is possible to plaster drywall. If you're careful, of course.

In this case, "carefully" means, first of all:

  • exclusively on a moisture resistant sheet.
  • Use of special deep penetration primers.
  • The distribution of the mass in thin layers in several steps.

The only exception, in respect of which experts show unanimous opinion,. It is not only possible, but also necessary, to apply it to the sheet, such a mass is one of the most popular materials for wall decoration.

Determining the need for plaster

As you probably already understood, drywall plastering is a rather difficult task with sometimes unpredictable results. Such are the characteristics of the sheet, it can really deform under a thick layer of finish. Or maybe stay for years.

So, when do you need to plaster?

  • If the wall cladding has significant curvature or displacement, finishing this problem will not solve it, and in the future it can significantly aggravate it. If you have become the “happy” owner of such a wall, it is better not to deal with the consequences, but to eliminate the cause. Serious distortions can only be corrected by remounting, with the replacement of sheets with moisture resistant ones.
  • But minor irregularities in the skin can still be plastered. It also makes sense to apply the mixture over dents and pre-putty seams.
  • Well, the only case (we already mentioned it above) is the use decorative coating. There are practically no restrictions here, since the decorative mass is applied, as a rule, in a fairly thin layer, and its composition ensures rapid polymerization and drying.

And compliance with the technology of application to the base does not lead to negative consequences.

So, suppose you have already decided whether drywall needs to be plastered, whether putty can be dispensed with. It remains to choose the most appropriate technology and composition of the mixture. Let's get started.

Application technology

When applying, the technology of work should be observed, the slightest violations can lead to undesirable consequences.

Preparing walls for finishing

  • We clean the surface of dust, which inevitably forms during its installation. An industrial vacuum cleaner is best suited for this, but if it is not available, you can remove dust with improvised means.
  • The next stage is the putty of seams, joints and irregularities. For putty, both ready-made and dry putty mixtures can be used. If dry mixes are used, prepare them immediately before work.
  • First, we fill the cavities of the seams and large irregularities with putty. After the putty has hardened, apply a leveling layer.

  • Now you can go to milestone preparation - primer.

Primer

For substrates, special primer mixtures are used (such as Tiefgrund LF or similar). Such primers penetrate deep into the thickness of the base and strengthen it, providing adhesion to the mixtures.

For the best effect at this stage, it is better to use acrylate primers, which have vapor-permeable properties (do not isolate water vapor).

We apply the primer in one layer with a roller or brush (for walls with a small area).

Note! Work on drywall is carried out only after the primer is completely dry! For acrylate primers, the drying time is 1-2 hours.

After the seams are puttied and the primer is applied, you can proceed to leveling the walls.

Applying plaster

Do-it-yourself plaster distribution instructions:

The mass is applied in a thin layer (not thicker than 2-3 mm) using a wide spatula or metal trowel. If the plaster is used to level deep irregularities, the distribution is carried out in several stages. Remember that in this case it is better to apply 3-4 layers of a few millimeters than 1 thick layer at once.

Not any plaster is suitable for finishing plasterboard surfaces. It is best to use mixtures based on a gypsum binder (for example, Knauf Rotband). In order for the finish to “keep” better, you can use a fiberglass mesh with a 5 mm cell.

After the plaster layer is completely dry, you can start finishing the plasterboard walls. In this case, it is better to use vapor-permeable materials for finishing, which do not prevent water vapor from escaping from under the finish.

Decorative plaster plasterboard

For finishing plasterboard surfaces, it is better to use fine-grained decorative plaster. This is due to the fact that the laying of coarse-grained fractions requires the application of a sufficiently thick layer, and in the case of plasterboard walls this is undesirable.

The process takes place as follows:

The drywall base must be dry and clean. Before starting work, the surface must be completely dust-free.

After the surface is dust-free, we proceed to puttying the seams. We fill the seams with putty in several stages, providing sufficient time for the coating to dry and polymerize. As a result, the seams and irregularities must be puttied in the same plane as the drywall.

Note! When leveling the surface of drywall for decorative plastering, you can not achieve so flat surface, as when leveling for painting. The texture of the plaster hides all the irregularities well.

We apply an acrylate primer to the puttied base. For decorative plastering, the same primers are used as for finishing drywall with ordinary lime plaster. The primer is applied in one step, in one layer.

We apply plaster on the primed drywall. Application is carried out with a spatula or trowel, with a layer of 2-3 mm.

Immediately after the plaster is applied, we proceed to the formation of the relief. We form the relief with a sponge, a hard brush with a sparse pile, trowels, curly spatulas.

Note! When applying decorative plaster on a gypsum board base, do not apply excessive force during the formation of the relief. This can lead to deformation of the drywall.

Further processing (painting, coating protective composition) can be carried out only after the final drying of the surface.

Summing up

Now you know how to properly plaster drywall. In order to more accurately understand the technological and practical issue, our website presents detailed photo instruction where you will find the information you need on this subject. Good luck!