What surfaces can be glued liquid wallpaper
Before you apply liquid wallpaper on the wall, you need to understand what surfaces are suitable for this type of finish. Liquid wallpaper is designed for walls made of: concrete, drywall, brick, chipboard, OSB, plywood, natural wood, gypsum, MDF, painted and whitewashed surfaces. There are features in the technology of work for each of these cases.
Concrete. It is impossible to apply material on an unprepared concrete wall for the following reasons:
- smooth walls do not promote adhesion. The wet mass will just slide off of it;
- a gray wall with spots will shine through a thin layer;
- a porous concrete surface draws moisture from the mixture, disrupting the setting process.
To get a rough surface with a white base, concrete walls are coated with a white primer with a little quartz sand. You can also use puttying with gypsum compositions, followed by painting with water-based paint.
Brick. Preparation of brick walls is carried out by analogy with concrete, but seams are preliminarily covered with gypsum.
Drywall. The use of GCR as a basis is unacceptable for the following reasons:
- a humid environment is detrimental to the structure of the GCR material (moisture-resistant species are an exception);
- to remove the old wallpaper without damaging the paperboard GKL does not work. The versatility of a reusable coating is lost;
- GKL color substrate is visible through a thin layer of wallpaper;
- metal fasteners rust. Traces of rust appear under the wallpaper.
To prepare the walls of drywall, adhere to the following instructions:
- fasteners are recessed into drywall for 1-2 turns and masked with white paint;
- the surface is coated with a primer and completely putty;
- at the last stage, the wall is rolled up with white water-based paint.
Plywood, OSB, particleboard, MDF, wood. So that the wooden base does not change its shape when it comes into contact with a wet mass, it is impregnated with varnish and painted with oil paint, followed by surface treatment with sandpaper. This method allows for reliable adhesion.
Plaster. Before gluing liquid wallpaper on the wall, plastered with cement-sand mortar, the surface is restored (cracks are closed, chips are removed, greasy stains are removed). Then the surface is treated twice with a primer based on PVA glue with water-based paint.
Whitewash. The surface of the whitewashed walls will not be able to withstand the severity of the wet mass of the wallpaper. Whitewashing should be cleaned, and then the wall should be treated as in the case of a concrete or brick base.
Paint. If the painted surface is damaged, it is restored (cleaned and putty). The restored surface is sandpaper to ensure adhesion, and then treated with a primer.
The use of liquid trellis in wet rooms is not recommended. Therefore, for a bathroom or kitchen, you need to look for another solution.
Preparatory work
An important step in the process of gluing liquid wallpaper is preparation. Wall pretreatment is carried out in order to achieve the following results:
- The surface for applying the mixture should be uniform. The combination of different materials is undesirable.
- With the help of coloring or putty, the base is given a white color. Such a basis will not shine through and change the color scheme of the wallpaper.
- The surface should not have cracks, chips or potholes. The structure of liquid wallpaper does not allow masking such shortcomings.
- The foundation must be solid. It is necessary to strengthen weak areas with falling plaster, remove peeling on wooden surfaces.
Consider the process of preparing walls for working with liquid trellis step by step:
- if the walls are plastered, and the quality of the base is not strong enough, the plaster is removed;
- all metal parts on the concrete wall are painted over with white oil paint;
- if the old plaster has been removed, a new layer is applied in its place and leveled;
- concrete and brick bases are plastered with gypsum mortar. Gypsum prevents moisture absorption, which allows to achieve better adhesion;
- the prepared and leveled surface is treated with a primer. The primer is chosen in white to set the desired tone for the liquid wallpaper for the walls. Priming is performed twice, the second layer is applied only after the first layer has completely dried;
- drywall bases must be completely putty. Reinforcing tapes are glued on uneven joints, putty is applied. After the putty dries, the surface is painted with a white water-based paint;
- the wooden base must be strengthened so that, in contact with wet wallpaper, deformation does not occur. For wood processing, a deep penetration primer should be used. The base impregnated with soil is painted with white alkyd or water dispersion paints.
When performing work with putty and soil, it should be remembered that subsequent operations can only begin after the layer has already completely dried.
When planning repairs in an apartment, the preparation of walls for the installation of wallpaper is combined with the replacement of door frames and the installation of slopes.
Necessary materials and tools
Before you begin to apply liquid wallpaper on the walls yourself, you need to pick up a tool and purchase material.
The following will be required materials:
- dry wallpaper components;
- putty;
- a primer;
- white water-based paint.
Will be required instruments:
- a cuvette for working with a primer;
- large containers (10-15 l) for diluting the mixture;
- ladder;
- brush, 150 mm wide;
- roller with fur skin;
- plastic, transparent grater;
- spatulas of different sizes;
- trowel for applying the finished mixture;
- spray gun for applying liquid mass to the walls.
Quantity calculation
Before you start working with liquid wallpaper, you need to not only properly prepare the base, but also correctly calculate the amount of material. The calculation of the volume of dry components differs from the standard approach to determining the number of trellises by the footage of the room. Often, newcomers to the decoration lose sight of important points that affect the adjustment of the amount of material, buying a smaller volume.
To glue the liquid trellis in a quality manner, you need to purchase material from one manufacturer and from one batch.
If the flow rate is calculated incorrectly, there is not enough material, you will have to buy the necessary amount. When buying material, a dissonance in color may occur, as a result of which individual sections will differ in tone.
To calculate the correct volume, adhere to the following algorithm:
- The total surface area on which it is planned to stick liquid trellis is found. In this case, the standard procedure is performed - the height is multiplied by the length.
- Find the area of interior openings, windows and doors to the balcony.
- From the total area, the area of openings, doors and windows is taken.
- To determine the volume of a particular material, you need to study the instructions on its packaging. Typically, manufacturers write what area this package is designed for. The area intended for gluing is divided by the area indicated on the package and rounded to the nearest whole value.
- Taking into account that the majority of owners who perform DIY repairs do not have sufficient experience in finishing work, it is necessary to introduce an error coefficient on the layer thickness. With a norm of 2 mm, beginners usually get a coating with a thickness of 2.5 - 3 mm. The flow rate is also affected by the curvature and irregularities on the wall. Therefore, the volume obtained in the calculations is increased by 10-15%.
- If the wall surface at home was not properly aligned and there are significant differences in height, the estimated volume should also be increased by 15%.
As a result, the volume of purchased material will exceed the estimated value for the area by 25-30%.
Cooking liquid wallpaper
How to breed liquid trellis to get a quality coating on the wall? First you need to figure out in what form this material is sold. There are three types of packaging:
- In one package.
- In four packages, each of which contains a specific component in the right proportion.
- In semi-finished wet form.
In what proportion to put dry ingredients and how much water to add, you need to read in the description for a particular product. The time required for the maturation of the mass is also recorded there.
The process of preparing liquid wallpaper, depending on the brand chosen, can differ only in the ripening time (usually up to 12 hours) and the amount of water added. The rest of the cooking is done according to one principle:
- Do not cook wet mass in parts. The volume required to cover the whole wall is prepared simultaneously in one tank;
- if the ingredients of the mixture are packaged in different packages, the packet with sparkles is poured first into the container;
- the finished mixture can be stored for no more than 4 days in a tightly packed form without access to air;
- if it is required to preserve liquid trellis for a long time without loss of quality, it is packed according to a certain technology: the liquid mixture is laid out in a thin layer on a plastic film. For the mixture to dry at room temperature, you need at least a day. The dry mixture is rolled up with the film into rolls, after which they begin to knead. Wrinkle the rolls with your hands or with some solid object, after which the dry fractions are poured into bags made of polyethylene, remove air and tie. In this form, the wallpaper can be stored as much as desired. Before applying to the surface they only need to be diluted with water, after which the finished mass can be used again;
- warm water is used to mix dry fractions (+25oFROM);
- before pouring the dry fractions into the container, the bag is shaken vigorously several times;
- stirring occurs until a homogeneous, uniform and lush structure is formed. Stir the ingredients in a large container (10-12 L) with your hands.
Now let's talk about how to apply liquid wallpaper.
Step-by-step application guide
To finish the walls with a liquid mixture, you must adhere to the following technology:
- before starting work, the degree of density of the finished material is checked. If during storage he lost a lot of moisture, you need to make a more liquid solution, for which water is added to the mass and mixed again;
- for successful fixation of wallpaper in the room should be maintained at a temperature not lower than +15oFROM;
- the mixture is first placed in a corner, gradually equalizing the mass from the angle over the surface. To edit the layer using a transparent grater, and throw a lot of trowel;
- from what angle to start work is not important, but it’s more convenient to go from the lighter corner to the darker side. Thus, irregularities are quickly detected;
- gradually, moving from a corner, the entire surface of the wall closes with liquid wallpaper;
- the glued wall is allowed to stand for 60 minutes, after which they begin to check the quality of work, highlighting the surface with directional light. Flaws are corrected with a spatula dipped in warm water.
During operation, you can ventilate the room, but without creating a draft. Heating with electric heaters is prohibited.
How to apply liquid wallpaper on the ceiling? The technology of work does not differ from the decoration of the walls, but for the ceiling you need to qualitatively prepare the foundation to ensure strong adhesion.
If the owner of the apartment has experience with a spray gun, applying the material to the wall is greatly facilitated. The mixture is distributed evenly through the spray gun. The result is a surface that does not require additional alignment with a spatula.