How to align walls with your own hands

Modern requirements for the renovation of premises have become much more stringent. Now, flat walls are an inapplicable attribute of an apartment or house. But the walls, even in new buildings, cannot be called that even approximately, and even more so in old houses. Therefore, for any, practically, repair, leveling the walls is an inevitable stage. How to do it better, about the methods and technologies, the possibilities to do it all with your own hands and let's talk further.

How can you level the wall

Although technologies in construction are developing rapidly, the leveling of walls is still done in two ways: with plaster and plasterboard cladding. Another thing is that there are different compositions of plaster - based on gypsum and cement, and you can also mount the gypsum board in two ways: on the frame and on glue. But that's all.

Smooth walls - a requirement of our time

For some time, gypsum plasterboard sheets began to be replaced by gypsum fiber boards GVL). They consisted of a mixture of gypsum and plant fibers, but they turned out to withstand shock loads poorly and break even with minor impacts. Therefore, GVL alignment of walls with their use is now a rarity (sometimes they are put on the floor).

In Soviet times, the walls were leveled with plywood. But this is definitely the last century. Far from being the best replacement for gypsum board, which in 100% of cases gives cracks at the joints, and even swells from moisture. So it turns out that there is nothing to use instead of drywall. So the choice is really not very wide.

Lined with drywall

Actually, there is one more way - putty... But it is used only on relatively flat walls with a difference of no more than 5 mm. Therefore, usually already leveled walls are putty, bringing the plane to the ideal.

If we talk about how easier it is to level the walls with your own hands, then many agree that it is easier to work with drywall. But it is not difficult to cope with plaster on the lighthouses. The main thing is to know the technology and not deviate from it.

Leveling walls with plaster

The plaster is based on two binders: one based on cement and one based on gypsum. Gypsum dries faster, but the maximum layer, to which they can be applied less, is about 50 mm. Cement-based plasters can be applied in layers up to 10 cm, but they take longer to dry.

Lighthouse plaster is a reliable way to level walls

In addition to the thickness of the layer, when choosing the type of plaster mixture, it is necessary to take into account which of the finishes will be later, as well as the conditions of the premises in which you are going to level the walls. Gypsum is hygroscopic, therefore it is not used in damp rooms: the bathroom and kitchen should be plastered with a cement-based composition. Rooms and a hallway remain for plaster. This is basically what they do.

In our description we will use gypsum plaster - Rotband - a popular brand that has good reviews from both amateurs and professionals.

Surface preparation

Removing everything that does not hold well on the wall: beat off, pick out, clean with a spatula. If there are cracks, we embroider them. Then we estimate the degree of curvature. If there are very large projections that stand out too much, it is advisable to remove them (with a hammer and chisel or a hammer drill).

First, we clean off everything that falls off

Often starting the alignment of walls in an old house, they decide whether to knock down the old plaster if it does not fall. In principle, the master should evaluate, but you can try it yourself. Tap the wall. If there are places that differ in sound - they sound more muffled - then the layer has moved away from the main wall.If you "hang" another layer of plaster on it, there is a high probability that it will all collapse together. It will be much worse. So, it is better to beat off previously plastered walls down to the main material.

If during preparation there are separate too large potholes, it is better to seal them up separately. Putties have a minimum and maximum layer limitation. Too much layer may fall off. Therefore, it is better to pre-seal the pits or holes.

If the surface of the wall is too smooth, notches are made on it.

When leveling a concrete wall or a surface painted with a film-forming composition, another problem arises: it is too smooth, which may cause poor adhesion to the plaster. This can be helped by treating a primer like "Betonokontakt", which leaves a rough film on the surface, improving adhesion.

Another way out is to make notches. Once they were made with an ax, now they use a hammer drill and a grinder more often. With their help, a notch is applied. According to the rate of notches per square meter, there should be about 100 pieces.

Primer

Depending on the type of plaster chosen (gypsum or cement), a primer is selected. Its main task is to improve the adhesion of the wall and plaster. Read the instructions for use of the primer carefully. Some require moistening the base before application, some dedusting, etc.

Priming walls before plastering

There are two favorites in this group: Cerezit 117 and Betonokontakt. There are others, but these are used more often: good reviews. The composition may be ready to use or require dilution (concentrate). It is applied with a roller or brush, spray bottle, or even a garden spray to speed up the process.

Until that moment, there were no difficulties for self-aligning the walls. Everything is elementary. Further - a little more difficult, but also - not to build rockets.

Installation of beacons

If you want to achieve a flat surface, you can level the wall only along the beacons. These are such supporting elements that are exposed in the same plane. A layer of plaster is then leveled along them. As beacons, you can use special galvanized "T" -shaped beacons or flat wooden strips.

It is more convenient to use metal beacons - install faster. But the minimum plaster layer is about 8-10 mm (6 mm of the lighthouse + mortar on which it is placed). The downside is their cost: although not very big money, but still additional costs. One more point: galvanized plaster does not “contact” well, therefore, after the initial drying, the beacons are removed from the wall, the holes are closed.

Installed beacons for plastering on a brick wall

Using wooden planks is a cheaper option, but finding a sufficient number of perfectly flat bars in cheap material is problematic (you won't be using high-quality timber). Even if this succeeds, there remains the possibility that the tree will lead from moisture. As a result, the wall will no longer be flat.

Some make lighthouses out of mortar. Strips of plaster are pre-applied, leveling them. After hardening, they are used as beacons. The cheapest way, but the most time consuming and much more time consuming.

The alignment of the walls depends on how correctly the lighthouses are exposed. We set it up exactly - we got an excellent result. Wrong - you will suffer, correcting the irregularities that you made with your own hands.

For details on how to put beacons to level the walls, read under the screed here.

Solution overflow

The selected plaster is diluted as indicated on the package. Then they throw it on the wall. Use a wide trowel or paint bucket. They start from the bottom, cover with a solution a piece of the wall from one lighthouse to another.

Beginning of plastering the wall along the lighthouses

Then they take the rule, set it down below. Leaning on the lighthouses, pull up, slightly swaying from side to side.Several such passes are made until the solution is leveled. The composition that has adhered to the rule is removed with a spatula, again throwing it onto the wall.

Aligning the putty on the lobes

Again - a portion of the mortar on the wall, leveled with a rule. So to the very top. Having tightened one strip, proceed to the other. So the entire wall is gradually aligned.

The first stage of plastering is over. But this is only the first. The surface is not ideal: if you look closely, there are small irregularities. They are leveled with a more liquid solution, achieving a smoother surface.

Leveling under putty

When the first layer has dried a little, but has not yet hardened (no later than 2-4 hours after application), leveling begins with a putty. The existing drawbacks are rubbed with the same solution, which was diluted a little thinner than required according to the instructions. Since it is more fluid, it is applied with a wide spatula, after stretching it along the wall with the rule, relying on not the same beacons.

Leveling walls for putty

So again they pass the entire wall, leveling it to a perfectly flat plane. This is necessary in order to reduce the consumption of expensive putty mixture.

Removing beacons and pruning

When the solution has dried to a state of thick plasticine (press hard with your fingers, it bends), you can remove the beacons. They are pried at the bottom with a screwdriver and pulled out.

We take out the beacons from the plastered wall

They are removed very easily. Actually, because of the fact that they are taken out, that they form a heterogeneity in the plaster, which means that they reduce its strength.

Now we take the rule, clean it of the adhered solution and, stretching it in different directions, finally level the surface. This should be done at the initial stage of thickening, when gypsum plaster looks like plasticine: it is easy to cut it off with the rule.

Carrying out the rule in different planes, we finally align the wall

When the surface was leveled, diluted by Rotband. They are closed up immediately, without waiting for something: until the plaster has finally hardened, new layers stick to it well.

Sealing traces of lighthouses

The solution is applied and removed with a spatula. At the same time, make sure that the surface remains flat. At this, the alignment of the wall under the putty can be considered complete.

When leveling walls with plaster in apartments, the angle in which the heating pipe runs becomes a problem. You can't crawl up there with a rule, but it doesn't work with a spatula. If you are familiar with this problem, watch the following video.

Dry plaster: level the walls with gypsum plasterboard

Not everyone has the patience to level the plaster, and in several layers, and then wait until it dries. Faster to work with sheet material - gypsum cardboard sheets (GCR). This technology is also called dry plaster, because there are a minimum of "wet" processes in it, and the result is no worse: if all the nuances are observed, the wall is perfectly flat.

But this technology has its drawbacks. The first one is that you can hang something heavy either on the embedded bars laid in advance, or use special fasteners that will be held at the expense of the main wall, and not the decoration. So consider this. The second drawback: such a plaster strongly eats up the space. This is with the classic technology - mounting the gypsum board on the frame. On a simplified frameless one "leaves" much less space.

Drywall on the frame

You can align any wall in this way. First, the frame is assembled. It is exposed in one plane and serves as the basis for fastening drywall. Collected according to certain rules:

• A guide profile is set and attached to the level on the floor and ceiling.
• On the fixed profiles, the installation locations of the vertical profiles are marked every 60 cm. Vertical lines are drawn through them.
• Installation curtains are installed on these lines.
  

  This is what the rakes that are mounted on the wall look like.

• Carriers are inserted into the profile guides along the marked lines (between the curtain plates).
  

  The principle of installation of the frame for leveling the wall with plasterboard

• The profiles are aligned in one plane, fixing in the desired position with the help of curtains.
• Drywall is attached to the exposed profiles.
  

  The assembled frame begins to sheathe the gypsum board

• The joints are glued with a mesh.
• The joints are coated with putty, leveling in the same plane with drywall.
• All the holes from the screws are smeared.
  

  The joints are glued and putty

This completes the alignment of the walls and it is ready either for wallpapering or for plastering. As you can see, everything is much faster.

Gypsum plasterboard for glue

It's even easier here. Since the drywall sheet is initially flat (if it was not stored while standing and did not bend), it can be used without any foundation.

Diluted glue (on brick, concrete) or gypsum plaster (on relatively flat) is applied to the walls. He is showered with small "bloopers". The volume is chosen depending on how concave or convex the walls are in a given place.

Glue or putty is applied

Then they take a sheet of drywall, lean it against the wall, use a level to level it in a plane, sinking, if necessary, by pressing or fist (do not break it).

Lean the sheet

Checking the plane with a level, align

After setting the sheet straight, coat the edges with putty, apply glue to the next piece. So you collect the wall. In order for such plaster to hold better, after the glue or putty dries (24 hours or more), screw the drywall to the main wall (with screws or dowels, depending on the type).

Everything is as easy as shelling pears, except that it is very easy to screw up. Everything is done with a minimum of emphasis, and getting drops with this method is really a couple of trifles. However, if you need to quickly level the wall, you can try this.