Wallpaper for Venetian plaster as an alternative to expensive finishes

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

Venetian stucco wall coating gives the interior solidity and sophistication

Far few can afford to finish the walls with natural marble. And even the wall decoration with Venetian plaster imitating this natural material is not affordable for everyone.

But the wallpaper with the appropriate texture and pattern is quite affordable both in price and in the method of installation, and are a great alternative to expensive exclusive materials. Let's look at what they are, what advantages they have and how they differ from the original stucco finish on marble chips.

What is Venetian stucco?

Everyone knows that Venice is a city on the water, built back in ancient Rome. Standing on stilts of the house could not stand the facing of natural stone, so for their design had to look for lighter materials.

Then they came up with a special plaster, which was called liquid marble, since it contains small crumbs of this stone.

The surface literally shimmers and shines in the light

Applied to the surface in a special way, it seems translucent and shimmers in the light, like real marble. Until now, Venetian stucco for walls is very popular, as it allows you to create a unique design and is resistant to any external influences.

But this method of decoration is very expensive. Moreover, the high price is due not only to the cost of the building mixture itself, but also to the complexity of applying and creating the desired effect. You will have to pay for such work much more than usual leveling the walls with putty or plaster.

Covering the walls with Venetian stucco is a long and complex process that requires special skills and painstaking. The technology consists in applying several layers of a solution with a variable thickness.

So:

• First, the surface is very carefully leveled and smoothed;
• Then the base layer is applied;
• After it dries up, the real creative work begins on applying the texture-creating glaze layers. They can be from two to ten, they can be of the same color or different shades to create color extensions;

Creating Venetian Plaster

• The work is completed by giving the surface a gloss or matte texture, depending on the desire of the owner and design requirements.

In a word, not everyone can do such work independently, having obtained the desired result and not spoiling expensive material. And here wallpaper decoration many of us are doing quite successfully with our own hands.

Wallpaper under the "Venetian"

Wall-paper imitating expensive plaster is made of vinyl. The basis for them is a paper or non-woven fabric.

Note. The base material is relevant for installation. If it is paper, glue should be applied both to the wall and to the back side of the wallpaper, if non-woven - only on the wall.

Wallpaper Venetian plaster is quite thick and heavy. Due to the significant thickness of the vinyl during their manufacture, it is possible to qualitatively simulate the multilayer texture of the original coating with overflows of color.

Material advantages

In addition to the fact that wallpaper is much cheaper than plaster, and their installation takes much less time, this material has other positive qualities:

• Moisture resistance. This primarily applies to non-woven wallpaper that can be washed with a damp sponge and non-aggressive detergents that do not contain chlorine;

In this photo, the wallpaper under the "Venetian" pasted the working area in the kitchen

• Dust repellent;
• Resistance to fading even with prolonged direct exposure to sunlight;
• Durability, wear resistance;
• Ease of installation: A sufficient thickness allows you to safely move the canvas along a wall greased with glue, and even edges ensure a perfect joint without visible seams. In addition, such wallpapers, as a rule, do not require fitting to the drawing;
• Spectacular appearance, a huge selection of colors and textures.

Tip. When buying wallpaper, make sure that all rolls have the same batch number. Products of different batches may vary slightly in color, which will become noticeable after the sticker.

Installation tips

The first thing you should remember: the preparation of walls for Venetian plaster and for mimicking its wallpaper should be equally high quality. The surface must be leveled and the corners made as straight as possible.

This can be achieved in various ways, the choice of which depends on the state of the walls. Very curved, with large potholes and cracks on the surface plaster or plasterboard walls, relatively flat, only needing to fix minor defects putty.

Leveling the walls with putty

Instructions for wallpapering:

• After leveling and polishing the walls, they must be primed (seePrimer walls and all for that matter) Vinyl wallpapers are classified as heavy, and the primer will increase the adhesion of the surface, which will ensure their better adhesion;
• Wallpaper is cut into strips along the height of the walls with an inlet 1-1.5 cm above and 2.5-3 cm from the bottom;
• On the wall, stepping back a few centimeters from the corner, a vertical strip is drawn using a plumb line or a long level. It will serve as a guide for sticking the first strip;
• Then, glue should be prepared, which is kneaded in accordance with the instructions on the package;

Tip. Choose glue for heavy wallpapers. On the package there is information on how many rolls or square meters of area one pack is enough. This will help you calculate the amount you need.

• Use a wide roller to glue the wall to its full height. The width of the strip should be slightly larger than the width of the roll;
• If the Venetian plaster is wallpaper on a paper basis, then you need to grease with glue and cut strips. Experienced finishers smear several segments at once and fold them, as shown in the figure, for impregnation with glue;

Folding wallpaper strip

• The first strip is applied to the top of the wall with a slight bend to the ceiling so that its edge exactly coincides with the drawn line. In this case, only the upper part of the canvas is deployed, while the lower one remains folded;
• After gluing the wallpaper on top, they begin to smooth them with a plastic spatula from the middle to the edges, squeezing the air and gradually sinking down. Upon reaching the bend, the canvas is fully deployed;

Dry strips with a non-woven base are rolled up and gradually unfold as they are glued

• The edge of the second web is aligned with the edge of the first, the joint between them is rolled with a small rubber roller;
• In the same way, all other whole strips are glued, and then the walls are finished above and below the window openings and doors.

Work should be carried out at a temperature of 15-25 degrees, until the glue has completely dried, windows must not be opened in the room and drafts should be avoided.

Tops and tops are trimmed with a sharp clerical knife on a ruler or wide spatula when the wallpaper dries

Conclusion

In principle, Venetian wallpapers are no different from design than any other vinyl wallpaper, and they are pasted in the usual way, which is described in the video in this article.Their main advantage is the atmosphere of luxury and nobility that they create, which arise in a room decorated with real Venetian plaster.