Putty station: mechanization of putty work
Small amounts of plastering work do not particularly need mechanization, and the owner of the apartment, who decided to make repairs with his own hands, to purchase expensive putty tools, will not particularly. For professional plasterers, who usually work as a small team, time is literally money.
The faster one object is completed, the sooner you can start another, and you can’t do without the maximum possible mechanization of the process. Our story, as well as the video in this article, will introduce readers to technology, where the main role is played by a putty station.
The content of the article
The secrets of professional plastering
As you know, plaster is ordinary or decorative (see Putty decorative as a finish of the walls) Both options can be performed mechanically, with the exception of some techniques for processing the coating layers, which are traditionally performed manually.
- Depending on the purpose of the room, conventional plastering can have different quality categories, which determines the price of finishing. For utility rooms and production premises, a simple single-layer is enough wall alignment. Improved plastering is carried out in residential and public buildings, and in cultural buildings and on facades, the screed must be of high quality.
- The main criterion by which the quality of the plaster is evaluated is the allowable size of the roughness on its surface. With high-quality performance, the deviations should be no more than 2 mm, and to achieve this manually, and even on large areas, is almost impossible.
Layering
The simpler the plaster, the fewer the layers in it, but this is the prerogative of storage and other ancillary facilities. In other cases, multi-layer plastering is performed, consisting of at least three stages: spraying and soil screed, which are called “plaster basting” and a coating layer. Each of them has its own purpose.
So:
- Spray is made from a sufficiently liquid solution, but with the coarsest dispersion. Flowing into all cracks and pores, this layer saturates the base surface well and adheres firmly to it. Subsequently, it is the spray that carries the load from the weight of the soil and the coating. The thickness of the starting layer varies between 3-5 mm.
- By the way, it is applied to the wall using mortar, which you can see in the picture above. When performing small amounts of work, for this purpose you can use a putty gun. It is very convenient for them to apply the solution in hard-to-reach places: corners, niches, ledges, and both professionals and amateurs can use this tool.
- The first layer is leveled without smoothing, and now the disadvantages of the base surface are less noticeable. After the spray hardens, the next layer of basting is applied - soil. In turn, it fills the irregularities of the previous screed, and if they are quite pronounced, several layers of soil can be applied.
- If the spray solution contains up to 60% of water, then the working consistency of the solution to fill the soil, thicker and more plastic - water in it is about 35% of the total volume of the solution. The thickness of the layers depends on the type of binder used for its manufacture.
- The topcoat is the final layer, and its task is to hide the smallest surface imperfections. Perform it with a solution with the finest dispersion of components, which allows to achieve maximum smoothness of the screed. In conventional plastering, one coating layer is sufficient.
- The consistency of the mortar for coating should be thicker than for spraying, but more liquid than for soil (50% water). Apply it only when the plaster coat is completely hardened. The total thickness of all layers should not exceed 20-25 mm.
- If on the surface there are more significant flaws, and the screed is thicker, you will have to mount a reinforcing mesh. If the mesh is metal, then experts do this: for spraying use the most durable cement-sand mortar, apply lime-sand mortar as the soil, and the coating layer can be gypsum.
We will not speak in more detail about the properties of various solutions, and the criteria for their selection to one or another base. Our instruction is devoted to the technology of mechanized plastering. We will talk about professional tools used to execute them in the course of describing various technological operations.
Work sequence
Where does the plastering process begin?
Of course, with surface preparation, although quite a lot of technological operations apply to this definition. If a building is being overhauled, they begin by dismantling the equipment or attachments - depending on where: in the room or on the facade, plastering will be carried out.
In a new building, work begins with hanging surfaces with a plumb line, and then notching the walls and installation of beacons. What is a plumb line, we think, everyone knows. To make notches on concrete or masonry, you need a tool called buchard.
It can be a pneumatic tool, which you see in the photo, a double-sided hammer with a serrated surface, or a corresponding nozzle on a perforator. Notches are essential for good adhesion of the spray to the base surface. The preparatory work also includes the process of wall upholstery with reinforcing mesh or shingles, as well as the installation of beacons.
Beacon device
High-quality align the wall, and even more so the ceiling of a large area, without beacons is almost impossible. What are lighthouses, and what is the essence of their device?
To understand what the smallest screed thickness should be, reference points are needed:
- Lighthouses are stripes located at such a distance from each other so that it slightly exceeds the length of the rule. The thickness of the plaster mark is displayed flush with the surface of the lighthouses, since they are the reference point for the plasterer.
- To correctly determine their spatial position, gypsum marks are installed in each corner of the room. These are lumps of gypsum in which self-tapping screws or nails are inserted - cords are pulled along them along the perimeter and diagonal of the surface.
- This should be done so that the plane formed by the cords is 3-5 mm from the most protruding point of the base. The correct installation of brands and cords is controlled by level. Then, additional marks are placed along the planned lines, or continuous strips of gypsum on which wooden or metal slats are installed.
- These are beacons. Their position is aligned by brands, and is corrected by pressing a strip into a solution that has not yet solidified. After applying the plaster coat, they are usually dismantled.
If aluminum beacons are used, then they remain walled up in the screed - there is no need to remove them, since aluminum is not subject to corrosion.To protect the outer corner from mechanical damage, before plastering, a perforated corner is mounted on it, which can also act as a beacon.
Submission and production of solution
On objects with large areas of plastered surfaces, which, in particular, include multi-storey residential buildings, most often use mortars prepared at RBU (mortar-concrete units). Delivery is made centrally by vehicles equipped with a mixer.
- During transportation, the mixture is often stratified, so it is modified to the desired condition already at the on-site plaster station. With its help, the solution is also supplied to the workplace. The set of a mobile station includes: receiving and intermediate bunkers, a vibrating screen, a mortar mixer, a compressor, as well as a mortar pump with a hose and nozzles.
- Using a compressor, the surface is cleaned of dust, and the mixture is also injected into the solution duct. The design of the solution pipe depends on its length and number of storeys of the building. Plastering on such objects is carried out by the flow method, by the forces of complex teams, divided into links.
- The scope of work is determined for each link, and it is organized in such a way that all operations are carried out in a continuous flow. Sometimes, the upper floors of the building are still being erected, while the lower floors already have rough finishing.
- Layers of plaster coating are applied using a nozzle at the end of the grout. She sprays a stream of solution, and throws it out at a high speed. Depending on the consistency of the solution, the spray torch must be different - it can be adjusted by changing the distance between the tip and the duct.
- In addition, nozzles are always equipped with a set of tips with different hole diameters, as they wear out quickly enough. Manual plastering is applied only in those cases when it is necessary to work in confined spaces. Then, the solution is sprayed with a falcon and a plaster blade, or a plaster bucket is used.
- Level the solution with a wooden or rubber trowel. Before you start applying the coating layer, carry out the refinement of the internal and external corners, slopes, and architectural elements, if any. There are tools for this, for example: angular trowel.
The thickness of the coating layer should not exceed two millimeters. It brings the surface to a predetermined accuracy, and is smoothed out with the help of ironers. To grout, you need to wait at least a day for the screed to harden well.
Surface grinding
When the work is done manually, a felt grater is used to grout the plastered surface, after which the wall or ceiling is finished to perfect smoothness with fine sandpaper.
This part of the job is the dustiest. Therefore, the face needs to be protected with glasses and a respirator - even if a putty grinder is used for this purpose.
- Speaking of typewriter. Such a tool is always useful in the household, and not only professionals use it in their work. Since there are several types of removable abrasive sheets in the kit, with a grinder you can not only process the plaster, but also remove the old lacquer coating or paint, polish the surface of wood, metal or plastic.
- Most models of grinders are equipped with a dust extraction system. She, as in a vacuum cleaner, is sucked off from the treated area, and is collected in a dust bag. In addition, a putty grinder equipped with a dust collection system provides a higher quality surface preparation for further finishing. After all, after polishing, the surface will have to be impregnated with a primer, and you can’t do this on a dusty basis.
When processing a plastered surface with an abrasive mesh or sandpaper, dust settles everywhere. To remove it, you have to use a vacuum cleaner, as well as produce wet cleaning in the room.
The use of a grinder with a dust collector greatly simplifies the process of polishing the screed, as well as its preparation for painting or pasting with roll material.
