Let's consider how to plaster cement-sand mortar
How to plaster walls with cement-sand mortar, we will get acquainted in detail today. You will learn the options for its preparation and methods of application. Instructions for doing this work will also be offered.
You can hire craftsmen, but then the price will be much higher. So it’s much more profitable to look at the photo, get acquainted with the preparation technology and then plastering the walls with a cement-sand mixture will not be a problem for you.
The content of the article
Indisputable advantages of plaster
Before choosing plaster mortars, you should rely on their technical characteristics.
The advantages of plastered surfaces are:
- Water resistance of the surface and ability to dry quickly after getting wet without degradation of the main technical characteristics.
- Surface breathing ability, which optimizes the temperature regime indoors, making it comfortable for living.
- Plastered surfaces are environmentally friendly and comply with sanitary and hygiene standards.
- Such a surface allows you to change the decorative style of decoration.
- Fire Safety Compliance, which allows plastering as facade surfaces (see Stucco of the facade of the house, as a way of decorating it and extending the service life) and indoor surfaces.
- Quite affordable prices and expenses for the organization of plastering. The difference in costs is especially strongly felt if the plastering works are done by hand.
Along with the above advantages, such surfaces have significant disadvantages:
- During operation, cracks may appear on plastered surfaces. This may be due to shrinkage of the building or violation of the technology of preparation or application of the solution.
- When plastering external surfaces, work can only be carried out at positive temperature.
- For applying to certain types of surfaces, additional surface preparation is required, namely: applying additional notches, installing a mesh netting, applying a primer layer (see Facade primer - its types and application).
- Since plastering works are carried out manually, they are unproductive and have a high price.
- The ability to apply only a certain layer of plaster, which is associated with building codes.
Application Options
The instruction in this matter is not complicated. You just need to be careful and properly prepare the solution. The adhesion of surfaces, and therefore the durability of the coating, depends on this.
Wet method: application technology
The technology of applying plaster involves three independent stages:
- Splashing - This is the first stage, the task of which is to ensure normal adhesion of the plaster to the main surface. To do this, apply solutions having a density of sour cream. The thickness of the applied layer for wooden surfaces should not exceed 9 mm, for all others - not more than 5 mm.
- Second phase - applying a primer layer, which serves as the basis for the finish. It is carried out with a thicker solution and leveled to obtain a flat surface. This layer is applied after the final hardening of the first layer.
- Nakryvka - This is the final stage of the plaster layer. For this layer, a solution is prepared with fine-grained sand, which can be obtained after careful sifting of the sand.By consistency, it resembles a not very thick sour cream. With the help of the third stage, an absolutely smooth and even surface is achieved. Before applying the coat, the primer should be slightly moistened, for better adhesion.
Attention: Before applying each layer of plaster, it is necessary to withstand all the necessary periods of setting of each previous layer, otherwise there may be problems. This should be known to everyone who undertakes to independently perform plastering work. If the mixture is purchased, then on the packaging there is an instruction that should be strictly followed.
Compositions for plastering walls
Until recently, the basis of plaster mortars were sand and cement, with the addition of lime. Currently, the construction market offers a large number of different stucco mixtures with various additives, affecting the main technical characteristics of the solutions: plasticity, setting speed, adhesion, as well as the temperature range of application.
- Typically, such mixtures are made and sold in dry form. To make them suitable for work, you need to add liquids to them and stir until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
- The only drawback of such mixtures is their high cost. In order not to overpay the extra money, many developers resort to their own cooking, or prefer ready-made, but simple in composition and affordable.
- On the construction market, ready-made mixtures based on cement or gypsum are presented, which differ both in the method of application and in the field of application.
Caution: Never purchase this product in the winter season on open trays. It freezes and loses its properties.
Plastering the wall with cement mortar
The basis of cement plaster is river or sea sand, without debris and large fractions, building cement with various additives. In this case, you should know that the thickness of the plaster layer depends on how coarse sand is part of the solution.
So:
- Ready-made mixtures of industrial manufacture are very simple to prepare yourself. If you take an ordinary bucket, then it should be half filled with water and add to the bucket with water in small portions a dry mixture with constant stirring.
- To get a quality mixed mixture, you need to use an electric drill with a nozzle (mixer). To prepare the plaster mortar yourself, you need well-sifted sand and cement grade M400. First, prepare the finished mixture of sand and cement in a ratio of 3: 1. After mixing the dry mixture, you can add water to it and mix with water until the desired density.
- It is not recommended to increase the proportion in the direction of increasing the amount of cement, as this will not make it possible to grout the plaster in a timely manner due to the quick setting of the mortar.
- For pouring mortar on the walls, it is necessary to have a trowel or putty knife, and to grout the surface - a plaster grater. You can even out the solution on the wall with the help of a rule or a level rail. For a beginner plaster, it is enough to have a trowel and a grater.
- In order for the plaster layer to be of high quality and adhere well to the surface, it is sprayed in a special way, which the novice plaster will have to master. The solution is not just laid on the wall, but is plastered with a well-worked out movement, as a result of which it adheres to the surface. As a rule, as a result of such blotches, a lot of spray from the solution is formed, but you need to get used to it, otherwise a high-quality plaster coating will not work.
- Surface plastering is done in small areas, because the cement mortar dries quickly. If you stick a large section of the wall, then it will be very difficult to level it later, and even more so, smooth it with a grater.
- Leveling and smoothing the surface is done with a grater using circular motions. During grouting, a solution should be added to the sinks, and the excess solution is raked with a grater and thrown back into the solution, for repeated slapping. Each layer of plaster should dry for at least 7-8 hours, after which you can begin to apply the next layer.
- External corners are formed with the help of a device, in the form of a flat rail. It can be held or attached using self-tapping screws. It is desirable that the rail was set strictly in level in an upright position.
Attention: In this case, the angle is formed in two steps: first, the rail is attached on one side of the corner, and after the solution dries, it is removed and fixed (or held) on the other side of the corner. You can not take breaks in work for more than 12 hours. After this time, the cement slurry is difficult to process.
Interior plaster for lighthouses
For a person who just decided to do plastering work, especially preparing a surface for wallpaper, a description of the technology for performing plastering work on lighthouses (see Video instruction: plastering walls on lighthouses) may seem like a tough job, but it’s not. One has only to take a closer look at the text and everything will become clear.
For those who want to get acquainted with such technology in more detail, it is quite possible to watch the video in this article:
- First you need to stock up with all the necessary tools, as well as metal beacons (see Stucco beacon: types, purpose, installation), which are sold in a hardware store. Of course, this is an additional cost, but without them it is very difficult to get a flat surface, especially for beginner plasterers. For this, you will also need a large rule of at least 2 meters and a fast-setting gypsum putty for lighthouses. Alabaster can be used, but it sets too quickly.
- First, extreme beacons are installed on the wall, at a distance of 20 cm from the corner, draw a straight vertical line and along this line, from top to bottom, at a distance of about 40 cm from each other, cakes of quickly solidifying mortar are applied.
- Then you need to take the metal lighthouse and cut it in length, depending on the distance from the floor to the ceiling, after which the lighthouse is applied to the cakes and pressed using a rule that ensures the lighthouse is vertical. In this case, you need to take the building level and adjust the position of the beacon relative to the vertical axis. The task can be simplified if the rule is with a built-in vertical level indicator.
- After the two extreme lighthouses are securely seized, it is advisable to pull a rope or fishing line between them, which will serve as a beacon for installing subsequent metal lighthouses, which are installed in the same way as the two previous ones. Lighthouses are installed at a distance of about 1 meter from each other. Here, the most important thing is that it is convenient to level the surface. A denser installation of beacons will not be reasonable, but a very rare installation may complicate the process of plastering the surface.
- The gaps between the beacons begin to slap after they are securely fixed. The solution is leveled with the help of a rule or a level bar, which should be rested in the beacons and left-right and upward movements of the solution are removed, which can be reused. As a result of such actions, a smooth surface is obtained. Its evenness depends on how accurately the lighthouses were displayed.
- The beacons are removed after the solution has set, by picking them out of the solution. As a result of this, vertical grooves will appear on the walls.They can be repaired during puttying or plastered with the same solution after removing beacons. As a rule, this happens on the second day of plastering.
Plastering is a very complex type of finishing work, requiring high costs, physical energy and great patience. Despite this, such work can be mastered by anyone who wants to. How to plaster cement-sand mortar you now know.
