How to make decorative plaster with your own hands: options for execution

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

DIY decorative plaster

How to make decorative plaster with your own hands? Such a coating is a fairly demanded material in modern repairs, but due to the high cost of finished mixtures, many are looking for alternative ways to make decorative plaster yourself. Video tutorials suggest interesting ideas, and the article offers to get acquainted with the main stages of the composition and several recipes for this.

Features and composition of decorative plaster

As seen in the photo above, decorative plaster - it is very beautiful and original.

In addition, coverage:

• Practical.
• Environmentally friendly.
• Maintainable.

The unique appearance of the coating is influenced by several factors:

• The presence of certain components in the mixture.
• How is the plaster layer applied.
• Used tools for applying mortar.

Before you make decorative plaster yourself with your own hands, it is necessary that the material meets two main requirements:

• Keep good ductility for a certain time.
• Provide high strength after solidification.

This is due to the fact that when drawing a pattern or forming a relief surface, it takes time, after which the coating must be used for a sufficiently long period. These properties distinguish the composition of decorative plaster from the usual building mixture (see The composition of the plaster: what are the mixtures).

In it:

• Binder. In this case, you can use:

1. traditional lime;
2. modern synthetic materials: epoxy, polyurethane, acrylic resins.

Their main purpose is to ensure the plasticity of the solution, which will increase the time to create the desired decor.

• Filler. It may be:

1. colored or white clinker Portland cement;
2. pigments
3. colored placeholders.

Tip: For private construction, white cement should be used as the basis of the mixture. Such plaster can be tinted with your own hands.

In the preparation of the composition are used as fillers and solid ingredients:

1. marble chips;
2. quartz sand;
3. wood fibers;
4. granite crumb (see Granite plaster: characteristics of the material and rules of use);
5. synthetic granules.

Their share is much smaller, but they must be taken into account when calculating the mass of the composition.

Ready solution

• Additives. Usually they are:

1. plasticizing;
2. hydrophobic.

The main purpose of the elements is to increase the resistance of the finish to moisture.

How to make decorative plaster from ordinary putty

The simplest and most cost-effective option for decorative stucco for interior work, made on its own is an ordinary putty, which can be:

• Fine and fine for applying relief coatings in separate strokes.
• Coarse-grained, to obtain a pronounced, but not too catchy structure, such as a bark beetle.

Tip: To increase strength, elasticity, reliability of retention and simplicity of applying the solution to the wall, a deep penetration primer or PVA glue should be mixed with it in a ratio of up to 6% of the total weight of the mixture. With an increase in percent, the finish layer will be stronger, but it dries much longer.

When applying decorative plaster with your own hands:

• The layer thickness is taken three millimeters.
• After setting the upper layer, the surface is textured with any improvised materials, which may be:

1. crumpled paper;
2. polyethylene;
3. sponge;
4. purchased stamps;
5. rollers with various patterns (see Rollers for decorative plastering and creating a relief surface).

Plaster decorative plaster

• To apply the relief pattern, a small soft spatula is used, and random strokes are performed.

The instruction manual shows in detail how to apply decorative plaster, the video in this article demonstrates a simple finishing method available to anyone who wants to do everything on their own.

Decorative plaster from ordinary putty with your own hands can be applied in another way:

• The first, quite smooth layer is laid, which will serve as the background.
• After it dries, the surface is ground.
• It is covered with soil.
• Stencil overlays.
• An additional convex layer is created, creating a three-dimensional pattern.

At the same time, plant patterns with the image will look beautiful:

1. bunches of grapes;
2. climbing plants;
3. geometric ornaments.

3D stucco pattern

• After drying, for naturalness, sharp edges are treated with a thin abrasive.
• The surface is chipping.
• The decor is processed with color paints, gilding, patina and other decorating techniques.

Tip: The thickness of the convex image should be no more than 5 millimeters, otherwise the decor will crack over time.

How to make homemade decorative plaster

If, for some reason, ready-made decorative plaster is not suitable, how do you make the right composition yourself?

This will require:

• PVA glue - 800 grams.
• CMC 5% solution, which is a carboxymethyl cellulose, powdery material used for wallpapering - 2 kilograms.
• A solution of laundry soap 10%, rubbed and soaked in water, stirred until a uniform consistency of a thick gel.
• Calcium carbonate or chalk powder - 6.5 kilograms, it can be replaced with ordinary gypsum.

Further, the components are combined and well kneaded with a drill with a nozzle to the consistency of the paste. Application to the wall is carried out in the usual way, as described above. The disadvantage of such home-made decorative plaster is that it dries for a very long time.

Other methods of preparing decorative plaster

There are other recipes to make decorative plaster yourself.

How to cook it in several ways:

• Solution for internal work. To do this, purchased:

1. river sand, well washed, sieved about 3 parts, can be quarried, but before use it should be soaked to remove clay impurities;
2. atengips or dry finished gypsum thin putty, which includes mineral additives - 3 parts;
3. a fugenfueller or dry gypsum mixture with polymer additives - one part, to give the composition moisture resistance and strength.

Dry ingredients are mixed, poured with water and well mixed.

• You can simulate textured putty with a composition of soil and satengips: a deep penetration soil is taken, which increases adhesion and improves moisture resistance. Suitable species are those that do not form an impermeable film, such as an aqueous dispersion of a synthetic polymer. The soil is divorced with water in a ratio of 2: 1. Satengips is gradually added, well mixed, until a paste-like consistency is obtained. The solution should stand for several minutes and then mix again to remove air from the mixture.

Tip: If there is lime in the decorative plaster, it should be borne in mind that when applied with metal tools, dark streaks may remain.

• For wet rooms, decorative plaster can be prepared from tile adhesive.It is bred according to the instructions on the package, applied to the surface with a thin layer, and then the texture is drawn with templates or improvised objects. You can give it naturalness with a brush that is previously moistened with water.

Tip: To decorate the basement or facade, instead of glue, cement-sand mortar should be used.

How to apply exterior decorative plaster

Exterior decorative plastering is done with ordinary cement-sand mortar. Lime is added to the composition only in regions where the climate is dry, in which the humidity is not higher than 65%. With an increase in the fraction of sandstone, the surface is more structural.

Work behavior:

• The solution is prepared in proportion:

1. one part of Portland cement, better than white, not lower than M 400;
2. three pieces of sand.

• Dry components mix well.
• They are filled with water until a sour cream with a medium density is obtained.
• A spray is applied to the surface with a spray gun or a brush with a long bristle, which will create a coat under the fur coat.
• The bark beetle pattern is obtained by mixing a cement-sand mortar in a ratio of 1: 3, with the addition of one part of coarse-grained components, such as:

1. marble;
2. shells;
3. onyx.

Application of bark beetle plaster

Diluted with water to the consistency of thick sour cream, which will allow the finished mixture not to drain from the trowel. Then:

1. the composition is applied to the surface with a grater, its layer is taken with a thickness equal to the grain size of the filler;
2. after the solution has set, with the same grater, which is moistened with water, the layer is rubbed diagonally or vertically, the tool is firmly pressed to the surface, and grain presses the grooves on a smooth surface with pressure, forming a texture on it.

When applied correctly, the surface acquires an attractive appearance of good quality.