Production of decorative plaster: consider in detail
No matter how many new finishing materials appear, few of them can compete with the incredible variety of decorative plaster coatings. Moreover, their manufacturers also do not waste time, and are constantly expanding the range offered to our attention.
But how can an ignorant person navigate the sea of brands and names, effects and application technologies? The video in this article on the topic: “Production of decorative plaster” will give an answer to many questions that interest you.
The content of the article
Decorative plasters: selection criteria
The difference between decorative plaster and coating plaster is that it does not require subsequent finishing, but in itself is a decor. Finishing can, of course, be done (see DIY decorative plaster painting), but most often, the plaster solution is tinted in bulk. Glazing translucent compositions are simply applied from above, which are designed to emphasize the picture, make the color deeper, and also protect the surface from pollution.
- It should be noted the versatility of decorative plaster, as a finishing material, as it is perfect for decorating facades and interiors. Another thing is that in both cases they use different reliefs and artistic effects - but this is quite normal.
- Today, there is such a variety on sale that it is no wonder just to get confused. However, the beautiful names of imported mixtures, translated into Russian, sometimes only mean something like “plaster”, or “decorative coating”.
When choosing, it should be borne in mind that different plasters can be focused on creating the same effect. But it often happens that several different coatings can be made from the same plaster - and note, do it yourself, using the most primitive devices.
Instructions on this topic will be given a little later, but for now, let's figure out how to generally classify decorative plasters.
Classification of plasters by decorative effect
The technology for the production of stucco mixtures in recent years has undergone many changes. Previously, compositions based on the use of gypsum as a binder were intended only for internal use. Today, most decorative plasters are modified with polymer additives that give them water-repellent properties, and the same Venetian can now be seen not only indoors, but also on the facade.
If you try to classify plasters by decorative qualities and compositions, they can be divided into five categories. Two of them are thin-layer variants based on polymer resins and colloidal cement glue (microcement). The other three types are made on the basis of mineral fillers.
These are terrazite plasters; compositions containing natural stone crumb - as well as texture plasters that allow working in the sgraffito technique. All of them differ in components, methods of application and processing options of the layers.
Stucco with crumb and terrazite
Similar plasters are mainly used for facades, and can be made directly on a building site.Therefore, let us say a few words about how to produce decorative plaster based on crumbs of natural stone.
- A solution is prepared from Portland cement, and ceramic, granite, or marble chips with a fraction of 3 to 5 mm are added to it. The final color of the coating depends both on the shade of the filler used and on the color of the solution, which is obtained either through the use of colored cement, or by tinting.
- Marble or granite screenings most often have light colors, and in order to shade them and make them more expressive, pigments such as iron minium, ocher, chromium oxide are added to the solutions. So prepare a solution for a decorative coating, but the preparatory layer is performed in the traditional way.
- It is very important that the leveled base dries well before the decor in the form of a pebble mortar is applied to it. The hardened plaster brush is moistened with water from the spray gun, the decorative layer is applied continuously, and evened out.
- After a day, the coating is washed with a scattered water jet - until the cement milk ceases to drain. Thanks to washing, the cement layer is partially removed, and a pronounced granular texture remains. At the same time, it seems that the crumb itself has stuck to the surface. Well, and how beautiful it can be, you can judge by the photo below.
- Stone crumb plasters are also sold ready-made, complete with a tinted quartz primer and varnish to protect the finished coating. But if you consider that the price for a bucket with a capacity of 15 kg, which is enough from the strength to plaster 12m2 of the wall, costs at least 2000 rubles - and this without taking into account the soil and protection - then it is easy to calculate how much the entire facade will cost.
- In large-scale construction, to create crumb coatings on the facade, they also use a method in which crumbs are not added to the solution at all. In this case, it is poured onto a plastic layer of colored plaster with the help of a pneumatic tool - a crusher. Such technology allows not only to improve the quality of the coating, but also significantly increase the productivity of work.
- Terrazite plaster is usually used for decoration of facades of office buildings. It looks like pebble, but its principal difference is crushed mica, which is present in the plaster composition, occupying about ten percent of the total volume. There is also stone crumb there: its fraction can be either very small, only 1 mm, or rather large, up to 6 mm.
In addition, additives such as crushed ceramics and anthracite can also be found in terrazite plaster. The technology of its application is similar to pebble, only after hardening it is still treated with a metal brush or cycles - depending on which texture: rough or smooth, you need to get.
Variety of sgraffito plasters
This type of plaster coating is the most time-consuming and difficult to perform, and therefore it is used only for decorating individual elements of facades, or to create accents in interiors. By and large, the term “graffito” does not refer to plaster as such, but to a technique that allows, through art painting or mechanical processing of layers, to execute patterns, ornaments and drawings on the surface.
So:
- In this case, thin layers are used. colored plasters based on gypsum or cement. But their cardinal difference from other decorative plasters is that in the composition there are not only additives that improve the plasticity of the solution, but also additives that slow down the hardening of the screed.This is very important, so you need to not only have time to apply and smooth the layer, but also to complete the ornament.
- It is clear that such a work, which we see in the example presented above, can only be done by the master. A person engaged in such work should at least be able to draw. So if you are endowed with artistic talent, then you can try to create at least a small panel to start with.
- In general, stencils can be used to create beautiful ornaments using the sgraffito technique. If you just want to get a discreet relief that could be applied over the entire area of the walls, then you can perform such a coating with the help of simple tools like a textured roller or stamp.
Note! In working with texture plaster, you can apply not only some artistic talents, but also just a little imagination. All the reliefs that are performed today with the help of primitive devices and improvised materials can also be attributed to sgraffito by and large.
- These are today's fashionable textures of brickwork, concrete, “wave”, “reed”, as well as a relief with the effect of “grass”, which is performed using a rubber roller with a rope wound around it. As they say, cheap and cheerful. After all, wet plaster can be painted like an album sheet: give the appearance of a wall sheathed with large-format panels, imitate the lining, and not only of brick, but even of fragmentary stone.
- If you want the surface of the coating to have a rough texture, please - print a piece of foam on a raw plaster, and here you have a surface that looks like concrete or brick. You just have to give it the appropriate color, decorate the top with a glazing composition - and you get a chic finish.
- Such a relief can even be done with plasterboard cladding, and it will give the impression that you have a brick wall. To do this, you need something: a long wooden ruler, and a piece of slat 10 mm thick, with which you will imitate the jointing of the masonry joints.
- Most decorative plasters, designed for independent work, that come ready from the manufacturer, have exactly those properties that are necessary to make sgraffito-style reliefs. Many of them are focused on a specific effect - for example: imitation of the rough surface of a natural stone called travertine.
- On a well-leveled surface, it is enough to apply only one layer, the thickness of which is dictated by the filler fraction. By preserving the plasticity of the plaster, grooves are drawn with a spatula and slightly smoothed with a trowel.
If the solution is tinted in bulk, then a day after applying the layer, the wall can be treated with colored wax, and then its excess can be erased by going into the recesses and pores of the coating, the wax will make them more contrast. If you do not tint the plaster, then decorative paint is used to give the coating a color. As you can see, there is no particular difficulty in applying here - just watch the video and you can repeat what you saw yourself without any problems.
Thin layer plasters
In principle, most decorative plasters are thin-coated, as they are not intended to level the surface. And if so, then at the time of their application, the surface should be plastered in the traditional way, using the basic composition. Finishing putty, in this case, will replace the decorative coating.
- One of the options for thin-layer plasters is compositions based on colloidal (fine) cement glue. Their fundamental difference from other cement-based plasters is the fact that the dry components - both Portland cement and sand - are crushed together in a vibratory mill to a state of dust.
- Coloring can be done either by using colored cements, or by adding alkali-resistant pigments to white cement.Due to such a fine grinding, the particles of the plaster during its application fill the smallest pores at the base, which gives the best adhesion - moreover, they perfectly fit not only on concrete, screed or gypsum board, but also on wood, and even on plastic.
- In addition to colloidal glue, river or mountain sand with a fraction of up to 1 mm is taken to knead the solution, and sand obtained as a result of crushing stone: limestone, granite, or the same marble is also added to it. All this is kneaded on water, and since this type of plaster is mainly used for finishing facades, modifying additives are added to them, giving the composition water-repellent properties.
- The mixture is stirred for about seven minutes and simultaneously subjected to a two-frequency treatment in the activator until its viscosity decreases. The solution is usually applied mechanically, in a uniform layer of 3-4 mm, after which the screed is leveled and rubbed.
- The coating is extremely strong, resistant to mechanical stress and moisture, with a silky touch texture. The degree of roughness depends on the size of the filler in the solution. Manufacturers of decorative plasters could not ignore the option with such excellent performance, and took it into service, offering the consumer compounds called "microcement".
- Cement plasters, as such, are rarely used in interiors - they mainly use gypsum. But with the help of microcement plaster, such a popular and fashionable design of walls and ceilings “under concrete” is carried out today. Note that this texture is an integral part of such architectural areas as high-tech, industrial style, loft.
Microcement-type factory plasters are usually sold in a kit that separately contains a colloidal mixture of cement and sand, a binder liquid polymer, water-repellent, vapor-permeable impregnation and pigment. Although, shades of gray cement and by themselves, without any color, are great for simulating the surface of concrete.
