How to grout plaster
Grouting walls after plastering is mandatory. In order to start painting the wall, it must first be leveled. There are two types of surface alignment, namely: plaster, that is, a rougher finish and putty - fine finish.
Today we will tell you how to wipe the plaster and this will be the last work before applying wallpaper or painting. You can watch certain moments in the video in this article and in the photo and this will help prevent mistakes.
The content of the article
How to grout walls
Experienced craftsmen know: the more carefully the plaster of the wall is carried out, the easier it will be to finish. Doing everything with your own hands is quite possible to do everything efficiently.
In their work, they usually use wide spatulas, because even if you apply the material very carefully, small irregularities and sagging will remain on the surface, like traces of sharp angles of a spatula.
Note: Another rule - before you start polishing, for a better result, the wall must be thoroughly dried for at least one day.
Choose the right tool
After the walls are plastered and dried, but even before priming, they are grouted or polished. This is a mechanical work and therefore it is necessary to carefully select a tool for grouting the plaster, because the quality of work will depend on this. Let's take a closer look at how to wipe the plaster.
The right choice will save your strength and time:
- In the case when the wall surface is small, it makes sense to use a grinding beam.
- If the wall area is significant, you can use a surface grinding electric machine, but, in this case, you have to handle the corners manually.
- Perhaps the wall has a large area and, at the same time, a complex surface with protrusions or bends. A powerful eccentric sander can do this best.
Caution: The plane of any grouting tool should be completely smooth. Not even large scratches are allowed.
Grinding whetstone
It is a base equipped with a handle with clamps, where sandpaper or sanding mesh is fixed. Before starting work, make sure that you have a small supply of sandpaper, because worn sheets require urgent replacement. The mesh should be replaced when its canvas is worn out.
How to find out? When, grinding the surface, you will feel that the previous effect is no longer there, most likely this moment has come.
So:
- The greatest preference in the work is given to the grinding meshbecause she wears out not so fast as paper, and she is not so afraid of putty dust. When grinding, dust does not linger in the mesh openings. Therefore, despite the higher price, it is recommended to use it. Before selling, the mesh is cut to the size of the beam, and therefore, going to the store, determine what size of the grinding mesh you need.
- Sandpaper has to be changed often, so the savings will be small. When buying, choose paper in rolls or large sheets to cut it yourself under your sanding block.
Attention: Do not forget to always leave a few millimeters that will go under the clamps of the bar.
- What kind of sandpaper do you need? Determine this experimentally by trying small pieces of different grain on the wall. Too smooth paper will immediately fail, and too rough will not give the desired quality of processing.
- Depending on what you plan to cover the walls in the future, the quality of grinding its surface may be different. If it is being prepared for painting, then polishing is necessary several times. Initially polished with black sandpaper with a grain size of 60. Such paper should remove the most noticeable particles from the surface to be treated. After that, paper or sanding mesh with a grain size of 100 to 120 is taken. They will help give the surface perfect smoothness.
Attention: If it is planned to wallpaper the wall, the second grinding can be omitted.
Using a Sander
It has its undeniable advantage in terms of saving time and energy. You can not compare the quality of the processed surface, it is incomparably better.
And one more advantage: lack of dust. Modern machines have a special holder design that allows you to work for a long time without feeling fatigue.
- And there are cars with a retractable work surface. They allow you to work on remote sections of the wall.
- They are also different in their power. The instruction speaks about it. The more this indicator is, the more it can work without overheating.
You can independently make a special device that will allow you to fine-tune complex surfaces, such as corners or niches. To do this, you need a piece of plastic with a width of about 7 centimeters.
Then it will be necessary to cut a piece of plastic profile of the appropriate size. Now you need to glue sandpaper (with different grain sizes) on both sides with a double-sided tape and trim the corners so as to give this “mini-grater” a pencil shape. It is necessary to work with a corner, cutting off (sharpening) it as it wears out.
How to protect your apartment from dust
Before starting the finishing work, take measures to ensure that the fine dust, inevitably generated during the polishing of the walls, does not penetrate into the rest of the apartment.
- To do this, purchase a protective plastic film for furniture and carefully wrap everything that remains in the room, be sure to fix the film with tape. Hang the window openings with the same film, fixing it along the entire length and width.
- Hang a towel moistened with water on the front door, put the same towel under the threshold, and close the door gap with another.
- Take care of yourself: work in special glasses and a mask. Shake clothing thoroughly before washing.
How to polish the walls after puttying
After the preparation is completed, you can begin work. Grouting the plaster video will show you the sequence of work. First, make a kind of plan. Use lighting for this: light the surface of the wall with a powerful flashlight.
All irregularities will be noticeable, because they will cast long shadows to the surface. Circle them in order to notice which areas you need to work especially carefully with.
Grinding is usually done from top to bottom. Starting from the corner, spiral movements are carried out with a slight pressure. Significant effort can harm and disrupt fresh putty. They work, starting and ending always with sandpaper or sanding mesh of the same grain.
All noticed small grooves are aligned later, after the surface of the wall is primed (see After putty, do you need to prime the walls, and why do it in front of it) They are carefully puttyed using a soft rubber spatula.
How to check the quality of the work done:
- Firstlyusing lighting by directing the lamp light along the wall.
- Secondlyby applying a building level to the surface to determine if there are any uneven areas left. All defects are eliminated using the same grinding bar.
But the work is not finished yet. After polishing, the entire treated surface will be covered with fine dust, which must be disposed of before painting or wallpapering. How to do it?
If there is an old, old-fashioned vacuum cleaner that is not a pity to hammer in with grinding dust, you can use it. And you can brush away the dust with a soft brush and carefully, being afraid to wash the putty, wipe it several times with a slightly damp cloth, waiting for the surface to dry out after the previous time.
Caution: Remember that putty is a very soft and docile material. Therefore, it is safe to say that, following the advice of this article, you will undoubtedly enjoy doing work on fine surface finishes.
How to grout the plaster you already know. Good graters you can do everything efficiently and quickly. Their price is slightly higher, but they are durable in operation. And the plane does not deteriorate. Therefore, especially do not save on this.
Hello, you can’t make a video about grouting, I’m a little incomprehensible.
Thanks in advance!