Decorative plaster in the interior: beautiful, stylish, custom
Wall decoration with decorative plaster can be considered one of the most interesting and varied finishes. And although the price of such a coating is higher than when painting with water-based paints, or wallpapering, it is more than compensated by the high level of aesthetics and durability of the material.
We will talk about what decorative effects are most popular today, how these or those compositions differ, and how interior plaster is combined with other types of coatings. The video in this article will introduce you to the technology of performing certain types of decorative plastering.
The content of the article
Secrets of decorative plastering
All types of plasters, which differ from ordinary leveling screeds in color or texture, are called decorative. And if twenty years ago they were used mainly for exterior decoration of houses, today interior stucco with a decorative effect is incredibly in demand as a material for interior work.
Preparation of base substrates for decorative plastering is carried out in the same way as for leveling. To determine the thickness of the soil layer, the walls are hung, with the help of a level and a cord, the marks of all architectural elements are verified. Soil is called the first, most thick layer of plaster.
Creating effects
All subsequent layers are called nakryvochny, and depending on the type of plaster, they can be quite a lot: from two to seven to eight. If the base base is flat, for example, the surface is sheathed with drywall, or it is a concrete wall in a panel house, you can start right away with a coating layer.
So:
- Each subsequent coat can only be applied after the previous one has completely hardened - and this is at least a day. The thicker the layer, the longer it dries. Significant time is required to complete this work, but this is perhaps the only drawback of this type of decoration.
- To obtain a relief or texture, the coating layer can be processed not only in the plastic state, but also after hardening. It depends on what kind of effect you need to get.
- All mixtures intended for decorative plastering contain plasticizing additives in the composition, and the effect that results as a result often depends on the type and fraction of the filler. Manufacturers offer our attention both ready-to-use solutions and dry mixes that need to be tinted on their own and diluted with water to the desired consistency, as prescribed by the instructions.
- Embossed plasters in the interior are made using various rollers (see Rollers for decorative plastering and creating a relief surface), hatching and any improvised items (comb, cellophane, brush, wire brush, etc.) on an uncured screed. There are many techniques, and, in general, the artist’s imagination is not limited to anything.
- There is a so-called Italian finish, in which the first coating layer is applied to the soil, it is leveled, and until it hardens, a second-layer brush is sprayed with a long pile so that the bottom surface is slightly visible, and then slightly smoothed with a metal grater.
The color of the solution, in this case, may differ by a couple of tones, or in general, be contrasting, and the resulting effect depends on the exposure time of the spray. The result is approximately the same as in the photo above.
This technique of plastering is not particularly difficult, and it allows you to do the work yourself.
Machining of coating layers
Textured hardened screed is a more sophisticated decoration. Rustic stucco looks very interesting in the interior. Rust is a notch, a groove, a recess, name it whatever you like.
- Initially, this technique was used only for the decoration of facades, but also in rooms it looks gorgeous. With the help of rusts, you can even create on the surface an imitation of brick or masonry, boards.
- The covering layer in this case is made quite thick: it is leveled, carefully compacted with a wide wooden block, and then smoothed with a trowel. Such a screed hardens for almost a week - it is moistened several times a day with water, dried for a couple of days, and only then begin processing.
- The direction of the recesses is marked with a painting cord, and then rusty is stuffed. For work on a plastic layer, a metal ruler and a hammer are enough. If the screed has half lost its ductility or has completely hardened, a rust cutter is used to texture the walls.
- Using slats trapezoidal shape, you can get an imitation of sawn natural stone. Decorating with such a relief all the walls in the room is quite time-consuming, and it makes no sense. But the emphasis placed on one wall immediately attracts attention, and incredibly improves the visual perception of the interior as a whole.
- There is also a technique for processing the topcoat, called “graffito”. This finishing option is carried out by applying two or more color layers, followed by cutting the picture with a special tool. The contour of the image can be applied artfully, or using a stencil.
- When cutting sections of the upper covering layer, the lower layer of a different color is exposed. If a significant area of the screed is removed, then a 3D relief is obtained that looks like an application. But there is another option: the covering layer is removed only inside the outline of the picture, and then it turns out to be deepened.
- A similar decor is also performed on one wall, in a ceiling caisson, or, for example, when decorating a drywall niche. The mortar for plastering is selected depending on the version of the design. The covering layer most often is a cement-lime mortar, where colored or white sand is present as a filler.
- It can be quartz, or it can be a product obtained by grinding any natural stone. In a mortar for screed that does not undergo mechanical treatment, colored cement may be used as a binder.
There are many variations on the treatment of topcoats. It looks very beautiful, but not everyone can do something similar on their own.
The effect of "artificial marble"
One of the most popular options for decorative plastering is imitation of marble. This effect is called “artificial iron marble”, since at the final stage, the top covering layer is polished with a hot iron.
So:
- This type of plaster is created from a large number of screeds: spray, two layers of soil and several nakryvochnyh layers. In short, it is done like this.
The base is cleaned, notches are made on it, and the soil is filled with a lime-sand mortar. The thickness of this layer is within one and a half to two centimeters, and it takes at least two days to harden.
How is marble imitation obtained?
The composition of the first nakryvochny layer: oily lime dough, marble sand with a fraction of 0.5-1.5 mm and water.It is leveled, smoothed with a metal grater, and minor defects are puttyed.
- The second coat layer is applied half an hour after the setting of the first. The composition of this layer is similar to the previous one, with the only difference being that the fraction of marble chips is finer here: 0.2-0.6 mm. If you need to get colored marble, then the necessary pigments are added to the solution.
- These two layers are necessarily subject to ironing. That is, liquid cement paste is applied in a thin layer on fresh plaster, and then thoroughly smooth with a spatula. This is done to increase the strength and waterproofness of the plaster.
- If at the same time cracks have formed in the second layer, they are embroidered and putty with a solution intended for the third covering layer. In it, not marble sand is used as a filler, but the finest grinding powder.
- At this stage, the screed is allowed to dry for a day, and then covered with a special emulsion. The composition of the emulsion includes milk of lime, laundry soap and talc. All this is boiled for two hours, then filtered and added pigment. An emulsion for tinting the main background and marble veins is prepared separately.
- First, an emulsion of the basic tone is applied, and when it is absorbed into the surface, veins are drawn with a thin brush or pen. Do this several times, allow the emulsion to dry, and after it stops sticking to your hands, they begin to iron the surface.
- Ironing allows you to perfectly smooth the surface and achieve the shine that is inherent in polished marble. This is a rather complicated process: the irons are heated in a brazier with charcoal, at first gradually raising, and then lowering the temperature.
- When they are not sufficiently heated, the emulsion will adhere; cracks may appear during overheating. If the film is accidentally damaged, this place is again putty and ironed. Then, the decorative layer dries for two weeks, after which it is washed, degreased with white spirit or turpentine.
At the final stage, the surface is coated with special wax and polished. As you can see, this is not an easy job, and it is easy to guess that such a high cost of marble plaster is due precisely to the complexity of its implementation.
Craquelure and color plasters
Decorative coating is not always created by the contractor, although, of course, not without his participation. There are many plasters on sale that are designed to create a specific effect, and can even be tinted by the manufacturer in a specific shade.
For those who do not have the skills of such work, but do not want to resort to the services of expensive specialists, this is the best way out.
Bark beetle
The most affordable, and easy to perform, bark beetle plaster that simulates the surface of a tree, eaten by a bug. This effect is achieved due to coarse-grained stone chips in the mixture. "Wormholes" are obtained in the process of movement of a half on the surface in one direction or another.
- Such plaster is applied to the surface leveled and primed. The plaster is mixed and applied to the base on the thickness of the filler fraction. The excess solution is removed, and while the screed retains ductility, form a pattern. The first layer dries a day.
- By the way, such a plaster is tinted not only in bulk, that is, by adding pigment to the solution, you can simply paint the coating layer. So there are more opportunities for decor, because the range of colors is much wider than pigments. Superficial staining is much better, and here's why.
- Difficulties in tinting the mixture in bulk arise because it is almost impossible to get the same shade in different batches. It would be necessary to knead immediately a large volume of the solution, and not the fact that it would work out before setting it alone.
- The first nakryvochny layer is painted with a darker shade of paint, the second is made lighter. Thus, the recesses on the surface, formed due to the movement of the filler, stand out in contrast. The finished coating can be additionally decorated.
- Using a film stencil fixed on dried plaster with masking tape, paint is applied with a sponge. In this way, you can not only create a decor, but also visually zon the room. This type of plastering is carried out both over the entire area of the walls of the room, and is used as an emphasis on one wall or ceiling.
Decorative plaster can be combined with any other type of finish: wallpaper, wood paneling, panels, brick texture. One of the most successful examples of such a combination you can see in the picture above.
Antique decor
All types of plasters that create the effect of antiquity are called craquelure. By and large, the same "bark beetle", which was mentioned above, can be attributed to them. But if there wormholes are obtained as a result of mechanical impact on a plastic screed with a tool, then the effect of cracked plaster is created using a completely different technology.
- The first layer is applied colored nacre, and allowed to dry completely. The second layer is craquelure activator varnish. It dries in half an hour, after which it is possible to apply a texture-tinted mixture in the mass. Thanks to the varnish, the coating layer that has not yet set is beginning to crack right before our eyes.
- There are other techniques for achieving a craquelure effect. For example, this: the first layer is colored stucco tinted in a dark shade. Then, while it still retains plasticity, a composition of a lighter shade is applied with random short strokes.
- For cracks to appear, the plaster is not allowed to harden naturally, but is dried by force using a building hair dryer. The number and size of cracks depend on the thickness of the coating layer and the drying time.
To add decorativeness, cracks are coated with colored varnish, enamel of a different color, or with a pearling glaze compound. After drying, the surface is ground to a gloss finish. Ultimately, the resulting coating is also very similar to marble, which we see in the photo above.
