Technology for preparing walls for wallpapering. Wall treatment before wallpapering Preparing concrete walls for wallpapering
There are no trifles in the design of the room where it is planned to live for a long time. The covering of the floor, ceiling and walls is thought out, all the pros and cons of this or that material are considered. Coatings are popular, even with artificial stone. But the championship in the number of rooms decorated by them is still behind the wallpaper.
Previously, walls were upholstered with wallpaper: they were made of leather and other materials. Modern flooring is made from vinyl, densified paper, and other materials. Some of them are washable.
We already wrote in a separate article about that, but before doing the calculations, it is recommended to prepare the walls.
Wallpapering is a simple and inexpensive way to update the walls of a room. If the surface is plastered and fairly even, this is not difficult, but if it has been previously painted, has significant flaws or traces of other coatings, serious pre-treatment will be required before wallpapering the walls. Consider the nuances and stages of the preparatory work carried out in this case.
Pasting the walls - an affordable way to refresh the repair
Wall preparation features
In order for the wallpaper to adhere firmly to the walls, the surface must be even, without flaky areas and cracks. Traditionally, they are glued on top of plaster, pre-treated with putty and primer. Regarding the admissibility of wallpapering painted walls, opinions differ, and this is not surprising, since not every paint can become a suitable base.
Oil coloring compositions that are in poor condition (peeling, blistering) are cleaned off completely. Water-based paints are also not suitable as a base due to their sensitivity to moisture. The most acceptable option in this situation is water-dispersion compositions.
Oil paint prone to flaking Therefore, before deciding on wallpapering over paintwork, you need to know exactly its type. If there is no such information, it is determined visually and experimentally - oil paints have a smooth shiny surface, and water-based paints are more matte, in addition, they are washed out when in contact with water.
Water-dispersion and oil compositions, in turn, successfully pass the moisture resistance test, and you can distinguish them from each other by picking off a piece of coating with a spatula in an inconspicuous area. The former will hold tight and lag behind in small portions, while the latter will crumble in large pieces.
Important! Any coloring composition on the walls impairs adhesion to the wallpaper and increases the risk of premature peeling. Therefore, before gluing expensive materials, it is still recommended to clean the surface.
Getting rid of old wallpaper
If we are not talking about a new building, the walls, as a rule, have to be cleaned of previous coatings. Not all owners consider it necessary to remove old wallpaper, but preparing walls for gluing should begin with this.
Old wallpaper is easier to remove with a spatula To get rid of the remnants of old material, you will need:
- water;
- foam roller or sponge;
- putty knife;
- sandpaper;
- vinegar or other substance suitable for dissolving glue.
It is better to start wallpaper separation from the joints with window sills, radiators, sockets and the like, since in these places the coating usually holds less firmly. Poorly drained material should be moistened with a roller soaked in hot water.
Advice! Softening the wallpaper will be more effective if you add vinegar or a special glue solvent to the water.
Wet wallpaper is removed by prying with the sharp edge of the spatula. The remaining small particles of glue and coating are removed by sanding with sandpaper or by treating the surface with a drill with a grinding nozzle.
Preparation for wallpapering previously painted walls
As already mentioned, the preparation of painted walls for wallpapering depends on the condition and type of previously applied coating. Possible options are complete cleaning (preferred) and improving surface adhesion without removing the old paint.
Removing the old coating
Building hair dryer Cleaning paint from the walls is a laborious and long process, but if the condition of the paint layer is unsatisfactory, it is better not to neglect this stage of work. For high-quality removal of the coating, you will have to use one or more of the auxiliary tools:
- Sander. Using a brush attachment, it is convenient to clean flaky coatings, but there is also a minus - the formation of a large amount of dust. Therefore, before starting work, all items that may become dusty are removed from the room, or covered with a film. You should also close the door, open the windows and be sure to use goggles and a respirator.
- Building hair dryer. With this method, the painted areas are heated until softened and removed with a spatula. The method is effective, but, due to the evaporation of harmful substances, unsafe for health. It is possible to clean walls under wallpaper using a building hair dryer only in a well-ventilated room.
- Special paint remover. Good results are obtained by the complex use of mechanical means and washing. First, a chemical composition is applied to the walls with a roller or brush and left for several minutes (the recommended exposure time is indicated on the package). Then, the softened coating is removed with a metal brush or spatula. Finally, the walls are washed with water. In view of the toxicity of the composition, all work should be performed only in protective equipment and with open windows.
Chemicals quickly soften the coating Further preparation of the walls for wallpaper consists in leveling and priming the surface. Suitable formulations and methods for their application will be discussed below.
Pasting walls coated with a water-dispersion composition
If the walls were painted with water-dispersion paint, a thorough cleaning can be dispensed with. In this case, the preparation consists of:
- identification of problem areas (cracks, lagging paint), their stripping and filling;
- surface degreasing;
- applying the primer mixture.
Pay special attention to the adhesive composition. It is advisable to use ordinary wallpaper glue in half with PVA, applying it to the surface of the wallpaper and to the walls.
Advice! It is better to glue paper wallpapers on top of the paint, since moisture evaporates faster when the glue dries out of them and, therefore, has less effect on the paintwork.
Preparing a surface painted with oil paint
How to prepare the walls for wallpaper after painting with oil paint? If the coating is held securely, the main problem preventing the adhesion of the wallpaper to the walls becomes too smooth a surface.
There are two ways to fix this:
- The walls are cleaned with coarse sandpaper and coated with a primer mixed with PVA glue in a ratio of 1: 1.
- Every 20 cm, the paint is removed from the wall surface with horizontal lines 5 cm wide. The resulting strips are filled with putty so that the surface is leveled.
When working with oil-painted surfaces, sanding is indispensable These methods do not give a 100% guarantee of reliable fastening of the wallpaper, however, they increase the chances of success.
Putty uneven walls under the wallpaper
After removing the paint, surface irregularities may be detected. To eliminate them, you will need spatulas of different sizes, a building level, sandpaper and putty mixture for wallpaper. It is preferable to use polymer compositions, as they are moisture resistant and do not shrink.
Deep cracks are covered with starting putty If a large number of chips and cracks are detected, the walls are completely leveled, and small defects can be covered up separately. To do this, the damaged areas are cleaned to a solid base and the starting putty is applied. Applying the composition in 2 layers helps to smooth out the bumpiness: one in the horizontal direction, and the second in the vertical direction. To make the surface perfectly smooth, after the starting layer has dried, it is covered with a finishing putty.
Preparation of concrete walls with exposed reinforcement for wallpaper requires a special approach. Aligning them, the reinforcing bars should be hidden under a thick layer of putty, otherwise traces of rust may appear on the surface of the new coating over time. It is more convenient to distribute the composition with a wide spatula (30-40 cm), holding it at an angle to the wall. After waiting for drying, the surface is cleaned with sandpaper, checked by the level and the top coat is applied.
Primer application
Another stage, without which the preparation of the walls before wallpapering cannot be considered complete - priming. If you managed to completely remove the old paint, a regular wall mix will work to improve surface adhesion. On top of painted surfaces, it is recommended to apply compositions specially designed for this, for example, VGT VD-AK-0301 or Neomid.
It is advisable to purchase a white primer, as it evens out the color and prevents the base from showing through the new coating. This is especially important for thin non-woven wallpaper.
White primer - the best solution for walls The composition is applied to walls leveled and dust-free from top to bottom, evenly distributing it with a roller. If there are hard-to-reach areas (near the radiator, window sill, pipes), it is better to use a paint brush. To ensure high-quality adhesion of surfaces, the primer is applied twice, waiting for each layer to dry.
The time after which you can stick wallpaper varies depending on the composition of the primer mixture, temperature and humidity in the room. But for reliability, it is recommended to wait at least a day.
Conclusion
Preparing previously painted walls for wallpapering requires considerable effort and careful adherence to technology. Whether to glue the coating on top of the paint, thereby saving time, or to clean the walls completely - it's up to you. But remember that haste in this matter is not always appropriate, especially if you use expensive material and want it to serve you for a long time. Happy repair!
It’s even scary to remember all the subtleties of wallpapering that our parents had to deal with - as a rule, at that time the walls were decorated without prior preparation. The maximum that was done to improve the quality of wallpaper stickers was the preliminary “leveling” of the walls with newspapers, in this way the roughness of the plastered surfaces was reduced and premature peeling of the wallpaper was prevented. Today, the preparation of walls for wallpapering is almost of paramount importance - and no wonder, because a lot depends on this process, and first of all, how long such a wall covering will last. In this article, together with the site stroisovety.org, we will study in detail the technology of preparing walls for pasting them with wallpaper and learn how to do it with our own hands.
how to prepare walls for wallpaper photo
How to prepare walls for wallpaper photo
Preparing walls for wallpapering: four reasons why you need to do it
There are a lot of reasons not to ignore the process of preparing walls for wallpaper - listing them all is simply unrealistic. The main ones are the following.
Firstly, this is the most important thing - the quality of gluing the canvases. It has already been said above that the porous surface is simply not able to hold the wallpaper on itself for a long time. The reason for this is simple - where there is time, the base of the wallpaper is not glued to the wall. As a result, only 50 percent of the canvases are glued - this is easy to verify when faced with the dismantling of wallpaper glued to an unprepared wall. They come off as if by magic. By the way, for the same reason, already during the first month, the seams between the individual strips of wallpaper begin to open. It should be remembered that earlier almost all wallpapers were glued with an overlap - it turned out that one strip held the other, but now they are glued joint to joint.
wall preparation before wallpapering
Wall preparation before wallpapering
Secondly, it is the unevenness of the walls. If one of you thinks that they will hide under the wallpaper, I hasten to assure you of the opposite - even the most dense and thick wallpaper is not able to hide bumps and pits. It's all about lighting - even if such flaws are not visible when the chandelier is on, they will definitely appear in daylight. Or vice versa, here how the card will fall.
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priming walls before wallpapering
Priming walls before wallpapering
Fourthly, adhesion (the ability of materials to combine with foreign substances), simply put, this property of materials is fully responsible for the duration of the wallpaper on the walls.
These reasons are quite enough so that the preparation of walls for wallpaper is not ignored. Many, of course, can argue with these arguments and oppose them with their arguments, they say, all the same, the wallpaper is re-pasted every 3-5 years. I will answer simply - that's why they are re-glued, because the preparation of the walls for wallpapering has not been completed. In addition, the wallpaper itself does not differ in quality and quickly falls into decay. Expensive wallpapers with proper gluing can last at least ten years or until they get bored.
Preparing walls for wallpapering
Preparing walls for wallpapering photo
How to prepare walls for wallpaper: work sequence
We will not beat around the bush, but consider how the walls are prepared before wallpapering, as they say, point by point.
- Wall primer. This operation is necessary for three reasons.
Firstly, a deep penetration primer penetrates the wall and holds its surface layer together, thereby preventing small particles of plaster or concrete from peeling off.
Secondly, the primer composition deprives the wall of the ability to intensively absorb moisture, thereby increasing the drying time of subsequently applied putties, which affects the quality of the coating. It should be understood that the rapid drying of all mortars does not lead to anything good - at least the surface will crack.
Thirdly, the primer simply removes dust - and, as you know, nothing sticks to it. The primer is applied with a large brush or brush - it must be rubbed into the surface until a white foam is obtained. Before moving on to the next step, which involves preparing the walls for wallpapering, you need to wait for the walls to dry completely.
why prime the walls
Why prime the walls
- Sealing of cracks and potholes. You should not hope that the subsequent puttying of the walls will solve the problem with cracks and potholes - it will hide them superficially, and these defects will certainly return in the very near future. The crack should be enlarged to about a centimeter width, after which they should be opened with a primer and sealed with cement mortar, and preferably with glue for tiles.
It should be understood that cracks in the plaster do not just appear - this is a sure sign that in this place the plaster has lagged behind the base of the wall. You may have to work hard with a hammer and remove the falling plaster. This is where problems can arise - old plaster can crumble in large pieces, and then preparing the walls for wallpapering will result in a major overhaul, which involves leveling the walls with plaster again.
But let's get back to our wallpaper, or rather, to preparing the base for gluing them - we are waiting for the complete drying of the repaired areas, we again prime them with high quality and proceed to the next stage of work.
patching cracks before wallpapering
Sealing cracks before wallpapering photo
- Wall putty. You can’t do without it - you will have to apply at least a thin layer of putty on the walls. And the point here is not at all the leveling of the surface, although this factor is also important. Puttying is necessary mainly in order to reduce the surface roughness and increase its bonding area.
Ideally, of course, it is necessary to level the walls, but in most cases this is practically unattainable for non-professionals, so the task is set as follows - with the help of putty, you just need to smooth out all the bumps. It should be understood that the finishing putty is applied only in thin layers, since large ones will crack as they dry.
Irregularities are eliminated in several passes - to make the wall even, professional plasterers sometimes have to putty the wall three, four, or even five times. After the putty has completely dried, all flaws in the form of tubercles and sagging are mechanically removed from the surface of the walls - an abrasive mesh is used for this purpose. In principle, it is possible to remove small protruding putty deposits with a spatula.
do-it-yourself wall preparation for wallpaper photo
Preparing walls for wallpaper with your own hands photo
- Well, the last stage of work, which involves the preparation of concrete walls for wallpaper, is again their primer. I want to note that in order to achieve high quality of any work related to gluing, puttying, plastering and other similar works, a primer is almost always performed. To exaggerate, it looks like this - took a step, primed, took the second step, primed again, etc.
Each layer of the cake applied to the wall must be primed without fail. The same applies to painted surfaces, which are quite common in old apartments - only in this case you need to use a primer called "betonokontakt" or the like.
preparation of concrete walls for wallpaper primer
Preparation of concrete walls for wallpaper: primer
That seems to be all - after priming the putty walls, which reduces their ability to quickly absorb glue and removes dust residues, you can proceed to the direct wallpapering, but first, of course, you must wait for the primer to dry completely. Preparing the walls for wallpapering ensures that the new coating will not only have an attractive appearance, but will also serve you for a long time.
Many are sure that gluing wallpaper is quite simple and everyone can handle it. This is really not a difficult, but rather labor-intensive process. Special efforts are required to prepare the walls for wallpapering, because this is the basis on which the further result depends. Everyone wants to have a finish that does not lose its appearance over the years, and for this it is very important to carefully prepare the walls.
Remember how our parents and grandmothers glued wallpaper? Basically, the walls were decorated without prior preparation, and after a few years the wallpaper lagged behind at the seams. They reduced the roughness of the surface of the plaster with the help of newspapers, which were so terribly translucent if the wallpaper was thin and light.
To date, it is recommended to carefully prepare the walls before pasting the wallpaper. after all, it depends on this stage how long the decorated surface will last. In this article, we will try to consider how to prepare the walls for wallpapering with your own hands, and also tell you what it is for.
Why is quality wall preparation so important?
There are many reasons why it is so important to prepare the walls for wallpapering, but we have highlighted the main and most significant ones.
Previously, wallpaper was glued with an overlap, not because of lightness, but so that one strip would hold the other and not peel off. Now all the wallpaper is glued end-to-end.
There are many other reasons, but even these are enough to make sure that the walls are properly prepared for wallpapering. Indeed, in most cases, the wallpaper is re-glued after a few years due to the neglect of the opportunity to thoroughly clean, level and process the walls before gluing.
How to prepare walls for wallpapering
To make it easier for you to navigate and understand how to prepare the walls for wallpapering, we have grouped all the steps into instructions. You just have to follow the steps detailed in it.
Wall cleaning
First of all, the surface must be rid of any traces of the old finish. Wallpaper must be moistened with water and scratched from the walls with a spatula. To quickly remove the paint, you can heat it with a building hair dryer. You can read more about how to remove old wallpaper from walls or how to remove paint in the relevant articles. After removing the finish, the walls must be cleaned of traces of dust and dirt.
Primer
Let's say right away: the primer of the walls is required! Although many try to skip this stage, but in vain. Priming is dictated by three reasons:
Firstly, a high-quality primer penetrates deep into the wall, preventing concrete and plaster particles from peeling off. Strengthening primer is especially indicated for use on loose substrates.
Secondly, the primer prevents the absorption of moisture, which is especially important when applying wallpaper glue - it simply absorbs less and dries more slowly. Well, a layer of finishing putty applied to a primed wall dries in a timely manner and does not crack.
Thirdly, the primer removes dust from the surface, and dust, as you know, prevents something from sticking.
You can prime the wall with a roller or a large brush. Well, before further finishing, it is necessary to allow the primer to dry.
Sealing of cracks and potholes
As already mentioned, the wallpaper will not hide surface defects, so all scratches, pits and other irregularities are leveled with putty. If you have a plastered surface and cracks appear on it, this means that the plaster is falling off in those places. It must be beaten off from the wall and the pothole must be plastered over with a new one. If there is a difference of more than 5 mm on the wall, then this part should be leveled with plaster. The rest of the surface is leveled with finishing putty.
If you apply plaster or putty on an unprimed surface, then it is likely that the composition will simply crumble.
Application of finishing putty
You will have to apply at least a thin layer of putty, especially when it comes to old concrete walls. On a rough surface, the wallpaper simply will not stick, and after six months it will begin to peel off at the seams.
For perfect alignment, one approach is not always enough. Professionals often level walls in two, three, or even four stages. Having covered the irregularities for the first time, it is necessary to wait for the putty to dry completely in order to proceed with the application of the next leveling layer. After drying, the puttied surface must be sanded with a fine-grained sandpaper. Grinding is needed in order to make the surface smooth, without roughness.
Another coat of primer
And the final step in preparing the walls for wallpaper is the application of a primer. It is the primer layer that will prevent the appearance of fungus and mold, increase the adhesion of the wallpaper to the walls. It is applied with a roller or brush. If the walls do not absorb the primer well, it must be reapplied. The second layer is applied only after the first has completely dried. After this stage, the walls are ready for wallpapering.
I would like to note that the primer is a mandatory step between any layers of plaster, putty and wallpaper. For quality preparation, always choose a good primer, better than deep penetration.
As you can see, the process, although painstaking, time-consuming, but not complicated. The main thing is to know the technology, and then your finish will delight with its original appearance for many years. We hope this article was useful to you, good luck!
The most popular way to decorate walls is wallpapering: they are inexpensive, easy to hang, and do not require special care. Before carrying out wallpapering with your own hands, you should prepare the wall surface for this process, since in order to glue the wallpaper, the wall surface must meet certain requirements: be smooth, without flaws and obvious flaws. That is why the preparation of walls for wallpapering must be done with high quality.
As a rule, a wall is not an ideal surface for repair work: it may have obvious flaws, glue residue from past wallpapering, protruding fittings, and other imperfections. What to do in such a situation? In order for the result to be of really high quality, it is necessary to carry out some preparation of the wall surface before carrying out the work of pasting the wall with wallpaper with your own hands.
The process itself consists of several stages:
- Puttying. During the puttying work, the wall is leveled, it is necessary to cover up all the irregularities: this is all done so that subsequently, it would be much easier to apply a wallpaper layer on the putty wall. If, for example, the wall itself is dark, then if enough light wallpaper is pasted, then the wall that has not been puttied will shine through under the wallpaper. To make the color of the wall lighter, it must also be puttied.
- Primer. The stage of priming the wall provides better adhesion of the wallpaper and the wall. In addition to the fact that the wallpaper can hold better, the primer protects the wall surface from fungi and mold. Some special thick types of primer can even level the wall.
- General preparation. The general preparation of walls for wallpapering with your own hands is the dismantling of old wallpaper, glue residue, nails, screws, and so on. During the performance of such work, you should be as careful as possible: you should remove any objects that, later, can interfere with you. If you follow the correct order of the stages of wall preparation, then general preparation should begin before all subsequent work.
Preparing walls for wallpaper is much more difficult than directly finishing the wall: therefore, special attention should be paid to this stage and the surface of the wall should be properly prepared before wallpapering it.
How to level a wall with putty (video)
How to process the walls before sticking wallpaper with your own hands
It does not matter on which surface you are going to glue the wallpaper: it should still be treated with putty and primer. The very first stage is putty. Putty smears the entire wall, making it suitable for wallpapering. The putty mixture should be selected based on the surface on which the wallpaper will be applied. The most common type of putty for walls is an acrylic putty mixture. It is the most versatile, suitable for almost any surface. With acrylic putty, the wallpaper will stick to the walls for a very long time: therefore, it will not be necessary to carry out complex repairs in the future when the wallpaper peels off.
In addition to puttying, you need a mandatory treatment of the wall with a primer.
It has already been announced earlier that the primer provides better adhesion of the wallpaper to the wall, and also protects the wallpaper and the wall surface. As in the case of putty, an acrylic primer is suitable in most situations: it does not have a bad smell, it dries quickly (up to 5 hours). This type of primer is not suitable only for priming metals, because over time they can become corroded.
For a wooden surface, an alkyd primer is better: although the type of primer mixture voiced earlier can be applied to wood, an alkyd primer is much better suited for a wooden base.
Unlike an acrylic primer, its alkyd version dries in about 15 hours. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to prepare the walls for wallpapering, what materials to use: therefore, you should study the building materials market and choose the most preferable option for yourself.
Is it worth gluing wallpaper before laying the floor
This question is faced by many people: is it necessary to wallpaper the wall before laying the floor? It should be said that it all depends on the coating with which you decide to cover the floor. If you're going to install laminate flooring, you'll need to wallpaper it before you do it. Firstly, if the laminate is already installed, then during wallpapering, you can simply dirty the laminate, since wallpapering the wall is a process during which the glue or other mixture may simply spill out and you will have to clean the laminate. As you know, during repair work on wallpapering, you need to leave a few centimeters of wallpaper for stock. If you glue the wallpaper before laying the laminate, then this margin of a couple of centimeters can be easily hidden.
In the case of parquet, the situation is diametrically opposite: first you need to deal with laying the floor, and only then - gluing the wallpaper layer.
The fact is that laying parquet is much more difficult than laying laminate, and while laying parquet, you can ruin the wallpaper. If the wallpaper is damaged, then you will have to buy new wallpaper, and glue it again. To prevent this from happening, you should first lay the parquet.
Preparing concrete walls for wallpaper
Experts do not recommend preparing walls for wallpapering on a concrete surface. The fact is that concrete is not quite suitable for wallpaper. Firstly, usually such a surface is uneven, there are obvious irregularities. This problem can be corrected with putty. By the way, there is a second problem, which is also solved by puttying the wall. As you know, the concrete wall has a dark color. If you stick thin light-colored wallpapers, they will not look good, because the concrete surface will show through under the wallpaper.
Puttying a concrete wall should be given the most attention, since it is rather difficult to make such a surface sufficiently even.
If it is possible to choose a different surface, then you should abandon the concrete wall.
How to prepare walls for painting after wallpaper
To get rid of dust, and other imperfections that can interfere with the painting of the wall, you should prepare it. In order to level it, you should plaster the surface of the wall. The next steps are pretty standard: primer and putty. To prepare the wall before painting it, you should choose an adhesive primer: it improves the adhesion of the wall and paint. If the wall is not strong enough, then a deep-penetrating primer mixture can be used. Thanks to the primer, the wall becomes clean and ready for painting.
Many people do not pay much attention to the preparation of the wall: this is fundamentally not true. It depends on the condition of the wall whether the subsequent wallpapering will be successful.
How to putty walls before painting (video)
It is advisable to do everything with your own hands to be sure of the future result. The main thing is not to give up after the first failures: even a bad experience is beneficial. Good luck with wallpapering and preparing the walls for this process!
Despite the huge selection of finishing materials on the shelves of hardware stores, the most famous way to finish walls in a room is wallpapering. They are easy enough to stick with your own hands. There are many types of wallpaper depending on the material from which they were made. Preparing the walls for wallpaper is an important step during the repair.
The walls to be decorated with wallpaper should be smooth and without any flaws. To successfully complete the finishing work, you need to figure out how to prepare the walls for wallpapering.
You should first find out how and how to process the walls before sticking wallpaper. The phased preparation technology consists not only in the correct choice of the necessary materials, but also in the study of all the subtleties. Incorrect repairs can be avoided by carefully reading this material. It is important to take into account all stages of preparation, not to skip any of the existing ones.
Why prepare walls for wallpapering? This is necessary in order to avoid the appearance of the fungus and kill the existing one, to ensure good adhesion to the surface. The wall to be glued must be thoroughly cleaned, it should be leveled as much as possible - then the coating will last longer.
The procedure for preparing walls for wallpaper is as follows:
- Removing old finishes from the surface- Any wall decoration must be removed.
- Primary priming. The surface is treated with the composition after removing the entire finishing coating. This is done in order to disinfect the walls, to prevent the absorption of moisture into them.
- Repair of cracks and defects. If there are any cracks or holes, they must be repaired. Prepare the gypsum mixture, and then plaster the surface, then putty.
- Alignment . To do this, you need sandpaper or a special abrasive mesh.
- Re-treatment of walls before wallpapering with a primer mixture. It is carried out with the aim of good adhesion of wallpaper to the walls, while providing antiseptic and disinfecting effects.
The stages of preparing the walls for wallpapering cannot be interchanged. The sequence of the order of work is very important, because the final result of the work depends on it.
Preparation of materials and tools
Before answering the question of how to properly prepare the walls, you need to purchase materials and tools. You will need:
- starting putty or gypsum plaster (levels the surface, applied as the main layer);
- finishing putty(applied to the starting putty or directly to drywall, makes the walls perfectly even);
- (follow its application on a previously prepared space).
It is better to use a primer universal, with deep penetration into the surface. Then the preparation of the walls for wallpapering will be of the highest quality.
Each purchased material on its packaging has instructions for preparation and use. Familiarize yourself with it before performing priming work. To prepare the surface for wallpaper, you need to have special tools at hand with which the work will be done quickly and efficiently. These materials and tools will simplify the preparation of walls for wallpapering, save time and effort:
- film (cover the floor);
- stationery knife;
- construction tape (to avoid contamination);
- bucket (knead the mixture);
- roller and brush (primer the surface);
- a pair of spatulas of different sizes (leveling tool);
- drill with a mixer nozzle (stir putty).
Related article: Types of primer for walls under wallpaper (tips for use)
Removing old wallpaper from walls
To paste new wallpaper in the room, the old must be removed. Without this, it will not be possible to prepare concrete walls for gluing. There are a number of reasons why previously glued wallpaper is strongly recommended to be removed:
- A few years later, the old wallpaper is no longer holding well. They will become soft and, under a slight weight, simply peel off if glue is applied to them for gluing new wallpaper.
- Wallpaper will dry for a long time if new ones are applied to them.
- After the glued wallpaper dries, bumps appear on top of the old ones, the view is ugly.
- The level of adhesion between materials becomes less, which reduces the service life.
- Dirt and microbes collect under the wallpaper over the years of service.
When removing old wallpaper, several technologies are used - the initial stages of wall preparation:
- Manual way. It is used when the wallpaper does not hold well or peeled off. Use a putty knife to pry up and then pull down to clean the coating.
- Water way. It is used most often. You just need to make scratches in different places of the wallpaper for good water penetration. Next, take hot or warm water (soak a rag and moisten the wallpaper). Wait 15 minutes and clean the surface with a spatula or knife.
- Chemical way. Chemicals are sold on the construction market, with which you can easily dismantle the wallpaper and not harm the wall, and they do not affect health. There is only one “but” in this method: it requires additional costs.
- Steaming. Lightly moisten the wallpaper and blow it with a stream of steam, and then it is easy to remove.
Moisten the wall lightly so as not to damage the surface under the wallpaper. Work with small areas. By the time you reach the middle, the wallpaper will already be dry.
If none of the methods is suitable, you will have to try cleaning with a grinder or a drill with a nozzle. Only after that it will be possible to putty the surface for leveling.
On the video: preparing the walls before wallpapering.
Paint stripping
What to do about the problem of painted walls? Removing paint is a very difficult and time consuming job. But if the walls are painted, repairers use three methods to remove the paint:
- mechanical (manual or with the help of electric tools);
- chemical (use chemicals);
- thermal (using high temperature).
Mechanical (manual)- the cheapest method and not very dusty. In its implementation, an ax or a chisel with a hammer is used. With an ax, it is easy to beat the walls in order to create notches, and then sprinkle with water. Once it's absorbed, gently tap the paint off at a comfortable angle.
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Mechanical (electric tools)- the method involves the use of a grinder or drill with special nozzles. This is much easier than the manual method, but get ready for a lot of dust.
The chemical method is quite simple. He has only one minus - you need to spend money to buy funds. In case of application, it is better to wear special clothing for protection, then smear the wall with paint, wait 3-6 hours (depending on the quality of the paint). The paint softens and is brushed off with a metal brush. After that, the wall is washed several times.
thermal method- this is burning paint with hot air, but this technology is very troublesome. Firstly, you need a special tool (a building hair dryer or a gas lamp), and secondly, burning paint provokes the release of toxic substances that are harmful to health. Thirdly, not all paint is always burned out.
Wall primer
How are the walls treated before wallpapering? A primer is the tool that you need to cover any surface, whether it is made of drywall, putty or plastered with gypsum. The primer mixture is smeared to avoid cracks on the surface. It improves the adhesion of the surface to the material, removes unnecessary moisture from it, removes debris and small particles.
How to treat the wall before wallpapering? There are different types of primers:
- acrylic;
- alkyd;
- mineral;
- deep penetration;
- with coloring powders.
How should the walls be treated before wallpapering? This is a personal decision for everyone, but it is necessary to select a mixture taking into account the properties of the surfaces. You can choose the right one with the help of the seller in the store or by reading the description on the product.
In the construction market at the present time, a huge selection of primers. There are a few basic solutions that are highlighted by experts:
- Universal acrylic mortar. It is often used due to its ability to be deeply absorbed into the wall, lack of smell, drying in 6 hours and application to any walls.
- contact composition. The most famous solution, used even by beginners. Its properties are exactly the same as those of the acrylic mixture, but in addition, there are still small quartz grains in the composition. They increase the penetration of the mixture deep into the surface and at the same time contribute to the alignment of its minor imperfections.
- Griftal composition. It is used only in places of high humidity, so it is not very well known. Dries after application within a day.
The primer solution is applied to all walls. Use a roller for this, and a brush in the corners. If after priming the wall absorbed everything and became dry, you need to apply the primer again.
Surface leveling
After the walls have dried from the primer, the surface must be leveled (plastered with plaster). Is plastering required? No, if the walls are dry and even, the old plaster does not crumble, and there is not much money in the budget. If the walls are uneven, have many defects and flaws, then they must be plastered for wallpapering. How to level the walls? With the help of any high-quality gypsum mixture.
All cracks and pits must be filled with a mixture, apply a layer up to a maximum of 1 cm, level the surface with a spatula. Leave the walls until the material is completely dry, then sand with sandpaper or a special mesh.
Let's start sanding. We dilute the putty and with the help of a spatula we level all the surfaces that will be pasted over with wallpaper. When the procedure is over, we are waiting for drying. The putty surface is polished to full smoothness. The final stage is re-priming. It must be done before wallpapering, when the walls are already plastered.
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Features of concrete surface preparation
Preparing concrete walls for wallpaper is a little difficult because the surface is uneven and dark in color, which shows through under light-colored wallpaper. These problems are solved by puttying the surface, but the consumption of the putty mixture will be significant.
Follow these steps to successfully prepare your concrete wall for wallpapering:
- Choose a finishing material with maximum density - this will help hide the imperfections of the concrete. Wallpaper is better to buy in dark colors.
- Carefully clean concrete walls from dust and dirt.
- Align all the seams of the concrete pavement, putty, sand.
- Treat with a primer solution or use wallpaper paste. After it dries, you can glue the wallpaper.
Surfaces in panel houses are simply prepared, but only if they are even. In this case, they can not be plastered, but just smeared with a primer, wait for it to dry, and immediately putty.
The plaster is included in the work when there are irregularities of more than 1 cm. Leveling must be done before pasting the surface with wallpaper.
Rooms in a new building rarely have a finish, so surface treatment before wallpapering will go through all stages. Since the walls are new, they are smeared with a primer several times, and during the plastering, a mesh is used that reinforces the surface and prevents cracks. Preparation of plastered walls will be easier; the main thing is to test it for strength by tapping it several times. If you hear emptiness, you need to knock down those places and plaster. After this, the wallpapering procedure will be much easier.
Preparing the walls for wallpaper is not an easy job, but it can be done on your own. Do you need to hire professionals? You just need to acquire a little knowledge, because it is quite possible to prepare the walls for wallpapering with your own hands.
Priming work and materials used (26 photos)
