How to level walls for painting with your own hands: secrets of the masters
There are several ways to level walls for painting. If the differences are small, you can stop at plastering or putty. But it also happens that the relief is noticeable. Therefore, it is easier to create a flat surface using drywall. Step-by-step instructions for each method are presented in this article.
The content of the article
Alignment methods
First of all, you need to figure out what is used to level the walls for painting. There are several types of technologies, the most common ones look like this.
Putty
A completely affordable option that helps cope with differences of up to 10 mm. The volume of space in the room does not decrease. But it is quite clear that putty is not suitable for treating large cracks. It is usually used as a way to level walls for painting with your own hands after basic preparation. For example, first they glue drywall, and then they putty.
Plaster
When considering how to level the walls for painting, you can choose plaster. It helps eliminate relief up to 5 cm. At the same time, the useful volume decreases slightly. For processing, cement or gypsum compositions are used.
Drywall with glue
This is another way to quickly level walls for painting.Eliminates relief up to 5 cm and does not reduce the volume of the room. The sheets have a smooth surface and are easy to install. After installation, you need to go over it with putty, but only 1 mm is enough.
Drywall on frame
A useful and convenient option for leveling the walls in an apartment for painting is using sheets of plasterboard on a frame. The advantage compared to previous technology is that even large differences of 5-10 cm can be eliminated, i.e. where plaster will no longer help. At the same time, the volume of space is noticeably reduced, but the walls will be perfectly smooth.
Leveling with putty
An overview of how to level the walls in an apartment for painting, you can start with putty. To do this you will need a dry mixture, a primer, a mixer, a mesh to reinforce the surface, and a roller.
The main stages are:
- Preparation - the remains of the old coating are removed with a spatula, and dust is removed.
- Using a roller, prime the wall.
- Prepare the mixture.
- To figure out how to make smooth walls for painting, you first need to putty them with a wide spatula.
- Excess mixture residues are also removed using a spatula.
- Each subsequent application is made perpendicular to the previous one. This is the basic rule, regardless of what you plan to use to line the walls in the apartment for painting.
- They wait a day and undergo sanding and priming.
- The primer is applied using a roller or brush. In this case, take a small amount of the composition so that there are no smudges. This is one of the principles of how to properly level walls for painting.
Leveling with plaster
There is no doubt about whether the walls need to be leveled before painting. This is a mandatory procedure, without which you will not be able to achieve the desired result.In the simplest case, use ordinary plaster. And they act like this:
- Clean the surface from dust and old layers.
- Beacons are placed using a laser level or regular thread.
- Prepare the mixture in a separate container, mix and wait a few minutes.
- Now all that remains is to figure out how to level the walls before painting. The prepared composition is applied with a spatula or a construction bucket.
- They are puttyed as described in the previous section.
Drywall with glue
Users often wonder how to perfectly level a wall for painting. For this purpose, sheets of drywall are suitable, for fixing which special glue is used. The algorithm is as follows:
- Prepare the surface in the same way.
- Mix the glue and add the construction mixture.
- Apply it with a spatula along the center of the sheet.
- Cut the material into pads, install sheets on them and level them using the rule.
- Glue by pressing to the surface. If uneven walls need to be painted, the remaining sheets are installed in the same way, moving in a checkerboard pattern.
- The joints are puttied and primed.
Drywall on frame
There is another way to make perfectly smooth walls for painting - install a frame and fix sheets of drywall. The main sequence of actions is as follows:
- Make markings along a plumb line.
- A frame is assembled from profiles.
- Cut out the sheets and clean the ends using a plane.
- They are fastened so that the height above the floor is literally 1 cm.
- Fix with screws at equal intervals of 25 cm.
- As usual, the joints are puttied and also primed.
Now it’s clear how to level the walls for painting. Even if the surface is of relatively high quality, its preparation is required. Several methods are often used for this.For example, they glue sheets of drywall, then putty and prime. All types of work can be done independently.