Relatively recently, plastering walls along lighthouses was not practiced, and therefore the process of finishing walls and ceilings was considered rather laborious and lengthy. The surface had to be periodically puttied and leveled. Now, thanks to the use of modern technologies, such work, even on large areas, takes no more than a few days. This was facilitated by the use of building rules and wall beacons.
Benefits of beacon plaster
To ensure a flat and smooth surface, you can use two types of plaster:
- monolithic (wet);
- dry.
In the latter case, the ceiling or walls are sheathed with drywall sheets. This finish is several times cheaper than wet plaster, but has a number of disadvantages. Its cons:
- short service life;
- unable to withstand tiling materials.
Monolithic plaster is carried out by applying a working solution to walls, partitions and ceilings. Wet way:
- provides reliable adhesion to various bases;
- forms a moisture-resistant coating, due to which it is suitable for a bathroom, winter garden, basement.
Applying wet plaster is a labor-intensive process. But if you know the procedure for performing work and the technology for applying the mixture, you will be able to create a high-quality base for finishing. Plastering lighthouses with your own hands will allow you to achieve a flat surface, devoid of convex elements and roughness.
Types of plaster mixes
Plaster can be done with purchased mixtures or by making a solution with your own hands. The first option was almost completely able to displace the second. Many masters today prefer to purchase ready-made compositions. Can be distinguished several types of working solution in accordance with its purpose and constituent components:
![](https://i0.wp.com/planken.guru/images/434674/shtukaturka_sten_cementnym.jpg)
Selection of lighthouses
When thinking about how to plaster walls along lighthouses, it is important to choose the right narrow metal or plastic profiles, without which this process cannot do. They play the role of limiters when applying the mortar. Usually the length of these products is 3 mm, and the width varies from 6 to 10 mm. Depending on the material of manufacture, profiles are classified into several types:
- Wooden. Used relatively rarely. They are inexpensive and reusable.
- Metal. Popular due to ease of use and affordable price. But at the same time, they cannot be reused, and they are subject to corrosion.
- Plastic. They are usually made of carbon fiber or other material similar in rigidity. They are expensive. Specialists often replace them with drywall fragments. Before use, it is desirable to impregnate with a water-polymer emulsion.
- Overwater. Used for difficult surfaces. Only professionals with extensive experience can work with these products. Such plaster requires certain skills. First, small areas of plaster with flat bases are placed on the wall, which should correspond to the final surface.
Floating beacons are considered the highest quality, as they allow you to make a monolithic base of high strength.
Working with different surfaces
For plastering concrete surfaces on lighthouses, it is better to use lime mixtures with the addition of cement or just cement mortar. The more cement present in the composition, the more durable the plaster is. First you need to make notches on the wall and fix the plaster mesh on top. This is necessary for increased adhesion of the working solution and smooth concrete.
Do not use gypsum mix to finish the concrete surface. The concrete components will react with the gypsum, and the plaster will quickly crumble.
In terms of choosing a composition for plaster, brick walls are unpretentious. They can be coated with any type of mixture. But you have to use a lot of plaster, and therefore, to save money, it is better to use a cement-sand composition. If the layer thickness is more than 5 cm, a reinforcing mesh must be applied.
Wooden surfaces are covered with a layer of plaster using a reinforcing mesh on a mandatory basis. Clay is added to the finished solution. It plays the role of a plasticizer. As an alternative, a plastic mixture based on gypsum and lime can be considered. It is important not to lay too much clay, as this can lead to increased cracking. Walls made of gas and foam blocks are the most problematic, as they have a low degree of adhesion. In order for the plaster to last for a long time, it is necessary to fill the mesh and apply special additives.
Gypsum plaster or compositions based on lime and gypsum are suitable for finishing a surface consisting of gypsum blocks. With a gypsum base, cement mixtures are considered incompatible. When working with such a surface, the use of a grid is not mandatory.
Plastering technology
To apply plaster correctly, you need to prepare consumables and tools:
- ready-made dry mix;
- lighthouses;
- perforator;
- mixer for mixing the solution;
- dowels, self-tapping screws;
- plumb line, building level;
- scissors for cutting metal;
- hammer, tape measure;
- wide spatula;
- roller;
- acrylic primer;
- protective gloves.
Before you buy plaster and mix the mortar, you need to calculate the material consumption. The simplest option would be orientation by the area of the surface to be leveled. For example, if you have to treat walls with an area of 20 square meters with a solution whose layer thickness is 5 cm, you will need 1 cubic meter of solution.
Wall preparation
Proper preparation of the base is a mandatory step in plastering walls with beacons. Includes several stages:
![](https://i2.wp.com/planken.guru/images/434676/mayaki_vyravnivaniya_sten.jpg)
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- Apply primer. Thanks to it, dust is removed from the surface, better adhesion of materials is provided and the level of susceptibility to moisture is reduced. If the base is even, you can take Betokontakt into the composition. For porous walls, it is desirable to select a primer with deeper penetration.
- Wait for the primer to dry. Insert self-tapping screws into the holes located at the top and bottom and adjust their level. Nail heads should be in the same vertical line. Using a plumb line, check the evenness of their placement.
- Inspect if the beacons stick out after installation. To do this, pull a diagonal rope through the nail heads. Put the beacon profile and evaluate its location. It must be freely placed. Stretch the cord obliquely, check how even it is. Align the remaining dowels with self-tapping screws at the corners.
Ways to set up beacons
You can put beacons on special fasteners or directly on the solution. In the latter case, the beacons are placed on a solution prepared with the addition of a large amount of cement. To speed up the hardening process, you need to add gypsum. After that, the solution is applied to the wall. Make sure that the thickness of the layer is not greater than the depth of the beacon profile. To do this, you can use the building rule.
When placing beacons on fasteners, they act in a slightly different way. When the level is set and the vertical lines for mounting the profiles are drawn, it is necessary to drill holes every 35 cm for nails. The caps of the screws are screwed in at the same level with each other. Then fasteners are installed under the beacons and the profiles are finally fixed. The thickness of the applied layer is regulated by protrusion and screwing of self-tapping screws at the locations of the beacons.
Mixing the solution
Capacity, for example, a plastic bucket, fill with water. Pour dry finished composition. The exact ratio of ingredients is indicated on the package. Using a construction mixer allows you to achieve a uniform structure. To do this, you can use a powerful drill with a special nozzle. When preparing a gypsum mortar, it is necessary to knead the components twice with an interval of about 2 minutes. The indicated proportions should be strictly observed, since an excess of any component will lead to a decrease in the strength of the composition.
Depending on the required thickness of the applied layer, the density of the solution is determined, which is desirable. If a thick layer of plaster is required, make a thick batch. It does not slip off the spatula.
Solution application
Before applying the solution to the wall, you need to make sure that the wall absorbs moisture well. If this figure is reduced, it is necessary to slightly moisten the wall, and then proceed to plastering.
The algorithm for applying the mixture:
![](https://i2.wp.com/planken.guru/images/434680/vyrovnyat_steny_shpaklevkoy.jpg)
Arrangement of slopes and corners
Using a large square falcon or an angled trowel, you can form the inside corners of the walls. They are brought to evenness by passing a plastic pipe with a diameter of 60 to 100 mm along the beacons.
Door and window slopes must be formed with an extension inward, in other words, leave the dawn of the slope, as the builders say. Obtuse angles are formed by means of a wooden slat, which are laid on the frame, or a special beacon for slopes. To level the surface, the corners are rolled with a pipe.
Finish alignment
The final step is grouting the plaster. It is better to carry out this work until the solution has completely solidified. For grouting, a mixture of plaster of a more liquid consistency is used.
Finishing Algorithm:
![](https://i1.wp.com/planken.guru/images/434681/shtukaturka_sten_mayakam.jpg)
Under laying the tiles, grouting is not necessary. This is due to the fact that for improved adhesion, artificial irregularities will have to be applied.
Even if the plaster could not be done perfectly the first time, you should not despair. Everything comes with practice. But by learning how to level the walls yourself, you can save a lot of money on the work of a professional plasterer.
The process of applying plaster on beacons takes place in several stages:
- Preparation of the rough surface for the implementation of work.
- Exposure of beacons, according to the building level.
- Applying plaster.
- Implementation of the finishing touch.
Consider each stage in more detail. Initially, the working surface undergoes appropriate preparation, in which the walls are treated with a primer. At the next stage, the locations of the beacons are calculated, and their direct installation is carried out. The beacons are fixed with self-tapping screws, which are screwed into holes previously made with a puncher.
After installing the first beacons, you need to make sure that the horizontal and vertical levels are observed. Since the beacons act as the basis for the plaster solution, it is necessary to make sure of the strength and quality of their installation. The next stage is characterized by the application of plaster, which is given some time to solidify.
The peculiarity of this plastering method is the method of applying the solution. The sketch of the finished mixture occurs heap, vertically, from the bottom up. Its leveling between the space of lighthouses occurs with the help of special construction tools. In the process of carrying out this manipulation, the excess mass is removed. After some time, when the solution has set, the specialists remove the beacons, and their locations are sealed with the same mixture.
The final step is grouting, which is the most important process. That is why such work should be performed only by professional craftsmen. The drying time of surfaces depends on many factors, therefore it does not have a clear framework. From the layer of applied plaster, the temperature in the room, the level of humidity depends on the drying rate, and accordingly the possibility of operating the room.
In addition to the professionalism of workers, it is necessary to pay attention to the quality of the materials used. It is from them that the durability of the repair work and their appearance will depend.
The specialists of our company have considerable experience and a high level of qualification. Therefore, our company provides customers with warranty obligations for up to 3 years.
The cost of plastering walls for lighthouses
View | Price per sq/m |
Plaster under the spatula gypsum plaster. | 290 rubles/m2 |
Plaster under the rule. | 330 rubles/m2 |
Wall plastering on beacons with a layer up to 30 mm | 490 rubles/m2 |
Plaster walls of complex geometric shapes | 690 rubles/m2 |
Applying decorative Venetian plaster | from 1,000 rubles/m2 |
Application of decorative plaster | from 1 490 rubles/m2 |
Removal (dismantling) of old plaster | 150 rubles/m2 |
Door trim plaster | 200 rubles/m2 |
Corner Alignment | 450 rub./p.m. |
Reinforcement with a plastering and painting network (cobweb) | 65 rubles / m2. |
Beacons for plaster help to cope with the work quickly and easily. For beginners, do-it-yourself wall plastering on ready-made lighthouses is the only right decision. The difficulty lies in the installation of profiles. Consider what tools are needed for work, what is the peculiarity of plaster and technology. Step-by-step instructions will help you do everything yourself.
Tools and materials
Lighthouses are guiding elements. These can be string beacons for plaster, metal profiles, wooden slats or PVC products. Types of beacons for plaster are varied. You need to select the type of product and buy it. You will also need the following arsenal of tools and materials:
All tools can be found at home or bought at a hardware store. The only problem is the perforator. It will cost the most.
Advice! If you have a good friend with a puncher, you can borrow the tool from him.
Surface preparation and priming
Before plastering on the lighthouses, a number of preparatory work is carried out. First, the room is cleared of everything that will interfere: furniture, decorative elements, curtains, etc. Next, the old wall covering is removed, if any. The wallpaper is soaked with water and removed with a spatula, it is also convenient to remove the putty with a spatula. As for the old plaster, it is knocked off with a puncher with a chisel. And solvents will help get rid of the paint. At the end, the surface is tapped in order to detect lagging fragments. They are also removed.
Plastering walls requires priming the surface for high-quality adhesion with plaster. If the wall surface is non-porous and smooth, Betonkontakt is used, while hydrophobic walls require a deep penetration primer. A section of the wall is primed with a roller, hard-to-reach places are treated with a brush. The composition is applied in two layers with a break for drying.
Using the building level, the evenness of the wall is checked. It is important to determine the vertical deviations by applying a level. With the help of a long rule, all depressions and protrusions are found on the wall. They need to be marked with a marker. Now you can make fasteners for beacons under plaster. This is the most important step. In order for the work to be done correctly, markup is performed.
markup
We will consider the markings on the wall, the length of which is 5.8 m, and the height is 2.75 m. To begin with, you need to retreat 30 cm from the corner of the wall and put a mark with a marker. Next, you need a 15 cm indent from the floor and ceiling. Marks are also made in these places. It remains to apply a perfectly even line on the wall with an indent of 30 cm from the corner and 15 cm from the ceiling and floor. The size of the beacons for plaster is selected depending on the height of the ceiling.
Advice! To make the vertical line even, use the rule.
The distance between the beacons should not exceed the length of your rule. If the tool is smaller, then the distance is reduced. So, the second line is drawn from another corner of the wall. The indents are the same. It turns out that the distance between the lines is 5.2 m (60 cm - indent on both sides). In this case, four sections can be made inside, each 1.3 m in size.
Departing from the first line of the selected size, the remaining lines are applied on the wall. Beacons will be installed on the wall under plaster along these lines. Now you can do the extreme lines. We have a 15 cm indent from the ceiling and floor. In these places (at the edges of the lines), holes are made for dowels. Then the dowel itself is driven in and the self-tapping screw is screwed in. A cord is tied to the screws and stretched in a horizontal position. It should look like a rectangle outline.
Adjustment of the resulting contour:
- If the wall is littered evenly by 15 mm, then the distance from the wall to the contour of the future surface should be 25 mm. This includes a blockage of the wall, a profile thickness of 6 mm and a margin of 4 mm. Accordingly, if the blockage is larger, the distance also increases.
- The contour is checked by a level for verticality. If necessary, adjust the screw depth.
- Before placing beacons for plaster, it is important to check the correct markings. To do this, pull the cord diagonally.
- Using the profile, you need to draw them along the wall under the threads. He shouldn't hurt them. If this happened in one place, we adjust the contour with corner screws.
- As for the horizontal cord, the profile may touch it slightly.
Installing profiles
Now everything is ready for mounting. For further work, you can use plastic beacons for plaster or metal products. Their fixation is performed in different ways. Before you install beacons under the plaster, you need to prepare a solution. Metal products are attached precisely to the plaster. It is applied in one line in small portions, after which the profile is recessed into the plaster to the desired size (to stand flush with the self-tapping screws). When all profiles are level, you can unscrew the screws. But the plastic plaster beacon is installed on special fasteners.
You will learn more about how to install beacons for plaster using fasteners from this video.
A relatively new method is plastering on string beacons. The following video will introduce you to this method:
Preparation of plaster
When the beacons are exposed, you can start mixing the solution. Gypsum plaster mixtures are sold dry or ready-made. To work, you need to mix the dry mixture with water, and just open the finished solution and get to work. As for the cement composition, it is done by hand. Creation is the following:
- Cement M400 or higher is mixed with sand. Proportion 1:3.
- A little water is added to the mixture and the contents are mixed.
- The solution is brought to the state of thick sour cream and you can start plastering on the lighthouses.
Note! For plasticity and good adhesion, water is mixed with PVA glue. The fact is that ready-made mixtures already contain plasticizers and additives that improve plaster.
Applying plaster
Working with profiles is quite simple. Work begins with one of the finished sections, the first from the corner. The whole process of plastering can be divided into three stages:
![](https://i0.wp.com/strir.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/mayaki-7.jpg)
Note! The entire plastering process is level controlled.
Conclusion
That's all, the plastering work is completed. It remains to process the corners and places near the ceiling and floor. Thanks to detailed instructions and visual videos, even a beginner will be able to do the plastering on the lighthouses with their own hands.
Wall alignment can be carried out using several different technologies, all of which have their advantages, disadvantages and tricks. The most popular technology is the alignment of walls with lighthouses. It is one of the fastest, most reliable and, most importantly, effective load-bearing surface leveling technologies. I will talk about it in this article.
Tools and materials
As for any other stage of repair work, in order to align the walls with lighthouses, you need your own specific set of tools and materials.
Of the tools you will need:
- Trowel - a necessary tool for leveling corners;
- Half trowel - will be needed at the final stages;
- The rule is the main tool for aligning walls with lighthouses;
- Container for mixing the leveling mixture;
- Drill with a mixer - needed for mounting beacons and mixing the mixture;
- Roller and brush - will be needed in the priming process;
- Water or normal levels - are necessary to set the future plane of the wall.
Materials needed to level the walls:
- plaster mixture;
- Primer;
- Beacons for leveling walls;
- 8 mm dowel;
- Screws are self-tapping screws.
Of the plaster mixtures, I can advise two compositions, one based on cement, and the second with gypsum as a binder. The first option, namely the cement-sand composition, is used for significant curvature of the walls, it is cheaper than gypsum plaster, but at the same time its consumption is relatively higher.
Gypsum-based stucco is more expensive, but it also takes much less. Used on walls with slight irregularities. One of the main advantages of this composition can be called fast drying, due to which, the speed of work increases.
The priming of the walls must be carried out so that the plaster mixture adheres better to the bearing surface. There are many different compounds, for different surfaces, from concrete to metal and wood. For priming brick and concrete walls, use an acrylic primer, its composition is universal, this composition cannot be used only on metal surfaces.
Beacons for leveling walls, 8 mm dowels and screws are used in conjunction. The beacon is needed to set the future level of the plane and serves as a guide when aligning the walls. Dowels and screws are needed in order to fix the beacon and adjust its deviation relative to the wall.
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Wall cleaning and priming
This stage is the first in any repair work, where the “protagonists” are the walls. This is not surprising, because the cleaner the surface, the more efficient the work will be with it, the better any type of cladding will lie.
It is worth starting cleaning the surface by turning off the electricity in the room. This is necessary so that moisture does not seep into the wall and a short circuit does not occur. In addition, the wall will need to be drilled, and if a person accidentally gets into the wiring with a drill, it will not be pleasant.
If you are leveling a wall in a house where there is already a lining, after you have de-energized the room, you need to clean the wall of old facing and decorative material, pieces of wallpaper, paint, and decorative plaster. You also need to tear off all the putty from the wall, and if the integrity of the old plaster is broken and there are voids in it, it is better to remove it as well.
If the old layer of plaster is quite suitable, then it should be checked for serious damage, such as chips, cracks, peeling, which most often occurs in the corners. If such damage exists, they must be repaired with a small amount of solution. Gently cover all imperfections, and let dry.
After all the shortcomings have been eliminated, the surface has been cleaned of debris and dust, the wall can be pre-primed. To do this, pour the primer into a special bath, moisten the roller in it, and removing the excess, thoroughly coat the entire surface so that there are no dry spots anywhere. In the corners, instead of a roller, use a hard brush, with its help, priming the corners is much easier and more efficient.
For more productive and convenient priming, use a roller with a telescopic handle, so you can cover the entire height of the wall without dragging a stepladder around the room.
Installation of beacons
This is the most important stage in the work of leveling walls using this technology. The final result depends on how well the level of beacons will be set. The first thing to do to install beacons is to mark the wall for future fasteners. After marking, in the corner you need to drill holes for the first rail, in the places where you put the marks.
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Make holes with a drill and a drill with a diameter of 8 mm. After that, plastic dowels are inserted into the holes. They should go into the hole completely, if they don’t go in, you can knock them out with a hammer, but gently so as not to break the hat.
Next, you need to screw the screws into the holes, setting the vertical level along their caps, using a plumb line. Install the mounts for the beacon on the hats, and install the rail itself in them. The first lighthouse has been installed. Next, do the same in the opposite corner, but do not install the beacon, leave only the screws twisted in level.
Pulling a thread between opposite screws, find the most protruding part of the wall, and, by twisting and unscrewing the screws, set the horizontal level. Do the same for the rest of the intermediate screws. Install fasteners and aluminum profiles on the remaining self-tapping screws.
Calculate the distance between the beacons, taking into account the fact that it should be 10 cm less than the length of the tool with which you are going to work, leveling the walls. In our case, this tool is the rule.
The advantage of this method of installing beacons is in the speed of installation, the convenience of adjusting the required level of the plane and the strength of the structure.
Applying plaster
The stage of applying the plaster begins with the dilution of the solution. If you plan to use cement-sand plaster, then you can mix the volume of the solution for one day of work. If a gypsum-based mixture is used, then it must be prepared in portions, at the rate of one portion for one hour of work, since gypsum sets very quickly.
If the final layer of plaster should be more than 10–15 mm thick, then it must be applied in two layers. When applying the first layer, it should not reach the beacons of 5-7 mm, after it sets, you can apply the second layer, without forgetting to apply a new layer of primer before that.
You need to apply plaster on the wall using the rule. To do this, put the solution on the tool, distributing it along the entire length. Take the rule firmly with both hands, attach it to the wall and slide it over the surface from top to bottom. To make the solution lay down more evenly, make small movements to the sides when applying.