How to properly level the walls

There are many ways to finish the walls, but most of them require an even and direct basis, but in reality everything is not so smooth. The walls of modern houses and, especially, buildings of old construction only seem to be flat, but are not suitable for tiling, laminate or paneling, because they have horizontal or vertical differences that are invisible to the eye. In this article, we will tell you how to properly level the walls for finishing with any materials.

Preparatory work for

Any repair begins with preparation, and wall alignment is no exception. In this case, first of all, it is necessary to determine the degree of unevenness of the surface in order to know the better the walls are leveled and how many materials are needed.

How to determine the degree of curvature of the wall:

1. Equip a long building rule in 2-2.5 m long. In the corner of the room near the ceiling, hammer a nail, leaving the hat sticking out for 2-3 mm( so that you can tie a string with a nail).This nail is your starting lighthouse.
2. Tie a lanyard or strong thread to the nut or any other weight and hang it by the nail so that the load does not touch the floor. Wait until it stops shaking, and the thread forms a straight line.
3. Kill the second nail-beacon at the bottom of the wall and drive it exactly so that the hat and thread are on the same level.
4. Repeat this procedure with a different angle on the opposite wall. As a result, you will get 4 beacons along the perimeter and 2 equal lines, respectively.
5. Take a long string or cord and pull it between the top nail of one part of the wall and the bottom one - the other( diagonally).Repeat with the second pair of lighthouses. When fixing the threads crosswise, make sure that they do not touch the surface of the wall.
6. Now with these strands stretched over four points, you will be able to determine what condition any wall in the room is in.

Choosing the alignment method

To determine how to level the walls in an apartment, it is necessary, first, to determine the degree of their curvature, and second, to determine the finish finish. If you want to apply decorative shpaklevku, paint or paste wallpaper, use GKL.If you want to know how to level the walls under a tile, mosaic, laminate or other similar materials, it is better to use dry mixes. Experts strongly do not recommend putting tiles on gypsum board, because it has an excessively smooth surface with insufficient adhesion. However, despite this, there are some mounting technologies that allow to get a strong and durable tiling based on GCR.More details of this topic are disclosed in the article "Laying tiles on gypsum board".

Aligning with dry mixes

Align walls with plaster, as practice shows, is the most versatile option, relevant for any finishing material, whether it's wallpaper or tile. Despite the high laboriousness of working with mixtures, you get a better and durable result.

How to level the walls with putty:

1. Prepare the walls by cleaning them from the previous covering and completely turning off the power supply in the apartment.
2. Cover the wall with a deep penetration primer. If you work in a room with a high level of humidity, apply a moisture-resistant primer in two layers, waiting for the complete drying of each. So you will make the wall stronger and more resistant to the effects of wet fumes. Walls in a bathroom or a bath are recommended to be impregnated with an antiseptic in order to avoid the appearance of fungus or mold.
3. Since you already know how to determine the degree of curvature of the wall, it is not difficult to set up beacons. Take the metal perforated profiles - they will perform the function of landmarks. With a plumb-line, determine the vertical location of the lighthouse and fix it with plaster solution( apply on a profile in several places and lightly press against the wall, drowning so that its outer edge is level with the plait thread).
   
4. First install the side beacons at the different ends of the wall, and then intermediate. The distance between the profiles should be slightly less than the length of the tool with which you will apply the plaster. A couple of words about the tools: you need a spatula for applying and smoothing the solution, a drill mixer, a mixing tank and a plaster falcon. Many work without a plaster falcon, but meanwhile it greatly simplifies the process. This is a square shield with a handle about 40x40 cm in size, to which plaster is applied, so as not to bend to the bucket every time.
5. When everything is ready, plaster can be applied. Take in one hand a scapula, in the other - a falcon and put on it a little solution. Throw a small amount of the mixture on the wall and proceed to leveling. To transfer the mixture from the falcon to the wall, attach it to the surface and point it from the bottom to the top.
   
6. At first to achieve a completely flat surface will be difficult, but with practice will come and dexterity. Lighthouses are very helpful in understanding how to level the walls in the house, but for landmarks you can take any rails of the necessary length up to 3 cm wide and thick in the thickness of the plaster layer. First, poluterkom level the solution between the beacons, then set a rule on them and draw them from the bottom-up. Throw in the solution until the plaster comes out level with the tops of the lighthouses.
7. When the surface is level, carefully remove the beacons from the wall, and fill the remaining grooves with a mortar and level with a spatula.
8. Another difficulty is how to level the corner of the wall. At the junction with the ceiling or two adjacent walls, you need to create absolutely even angles. This can be done on the level or on the boograms( on the plane) - it all depends on the nature of the finish finish. If you will glue wallpaper, level by level, if you plan to cover the walls with plaster or paint - on the boograms.
9. For internal corners, many use reinforcing tape. Apply the putty on the inner sides of the corner with a spatula soaked in water. Dampen the reinforcing tape with water and bend it in half along, put it on the corner and lightly pour it into the putty. Carefully align it, straightening from top to bottom. Finally, use a damp spatula on both sides of the corner, keeping the edge as close as possible to the bend point. Your task is to drive out an excess solution from under the tape. Finish with a trowel. If there is a slight riffling, fix it with a thin layer of finishing putty.

Useful tip: When choosing a dry mix, pay attention to the thickness of the layer, as well as the nature of the binding component. For example, it is recommended to take gypsum solutions for rooms with a low or normal humidity, as in a kitchen or bathroom such walls quickly damp and crack. For wet rooms, choose mixtures on a mineral basis. Cement plaster can be made by hand, mixing 1 part of the cement brand at least 400 with 6 parts of sifted fine sand and diluting all the water to a creamy state. You can vary the amount of sand in order to get a different plasticity of the solution - the smaller the sand, the more plastic the solution is, and it's easier to work with it( but then more cement will be needed, which means that the repair costs will rise).Attention! Use the ready-made solution in 1-2 hours, otherwise it will solidify or lose its properties, so do not mix large volumes immediately.

Alignment with plasterboard

Align walls with plasterboard is much easier than dry construction mixes. This work is much cleaner, faster and more suitable for novice builders. A wide range of GCR allows you to work in virtually any room, even with a high level of humidity. In addition, drywall allows you to level the walls with strong differences in height and horizontally, which would require applying too thick a layer of plaster. And although this method is actual for decoration with wallpaper or paint, in some cases this is the only way to get smooth and smooth walls.

There are two ways to install GCR for wall alignment: on the frame and on the glue. The first method is suitable for surfaces with severe differences and helps to level the wooden walls, the second can hide minor surface defects and get a perfectly flat base for finishing. It is also permissible to combine these two options to achieve accurate joining of walls and ceiling. The skeleton method is the most common, therefore we will consider it first and in all details.

For the manufacture of a frame, a special metal profile is used under the GKL.Fixation is carried out by means of screws and screws. Before telling the instructions how to level the walls for wallpapers or tiles, we should mention one nuance of the skeleton method - because of the large thickness of the resulting plating, several centimeters of the useful area of ​​the walls on each side( about 4-5 cm) go away. And if in a spacious room this can be unnoticeable, then for smaller rooms it is better to use a different method.

Instruction and video how to properly align the walls:

1. Remove the old coating from the walls and clean the surface.
2. Priming in this case is not necessary to increase adhesion, but to strengthen and protect the walls from moisture and fungus. If you are laying the outer wall or wall in a damp room, treat it with an antiseptic.
3. Build the frame from the galvanized profile, first mounting the profile UD on the floor, the ceiling and adjacent walls to get a frame. Then inside this frame it is possible to fasten the jumpers from the thinner profile of the CD, which will hold the gypsum boards. In more detail all the details of the fastening process are described in the article "How to fix the drywall to the profile".
4. When the frame is ready, you can start installing the GCR, but before that you need to measure, count and number them so that they fit perfectly into the given area. GKL is convenient in that it is easy to be processed at home by improvised tools. In the article "How to cut the drywall sheets correctly" everything is described in detail.
5. To seal seams between drywall sheets, use a special self-adhesive mesh. Stick it on the seams, and then cover with the starting putty to bring it to the same level with the surface. The subsequent processing of the wall depends on the selected lining. If you put a tile or other dense, non-translucent material, you can simply cover the joints with filler and everything. But before painting or gluing the wallpaper, the wall should be completely covered with a white finish putty with a layer of 1-2 mm, sanded and primed. The article "Pasting wallpaper on gypsum board" says a lot of useful information on this topic.

But most often the owners of apartments do not want to sacrifice free space and build a frame. If the wall has local swings and defects in the form of bumps or grooves, they can be leveled with plaster or stucco to get a relatively flat surface, and then glue it to GCR.All technology is described in detail in the articles "Aligning walls with plasterboard without a frame" and "Installing drywall on glue. How to glue drywall ".You can also benefit from the article "How to install sockets in drywall".

Now you know how to align the walls with tiles, wallpaper or any other finish. We hope, this article will help you to make repairs quickly and qualitatively with your own hands. Finally, we offer you to read one more useful video on how to level the walls with plasterboard: