Wall decoration for wallpaper. Technology for preparing walls for wallpapering

Aligning the walls under the wallpaper is a mandatory procedure before pasting. Ideal surfaces do not exist, you can almost always find flaws even in new buildings, where apartments are being prepared for finishing, and therefore, before sticking rolled materials, you must perform the following steps:

1. to dismantle the old coating;
2. remove irregularities, repair cracks and shells on the surface;
3. if necessary, level the base with a plaster mortar or plasterboard;
4. apply soil.

How to remove old wallpaper

For each type of wallpaper (non-woven, vinyl, paper, photo wallpaper and liquid wallpaper) there are different methods of removal. There are no universal ways to remove the old coating, so you should consider the most effective and proven options.

To get rid of the standard paper wallpaper, you will need hot water, a roller or sprayer, a spatula. Old wallpaper must be moistened with plenty of hot water, after which the glue will soften and the tapestries can be removed in whole strips, prying the edge with a spatula.

Before performing these procedures, turn off the power in the room to avoid a short circuit. It is recommended to cover the floor with plastic wrap, and move all the furniture to the next room. For more effective removal of paper wallpaper, ingredients of your choice can be added to the water:

• 50 grams of crushed laundry soap per 10 liters of water;
• 10 ml of fabric softener per 10 liters of water;
• 30 ml of table vinegar per 10 liters of water.

For removing paper wallpaper with plasterboard surface it is recommended to use a highly diluted adhesive solution (5 times the water norm), there are also special dry or liquid compositions for removing old wallpaper.

Vinyl wallpapers have increased moisture protection, so this type of coating cannot be removed with water. If the structure of the vinyl wallpaper has retained its strength, you can try to remove them "dry".

To do this, you need to carefully bring the spatula to the bottom edge of the wallpaper and peel off the vinyl surface moving up, and the remaining paper base is removed according to the general principle with hot water. If it is impossible to remove the vinyl layer, they usually resort to making cuts along the entire height of the tapestries, after which water is applied, which penetrates into the paper base, and the sheets are scraped off with a spatula.

Non-woven wallpaper glued on high-quality and durable glue, which is very difficult to remove from the wall, therefore, in this case, first remove the tapestries with hot water and a spatula, and then clean the wall surface from the glue.

deal with adhesives such as MTs and KMTs It is possible with the help of steaming, for which an electric steam generator is used. If there is no such tool, an ordinary iron and a piece of dense natural fabric can be used for the same purpose.

The fabric must be plentifully moistened with hot water, slightly wrung out, then thrown over the wall and ironed with an iron at the maximum temperature. Steamed tapestries are easily removed in large pieces, in some cases you can help a little with a spatula.

Liquid wallpaper can be removed in any way, and to remove cullet you will need to purchase ready-made solutions and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

How to remove old paint

In the recent past, walls in kitchens were most often painted with oil paint, but modern rolled materials, such as vinyl wallpaper, are not inferior in strength and water resistance to paintwork, so you should consider installing wallpaper in rooms where the wall surface was previously painted.

It is impossible to glue wallpaper on a painted surface (or rather, it is possible, but with preliminary preparation, about which there will be a separate article on our website) - there is no adhesion. Therefore, before proceeding with the installation of roll materials, you should get rid of the paintwork.

Removing the old coating is not easy, for this process you will need the following tools:

• for mechanical removal of paint: a machine with a cutting wheel and various nozzles, scraping tools (knife, chisel, ax, spatula);
• for removal using chemical reagents: solvent for a specific type of paint, brush;
• for thermal removal of paint: blowtorch, building hair dryer, spatula;
• protective equipment: a respirator, goggles and overalls.

Remove paintwork mechanically- a laborious task, but it is safer for health than other methods. The impact on the painted surface is carried out using a power tool with various nozzles or an ax, bubbling paint is well removed with a spatula, in hard-to-reach places you will have to use a chisel or knife.

To remove paint using chemicals you will need to purchase special washes or solvents. Substances are sprayed or applied with a brush to the surface, wait, according to the instructions, for a certain period of time, and then remove the paint with a spatula.

The disadvantages of this method include the following factors:

• high cost of chemicals;
• for each layer of paint, a new portion of the solvent will be required;
• the unpleasant smell of the solvent lasts for a long time in the room even with active ventilation;
• All work must be carried out in special protective equipment.

Using folk methods, you can inexpensively prepare the walls for wallpapering. Step by step instructions for preparation and use flushing solution at home:

1. Take 250 ml of ammonia, 1000 ml of water and stir.
2. 2000 grams of building chalk are poured into the finished solution and stirred.
3. The finished mixture is applied to the surface and wait two hours.
4. The paint is removed together with the dried layer of the mixture with a spatula.

Under thermal action on the paintwork, the surface layer of paint softens, after which it can be easily removed with a spatula. This method is associated with an increased release of caustic fumes into the air, so the use of a respirator and a protective mask is mandatory.

If you don’t have a blowtorch or a building hair dryer at hand, you can work on the painted surface with an ordinary iron, heating the wall through a paper gasket or foil.

How to fix cracks

Sealing cracks is one of the main processes for preparing walls for wallpaper. The order of work, upon detection of chips and cracks, is as follows:

• It is necessary to prepare tools and materials: spatulas (wide and narrow), brush 150 mm wide, sandpaper, putty, reinforcing mesh.
• The edges of the detected crack should be expanded with a spatula.

• Around the crack, it is necessary to clean the surface with sandpaper.
• Small particles and dust are removed from the crack.
• Using a brush, primer is used to treat the inner surface of the crack and the wall around, at a distance of 5-7 cm from the edge of the crack.
• Using a spatula, putty is placed in the crack. Currently, acrylic sealant is more often used, which is squeezed into the repair site with a mounting gun.

• When the repair compound dries, putty is applied to the gap with a thin layer and a reinforcing mesh of the desired size is glued.
• After the solution has dried, a layer of putty is applied over the reinforcing mesh and leveled with a spatula.
• A completely dried patch is sanded with sandpaper or a grinder.

If repairs are being made to a newly commissioned new building, you should make sure that the cracks do not tend to expand and increase in length, this process often occurs when the house shrinks.

To fix the initial position of the crack, it is enough to make a mark with a pencil on the wall. If the process is in dynamics, the repair should be postponed, since the putty will simply fall out of such a crack, and the work will have to be done again.

In most cases, to seal large gaps, it is better to use a standard cement-sand mortar, and grout with a gypsum-based putty.

alignment

If the surface for gluing has significant vertical differences, it is recommended to produce drywall sheets. It will be difficult to perform plastering on your own, without a certain experience, but a beginner can also master the installation of plasterboard.

Plastering

Wall plastering for wallpaper is carried out if necessary to level the surface with vertical differences of up to 30 mm. Plastering the walls in the room begins with the placement of beacons. There are several ways to install rails, but most often finishers use special metal rails that are leveled on a gypsum or plaster mortar.

The width between the rails should not exceed the length of the rule. Before you prepare the walls for wallpapering with plaster, the base must be primed.

Plastering is carried out in stages:

1. the surface is treated with a primer;
2. the first layer of the solution is applied - spray;
3. the second layer (primer) is applied after the first has dried;
4. for the final leveling of the surface, a solution with a high content of cement is prepared;
5. After the finish layer has dried, the surface is grouted and polished.

The solution is applied from the bottom up between the beacons, starting from the lower left corner of the room, gradually moving to the right. It is necessary to properly level the plaster layer, stretching the solution from the bottom up, removing excess mixture and sealing up places where the solution is not enough.

Drywall

How to align the walls under the wallpaper in the presence of significant (more than 40 mm) vertical differences? In such a situation, they traditionally resort to installing drywall, but it is better for residents of small-sized panel houses and Khrushchev houses to do with other methods of leveling the walls, since the drywall base eats up to 100 mm.

Owners of private wooden houses should also be careful with the use of gypsum boards - if they do not live in the house permanently, the humidity and temperature conditions change, which leads to the destruction of the material.

Drywall is usually mounted on a crate of metal guides, which are fixed to the concrete base with dowels before installation, after being leveled by a plumb line or a laser level. The joints of the sheets must be glued with a sickle and plastered, and each corner is also processed. Before pasting, the prepared surface should be primed with a primer under the wallpaper.

With vertical differences of less than 40 mm, sheets can be mounted with glue, for which a thick layer of adhesive solution is applied to the wall surface and the GKL is pressed against it. Tracking the vertical with a level, the sheet is either pressed more strongly, or vice versa, the pressure is relieved, achieving the desired position. This method is not reliable, since after the glue has completely dried, shrinkage occurs, which can lead to the appearance of voids and cracks on the gypsum board.

Priming before wallpaper

For proper and high-quality preparation of walls for gluing with your own hands, it is imperative to treat the surface with a primer. The primer provides higher adhesion of the adhesive to the wall and wallpaper, and also serves as an additional tool for leveling the surface, removing fine dust and smoothing porosity.

The primer is available for every type of surface: concrete, wood, drywall, cement-based or gypsum-based plaster. The order of use of the primer composition depends on the material being processed, but the following step-by-step algorithm is usually used:

1. The base is cleaned of small fractions of dirt and dust;
2. Begin treatment with a primer solution diluted with water. A more liquid composition is rough and provides pre-impregnation of the base;
3. The final layer is prepared with the usual consistency and applied after the first one has completely dried, which is completely absorbed quite quickly, in 3-4 hours;
4. On large surfaces, the primer is applied with a roller, and in the corners of the wall it is treated with a brush 150 mm wide.

How to prepare walls for liquid wallpaper

If it was decided to finish the walls with liquid wallpaper, the task of preparing the surface is somewhat easier, since there are no requirements for a perfectly even base in this case. So, how to prepare the walls for wallpaper of this type:

1. At the first stage, it is necessary to clean the wall from the old coating and dirt.
2. If excessive porosity of the surface is found, it is recommended to apply one coat of gypsum-based leveling plaster.
3. Next, the surface should be treated with a primer. If the work is done in old houses, it is recommended to carry out a double treatment with a primer.

A mandatory procedure before installing liquid wallpaper is the application of water-based paint. According to the technology, it is recommended to paint the walls in white or another light tone, in which case the base will not shine through with both dark and light finishing materials.

Related videos

Almost any type of interior decoration requires preliminary work, and wallpapering is no exception. Unfortunately, the preparation of walls for wallpaper in our new buildings is a necessity. Of course, it is possible to conclude an agreement providing for a fine or rough finish of an apartment, but the price of living space with this option will increase significantly. Therefore, the newly-minted apartment owners believe that the initial stage of finishing the apartment can be done with your own hands.

The need to prepare the walls. Causes

Among the many reasons that provoke the initial preparation of walls for wallpapering, there are four main ones:

These are reasons that indicate the need to prepare the walls for wallpapering, but some homeowners ignore this step. The motivation of these people is quite simple, in their opinion, the wallpaper changes every few years. However, replacements require low-budget materials that were applied without prior preparation. Wallpaper of good quality, pasted on the walls in compliance with all the rules, can last at least ten years.

To make wall coverings look decent, it is not enough navigate only on their appearance and high price, do not forget about preliminary works . Preparing the walls for wallpaper, the order of work provides for the following:

These are the main stages of preparing the walls of a new building for wallpapering, but there are also difficulties in the secondary housing market. The sequence of actions and attention to even the smallest elements have a positive effect on the quality of the preparatory work, and, therefore, on the final result.

There are apartment owners who prefer to glue new wallpapers directly on top of the old ones. Of course, everyone has their own approach to applying wall coverings, but this method is fraught with consequences. For example, if the first layer of wallpaper begins to peel off, then the coatings that have been glued recently will also have to be dismantled. Thus, the possible savings in money and resources will plunge you into even greater expenses. In addition, applying new wallpaper to the old one can provoke the appearance of fungi and mold under them, because the ventilation of the walls will be significantly difficult. Do not forget that on the wallpaper pasted over the old ones, after drying, bumps may appear, because the wall was unprepared.

Removing old wallpaper from walls

In order to get rid of old wallpaper applied to the walls of the apartment, you can use the following means:

• wide and narrow spatulas, the edge of which is desirable to sharpen;
• Steam Mop;
• a special needle roller (it will be needed for perforation);
• vinegar essence;
• dishwashing detergents that can dissolve glue and fats;
• conditioner used for washing;
• warm water;
• spray.

Removing wallpaper next to heating elements and window sills is almost impossible to remove without the use of improvised means. Therefore, the masters resort to various tricks. For example, initially a section of wallpaper that caused difficulties is proposed to be moistened with water using a roller or sprayer. By dissolving detergents or vinegar in water, you will speed up the process of removing old coatings and, as a result, decorate your home with new wallpaper faster.

Preparation of painted surfaces

There are also painted walls in apartments, on which it is highly not recommended to glue wallpaper without preparation. From a smooth surface, wall coverings will fall off after two to three months. To avoid such troubles, it is worthwhile to carry out preparatory work in advance, which will consist in removing a layer of paint.

Sometimes the owners of apartments and houses try to save time by removing only the top layer of paint with sandpaper or making a few notches on the wall. Such preparation most of all resembles self-deception, and naturally, cannot guarantee high-quality wallpaper fixation, this is especially true for heavy vinyl wallpapers.

Preparation of painted walls for wallpapering with a building hair dryer

To obtain a decent result, the removal of old paint should be approached with special responsibility:

1. After removing the paint layer, prime the walls. Apply several layers if necessary.
2. The wall must dry.
3. Bumps and roughness are eliminated with sandpaper.

It will facilitate the preparation of painted walls for wallpapering with a building hair dryer, with which the paint layer is softened and then dismantled with a spatula.

Important! Working with a building hair dryer requires compliance with certain rules. The room must be ventilated. Otherwise, toxic substances emitted by heated paint can cause nausea, dizziness, and mild poisoning.

It is used to remove a layer of paint and a grinder equipped with a special disk. However, this method is associated with the appearance of a large amount of dust. Therefore, before you start working with the grinder, protect the floor with a film and close the doors to other rooms in the apartment. Also, take care of your health by wearing goggles and a respirator.

Take care of your health by wearing goggles and a respirator

findings

The process of preparing walls for wallpapering is quite lengthy and laborious. However, if you want the appearance of the walls to please you for a long time, in no case should you ignore it. Different wall surfaces require a different approach, but in any case, with due diligence and responsibility, you can do it yourself by preparing the walls for wallpapering. Non-woven or vinyl products, which differ in their thickness, require perfectly prepared walls. After all, such multilayer wallpapers that can last for a long time are distinguished by their solid weight. Therefore, the surface of the walls should provide high-quality fixation of such coatings.

The final result and the duration of the repair service life depend on how well the wall surface is prepared for decorative finishing (wallpaper, decorative plaster, tiles, painting). Many people know about the need to prepare concrete walls for wallpapering, but few know how to do it correctly in order to avoid the deplorable results of their work, which will eventually result in additional expenditure of time, effort and finances.

The main arguments for preparing concrete walls before wallpapering are the following:

The first stage of preparation

The preparation of concrete walls depends on whether the old coating is present on them, or whether the walls have never been decoratively finished.

Preparing for old wall coverings

The very first stage in the preparatory work for wallpapering is the dismantling of the old coating. If you do not dismantle the old wallpaper, further surface preparation measures will not make sense.

The canvas of old wallpaper needs to be softened. If the previous wallpaper was paper, they should be soaked in soapy water with the addition of wallpaper glue. On vinyl or non-woven wallpaper, you need to make cuts in order to get to the paper base, which should soften the soap solution. After the wallpaper has softened, it should be removed with a metal spatula. If they are difficult to remove, it is worth moistening them again with soapy water.

If the wall was painted with enamel or oil paint, it should be cleaned with coarse sandpaper. Water-based paint is removed similarly to paper wallpaper with a spatula.

If the previous wall decoration was under plaster, it is necessary to verify its integrity by tapping for voids. Empty places are removed and plastered, if there are a lot of such places, it is better to remove the entire layer and re-plaster the surface.

Wall preparation in a new building

Before preparing the walls for wallpapering in a new building, a rough finish should be carried out, which, in turn, consists of several stages:

Wall irregularities can be eliminated using a plaster mesh. To achieve maximum adhesion of the plaster to the surface, notches are made on a smooth concrete wall with a perforator.

Stage two: primer

After the end of the first stage, the preparation of the walls continues with their primer. It is needed in order to fasten the surface layer of the wall, penetrating deeply into plaster or concrete. The surface of the wall begins to absorb moisture worse, which improves the quality of its coating. In addition, the primer removes dust, cleaning the surface. It must be remembered that the preparation of concrete at each stage must be accompanied by priming.

The primer is applied with a roller or brush until a white foam is formed. If it is quickly absorbed, additional layers are applied. After the primer dries, the wall is rough leveled.

Stage three: putty

After the primer dries, the preparation of the walls continues by eliminating irregularities, defects, cracks. It is necessary to achieve the most even surface. Before applying putty, you need to make sure that there are no fasteners and fittings left in the wall, which will show up as rust through the wallpaper in the future. Areas where reinforcement is exposed must be puttied with special care. In order not to leave noticeable stripes, it is necessary to carry out the spatula first in a vertical position, then in a horizontal position. To obtain a better and more uniform coating, it is recommended to use a wide spatula 30-40 cm and hold it at an angle of 25-30 degrees relative to the wall. An angled spatula is used for filling corners.

Finishing preparation

The final preparation of the walls includes grinding the putty surface with a metal mesh or sandpaper from small irregularities after the putty has completely dried, and final priming until completely dry with the required number of layers.

This preparation of concrete walls is carried out when gluing paper, vinyl, non-woven wallpaper.

Preparation for liquid wallpaper

When preparing for liquid wallpaper, a perfectly flat surface is required, while when gluing non-woven wallpaper, some wall irregularities may become invisible. Preparing concrete walls for decorative plaster and liquid wallpaper is similar, but liquid wallpaper requires less time. It does not differ from the preparation for sticking ordinary wallpaper, except that liquid ones tend to draw stains and stains from concrete surfaces, so the walls must be covered with special products and several primer layers.

For concrete walls, gypsum is such a tool. It protects the adhesive included in the liquid wallpaper, allowing them to adhere securely to the concrete surface. Gypsum clogs all small bumps and pores, it can also be sanded. After it dries, the surface is primed and covered with white water-based paint so that the liquid wallpaper does not lose its color. Applying paint on concrete and plaster is ineffective, only on gypsum putty. Finally, a reinforcing primer is applied, which adheres the liquid wallpaper and the wall surface. Liquid wallpaper is applied with a spatula in the same way as decorative plaster.

Preparation for painting

When preparing a concrete wall for painting, it must be cleaned of any coating that has been applied and anything that may prevent an even layer of putty from lying down. All chips and cracks are sealed, then the concrete for painting is polished with sandpaper. To prime a concrete surface for painting, special deep penetration primers are needed to prevent swelling and peeling of the paint. It is possible to obtain a high-quality surface painting only after applying several layers of primer. Painting of concrete should be done after complete removal of dust with a roller. Proper painting is carried out, starting from the top of the wall.

Preparing for tiles

Preparation of a concrete surface for tiles is practically no different from other types of coatings. The preparation steps for tiles are the same as described above. A plus in the work, which will save time, is the absence of the need to align the wall under the tiles to a perfectly even state - it is enough to get rid of significant irregularities. An exception is the preparation for mosaic tiles with a paper base, which is glued like wallpaper - it requires a well-plastered surface. If the walls are even, the tiles are laid on tile adhesive or cement mortar, if not, then plaster mesh is additionally used.

After removing the old coating, the plaster is tapped for voids for repair. After that, the surface under the tile is treated with an antifungal primer, this is especially important if the bathroom or toilet is facing. Floor tiles in these rooms must be treated with waterproofing.

One of the main stages of apartment renovation is wallpapering. This type of room decoration requires some knowledge, since the preparation of the walls occupies an important place in this process. To get the desired result, it is necessary to properly prepare the surface for gluing. The features of this process will be discussed in our article.

Process Features

The process of preparing walls for wallpapering can never be ignored, because it is always important how well the canvas is glued. You should not think that all the flaws will hide under the new expensive wallpaper, so in no case do not skip the leveling step.

The reasons for preparing the walls for wallpapering are numerous, but I would like to note the main ones:

• The porous surface will not be able to hold the wallpaper for a long time.
• An uneven base will directly affect the final result.
• A smooth prepared surface will provide good adhesion to the coating.

In the process of surface preparation, you will need many tools, such as a roller, a knife, brushes of different sizes, a primer, putty, glue, sandpaper.

An important step in the work is the creation of a workspace. To protect the floor from various kinds of substances, it is recommended to cover the film. To avoid drafts, it is necessary to close the room and keep the temperature between eighteen and twenty degrees. It is important to make sure that there are no foreign objects left on the walls, such as old nails or screws. It is important to know that you should not leave the old wallpaper and glue new ones on them, otherwise the old pattern may appear, and the canvas may also swell.

Working with different surfaces

Before you start gluing walls with wallpaper, you should determine what type of surface you will have to work with:

• If the wall is done plasterboard, then, despite the fact that the surface in this case is quite smooth, it is characterized by porosity. It is required to perform additional smoothing of the plasterboard wall, while taking into account the existing numerous seams at the joints. It is recommended to use putty, but with a minimum consumption of material.
• For processing concrete wall it will take more time. It uses priming, plaster, and in some cases putty. The primer mixture improves the adhesion of materials. The problem of processing concrete surfaces is the dark color of the base, which is not very good if you are going to glue light wallpapers. The use of putty will come to the rescue.

• brick surfaces they are not even, so their preparation will take much longer. There is a long work ahead, which includes the stages of leveling by plastering, applying a primer solution, puttying. Mixtures for plastering are sold ready-made in specialized stores. To obtain a quality solution when diluting the dry mixture with water, it is better to use a mixer. The use of plaster is not always necessary. If the wall is dry and without bumps, then you should not spend money and time on this stage.

As for putty, it will help to properly fix the wallpaper. After the end of this stage of processing, the walls are sanded.

• OSB boards are similar to the previous type of base, so they should be processed in the same way. This also includes finishing the joints between the plates. The preparation of walls from OSB and chipboard is carried out with a special type of putty. Repairs in a new building are not always done with high quality, so often the owners of housing in a new panel house face the same problems as the residents of old buildings. It is often found that the sides of the panel are not even enough. Experts recommend using several layers of plaster before proceeding with wallpapering.

There is a variant of wallpapering on plywood. In this case, the preparatory work will consist of a preliminary application of a primer layer.

Next, you should pay attention to the seams between the canvases. It is important to be sure to putty them, otherwise the defects will show through the wallpaper. It is best to glue non-woven wallpaper on this type of surface, since their density will hide possible minor irregularities and roughness.

How to clean the surface?

An important procedure before sticking new wallpaper is getting rid of old coatings. This will require a number of cleaning tools that are easy to find in hardware stores. Cleaning the base for new wallpaper is not so difficult if you follow some basic rules:

• It should be remembered that near heaters and near windows, wallpaper leaves quickly, and this process does not consume much energy. If this cannot be done the first time, the wall is soaked with water and then the remnants of the wallpaper are removed with a spatula.
• If you have to remove old vinyl wallpaper, in this case it is important to first remove the vinyl layer, and only then the paper itself. Hot steam will help remove non-woven wallpaper. Thus, the old canvas will be removed very quickly.

• If the task is to get rid of old washable wallpaper, then this can only be done in layers. First, a thin layer is removed, then paper. The use of a steam iron or steam cleaner will also help here.
• Another problem in the cleaning phase is paint stripping. In this case, you can resort to several methods of removing the coating. You can try to clean the base with your hands and with the help of tools. A regular hammer or a metal brush works well.

An alternative would be the use of chemicals, the list of which is extensive and available for sale. After this cleaning it is imperative to wash the wall, preferably two or three times:

• If whitewash remains on the wall, then it should be of high quality, also without cracks and chips. On this basis, the new wallpaper will hold up well. However, whitewash is not always of good quality and may crumble. In this case, it should be cleaned in order to avoid problems in the future.
• Next, you need to clean the wall to get rid of debris and dirt with a vacuum cleaner or a broom with water.
• At the end of the stripping of the base, it is proposed to evaluate how ready the surface is for gluing.

What needs to be pre-treated?

From the correct processing of the walls before gluing depends on how long the new wallpaper will last. In this regard, it is required to process the base carefully so as not to miss important points, especially if you are going to do everything yourself:

• It is already known that the surface must be leveled and properly cleaned. Cleaned bases are checked for dents, scratches. There should be no dirt on the base. The use of putty will help to more thoroughly prepare the surface.
• A fungus may appear on the wall, in order to avoid this, the base should be smeared with special antifungal compounds. It is important to know that you need to prepare the base for puttying after applying the anti-fungal agent.

• If it is planned to cover with liquid wallpaper, then the processing technology is practically no different from surface preparation before gluing paper wallpaper. In this case, the base for wallpaper must be smeared with a primer mixture. Usually the surface is covered with primer in two layers.
• It is important to remember that if the walls are strewn with bumps, then no processing and further putty will save. This is where drywall comes in handy.

The order of work performed

The stages of preparing the walls have already been considered, however, now it is necessary to determine in more detail the sequence of preparatory work before pasting. Preparing the base for gluing is as important as processing it for painting.

Remove switch

During wall preparation work, it is recommended to remove the housings of electrical sockets and switches. There are various types of power supply devices, in connection with this it is not always possible to clearly determine how to remove the switch correctly. The network can be connected via circuit breakers. In this case, you will have to disable all protection.

There are two types of switches. They differ in the types of attachment. The switch can be attached to the wall with screws. There is also a hidden type switch, the box of which is located under the wall.

The modern switch has a smooth surface, the mounting is hidden. The first step is to remove the fastener keys. If it was not possible to do this manually, then you should use a screwdriver. After the fixation of the switch is removed, check the absence of voltage on the wires. Next, you need to disconnect the wires.

To avoid electric shock, all internal parts of sockets and electrical switches that are left without external protection must be pasted over with adhesive tape or other similar material.

Treatment

If, after removing the wallpaper, irregularities are found on the wall, plastering should be resorted to. Plaster mortar is easily made by hand using sand and cement. The mixture is slowly stirred and water is gradually added to it.

The plaster is applied in three layers. The first layer should be no thicker than three millimeters. The second layer is aimed at leveling the plane of the wall and cannot be more than six millimeters.

The final stage of plastering is the so-called covering, which must be done very thinly.

You can not proceed to the next stage of processing until the plaster is completely dry. Do not count on the quick drying of the plaster solution, as this may affect the quality of the material and its service life. The normal time for plaster to dry is about a day. After that, the wall is cleaned with special tools to level the surface and remove all defects.

• Priming helps to hold the surface together and prevents further deterioration and peeling of parts of the finish.
• The mixture of soil composition prevents the rapid absorption of moisture.
• The primer helps to cope with dust.
• The soil composition easily penetrates into any thickness. To apply the primer, it is sufficient to use a brush or roller. The soil mixture, when applied to the surface, forms a protective film, in addition, levels the plane, cleans the base from small debris.

Before wallpapering, the walls are primed for:

• formation of a smooth plane;
• strength;
• protection against fungus;
• sustainability guarantees.

To date, there are several types of primer:

• The most famous of them are acrylic. They can be used on any surface. They have a high drying rate, do not have a strong odor.
• The next type of soil solution is called alkyd. It is not suitable for all bases, more often they are treated with wooden surfaces. This solution dries longer than acrylic.

• Another equally common type of priming is the treatment of walls with a glyptal mixture. This type is suitable for metal bases.
• Mineral primers are good for brick or concrete walls.
• Deep penetration soil mixtures are used to additionally strengthen the planes. This type of primer can penetrate into the surface from five to twenty millimeters. Often these types of soil solutions include substances that protect the base from fungal formations.

• There are compositions with coloring pigments. Such primers are suitable for treating walls before gluing light-colored wallpapers.
• Quite often, when repairing apartments, it becomes necessary to fasten various materials. In this case, a special type of primer called concrete contact comes to the rescue. Such a solution changes the surface of the base, which makes it possible to fix the materials on the wall. Such a composition has many advantages: it serves for many years, has an insulating effect, and dries quickly.

Behind the primer is the sealing of seams, cracks. Deep cracks, as a rule, are enlarged, treated with soil and sealed with cement mortar. It is necessary to check does the rest of the plaster lag behind the wall. Most likely, it will have to be removed with a hammer in order to avoid re-alignment with plaster in the future.

The next step will be putty. This process does not take much time, it is quite simple. Minor defects and irregularities of the wall are easily eliminated with putty and a spatula.

All the necessary materials and tools for this are sold at any hardware store and are inexpensive.

On plastered walls, it is recommended to apply putty if the walls are not very curved. Puttying is a mandatory step, as it can significantly reduce the level of roughness of the base. With the help of a puttying tool, all irregularities are eliminated in several passes. To achieve a perfectly flat wall, you will have to putty at least three times. It is important to note that the last layer (finish) should be the thinnest.

It is worth additionally paying attention to the need for grinding the surface both before the start of puttying and after it dries. You need to sand the wall until it is perfectly smooth.. An important point is the choice of putty mortar, which is made from different ingredients. Experts believe that the best option is an acrylic mixture.

The puttying process may include several stages, depending on the condition of the walls:

• Initial coverage. This is a rougher finish that allows you to even out all kinds of pits, chips, cracks. With this method, you can use a mass of gray. Puttying is best done using beacons. They will help make the surface smoother. They can be made from different materials.
• Finish coating. This is the layer that prepares the base for wallpapering.
• The last stage of processing is re-impregnation with a primer. In fact, the same thing is done as before puttying. The only exception is the volume of the spent mixture. It will take less, as the base is almost ready. Before you start gluing the wallpaper, be sure to wait for the complete drying of the primer solution.

Sticking

With strict observance of all stages of preparation, wallpapering itself will not cause any problems. The main thing is to follow the instructions exactly, depending on the type of coatings, to ensure the optimal microclimate in the room, use the appropriate adhesives, etc.

We have considered the main features of preparing walls for wallpapering. It remains only to sum up and give some useful recommendations to those who decide to do surface preparation on their own.

Important Tips:

• In order for the wallpaper to last for many years, you should not ignore the instructions for the technological process, which includes putty and base primer.
• The finish will never set on glossy paint, however, if you work the base with a special tool, it will become rough, which will allow the adhesive to take a good hold.
• The joints between the wall and the plinth are best cleaned and filled with a solution of gypsum, wait until it dries, then remove the remnants of the dry mixture.
• It is important to process the seams on the surface of drywall with puttying, it is advisable to paint them with oil paint.
• To avoid visible traces of the nails that fasten the drywall sheets, if possible, they should be deepened into the material.

• If you skip the stage of priming the wall, then as a result, the finish will not be able to hold out for a long time.
• During the puttying process, those parts of the walls where metal fittings are visible are carefully processed. This must be done to avoid the appearance of yellow spots on the wallpaper in the future.
• After each stage of wall processing, the surface must be thoroughly dried. It is better to do this naturally without the use of artificial air heating devices. If the wall is not well dried, this will lead to dampness, and subsequently to the appearance of fungus.
• During the puttying of the walls, the spatula tends to leave noticeable stripes. To reduce surface roughness, two thin layers are applied horizontally, and the next layer should be done in a vertical direction. You can also do this work diagonally. This will give the putty layer a more even appearance.

• When choosing a tool for puttying, its dimensions are taken into account. The most optimal spatula with a width of thirty to forty centimeters.
• When choosing wallpaper glue, you should pay attention to its important characteristics. First, the emphasis is immediately placed on a proven manufacturer. Repairs are always planned to be done not for a year, so the quality of the glue must be at a high level. Secondly, you need to make sure that the glue is suitable for the type of wallpaper you have chosen. For each type of canvas, a separate type of glue is intended.

We must not forget that no matter how high-quality the wallpaper is, there is no guarantee of a successful end result. It all depends on how the walls were prepared for wallpaper.

For more information on preparing walls for wallpapering, see the following video.

It would seem that there is nothing easier than to paste over an even or old house. But first you need to learn how to prepare the walls for wallpaper. This is the first and most important step in home renovation. If it is neglected, then even expensive wallpaper on a poorly prepared wall will look unsightly.

In contact with

Step-by-step preparation instructions

Consider the preparation of the surface in stages.

Preparation of materials and tools

Each material requires its own tool. To go through all the stages of leveling the walls, you will need the following materials and tools.

Or cement based. It sets the basic alignment of the plane of a brick or concrete base. Its amount depends on the walls, how uneven they are.

Attention! In some cases, the thickness of the layer can reach several centimeters.

As a rule, it requires preliminary installation of guide beacons . Tools used:

• mixer with a large whisk;
• rule;
• trowel, spatula of various widths;

​Putty. It is used to level small irregularities that inevitably occur during plastering. Needed to fill the joints of drywall sheets. Layer thickness up to several millimeters. Instruments:

• mixer with a small whisk;
• spatulas.

. It is used for final leveling and setting the microtexture of the surface. Tapestry is glued directly onto it. Instruments:

• mixer with a small whisk;
• spatulas.

It copes with two tasks - it penetrates into the upper layer of the surface and strengthens it, and also binds dust residues. For smooth concrete walls, "concrete-contact" may be necessary. Instruments:

• roller;
• tassel.

Wallpaper, wallpaper glue. Instruments:

• construction level;
• brushes;
• roller for glue;
• roller or spatula for smoothing wallpaper (depending on the material of the wallpaper);
• stationery knife with replaceable blades.

You need to immediately buy everything in the store, so as not to be distracted later.

Removing the old coating

Before preparing the surface with your own hands, you need to make sure that the base is strong. Base should not have even small fragments of old paint or finishing materials.

The most difficult thing will be for those whose old walls are treated with oil paint or oil putty. There is several ways get rid of them:

1. With the help of an ax, we apply notches, moisten abundantly and knock down with a hammer and chisel. For oil putty that cannot be soaked, a scraper with replaceable blades can be effective. However, the process is labor intensive and time consuming. Suitable if there is loose plaster under the paint, but if concrete, you will have to refuse it.
2. grinder or drill with an abrasive nozzle will speed things up, but there will be a lot of dust.
3. Special chemical compositions allow you to clean off the softened paint with a metal brush or scraper a few hours after application. The disadvantages of these means are that special protection and prolonged ventilation. After such removal, the surface may remain hydrophobic and require machining. This is a good way for small areas, because such funds are not cheap.
4. Using a building hair dryer, gas burner or blowtorch. The paint is heated and removed with a scraper. But be prepared that the paint will evaporate, burn. The disadvantages in this case will be the same as with the chemical method.

Removing old tapestries is much easier, but you should not just peel them dry. The order of work is as follows:

• make a warm solution with the addition of soap;
• wet part of the wall with a sponge or roller;
• wait a few minutes, if the wallpaper is not wet, wet it again.

A scraper with replaceable blades will help to remove even wet material residues. Dense non-woven or washable vinyl wallpaper is easier to soak by making cuts. In difficult situations, you will use a steam generator.

Wall primer

At each stage of surface preparation, before applying the next material, the walls need a primer. The primer penetrates the top layer of the surface, strengthens it and reduces excess absorbency. The primer also binds residual dust. All this is provided t maximum grip wall material.

There are many types of primer, consider the main ones.

Type	Properties
Acrylic	It is applied to brick, concrete, drywall, gypsum mixes, wood. Drying time about 3 hours.
Latex	There are universal, deep penetration and antiseptic. Good for loose, porous, bases, with high humidity, have antifungal properties.
Silicone	For smooth concrete surfaces. Dries within 4 hours.
polyurethane	For surfaces with low absorbency. Drying time up to a day.
Mineral	It is applied to gas silicate or expanded clay concrete blocks, brick, concrete, plaster, limestone. Drying - a day or more.

Concrete walls will need to be treated with a primer with filler made of quartz sand(concrete contact). For subsequent plastering, a primer with a filler of a fraction of 0.6 mm is selected; for putty, a fraction of 0.3 mm is sufficient.

For priming the finishing putty directly in front of the wallpaper, the most common acrylic primer. In the process of sanding, the finishing putty is covered with a layer of dust that needs to be swept away.

The primer is applied with a roller. Desirable avoid leaks, Therefore, if the primer is quickly absorbed, you can prime again.

Corners and adjoining walls are smeared with a brush. After complete drying, the surfaces are ready for gluing tapestries.

Leveling the wall surface

Very often, the basis for the wallpaper leaves much to be desired. In severe cases, it may be necessary beacon plaster walls for wallpaper. Even local differences and irregularities from a centimeter or more are undesirable to fill with putty. To do this, it is better to use a plaster mixture.

Beacons - metal guides - mounted on the wall strictly vertical around the perimeter of the room. Verticality is set using the building level and the metal rule. When using cement or lime plaster, the minimum layer is 1-2 cm. Gypsum - a thinner layer is allowed.

Next, plaster is thrown onto the surface with a trowel and leveled according to the beacons by the rule. Excess plaster can be scraped off by the same rule, without waiting for the mixture to completely harden. For cement or lime, this can be done after a few hours, for gypsum - immediately after setting.

Important! If there is even a small crack on the surface, this place must be strengthened before plastering. reinforcing mesh. Otherwise, a crack may appear on the finishing putty and even on the wallpaper.

With rough plaster, it is not necessary to immediately make a perfectly flat and smooth surface. It is especially difficult to do this in thick layers. Small holes, crevices are quite acceptable.

Lime and cement plaster can be rubbed according to the old recipe with a special grater, soaking the not completely hardened surface with water with the addition of a small amount of mortar.

Preparation of plastered walls too starts with a primer. The surface is puttied with a non-shrinking finishing gypsum putty.

You need to start from the corners, for this there are special corner spatulas. Putty is applied with a wide, up to 50 cm, spatula. After complete drying, the finishing putty is sanded with sandpaper or sandpaper with grain size from No. 60 to No. 120. The preparation of the walls for wallpaper is basically completed.

How to stick wallpaper yourself

When the base for the wallpaper is ready, you can start gluing them, but before buying, you should select the desired type of finishing materials:

All types of roll finishing materials, taking into account some nuances glued like this:

1. Dilute the adhesive according to the manufacturer's instructions.
2. Cut the rolls along the height of the walls with an excess of 2-3 centimeters. Keep in mind that the height may vary. When adjusting the pattern, the pieces can turn out to be much larger, this must be taken into account when calculating the required number of rolls.
3. Using a building level or plumb line with chalk, draw a vertical line as a guide for the first sheet.
4. Apply adhesive to the surface and, if required, to the sheet with a roller. Edges and corners are smeared with a brush. Fold the wallpaper sheet with glue inside, so it will dry out less.

Sheets are glued from top to bottom and smoothed out with a special roller or plastic spatula from the center to the edges, along the marked landmark. extruded excess glue is removed. The following sheets are glued end to end.

Features of surface preparation

Concrete foundations require a special approach. Glue wallpaper directly onto concrete Not recommended even if it seems to be perfectly flat.

Concrete is primed not with ordinary acrylic primer, but with quartz sand filler (concrete-contact). For finishing with plaster, a primer with a filler of a fraction of 0.6 mm is selected, while a fraction of 0.3 mm is enough for putty.

Preparation process brick wall for pasting with tapestries, as a rule, requires alignment with beacon plaster. Before proceeding with the plaster, in order to reduce its layer, it is necessary to get rid of excess mortar and protruding irregularities. It is convenient to treat a brick wall with a primer from a sprayer. It will be possible to avoid additional leveling with beacon plaster or drywall if the wall is laid out perfectly evenly.

Wall finishing with plasterboard, of course, hides a little space, but has many advantages:

• the ability to place insulation / sound insulation in the empty space;
• placement of wiring and other communications;
• internal sockets and switches;
• perfectly flat surfaces at no additional cost with poor quality of the original.

The technology for leveling walls under wallpaper with drywall is divided in two ways: mounting on a metal frame and using Perlfix gypsum mounting adhesive. The first option is preferable if the surfaces are too uneven and their preparation will take a lot of time - even old trellises do not have to be removed under the frame.

Attention! The disadvantage is that the frame eats up about 3 cm of space.

From this point of view, the second method is more economical, but will require additional training: you will have to rid most of the surface of old tapestries, paint, loose plaster and get to a solid foundation.

At first glance, it may seem that this work is easy to handle with your own hands. But for the high-quality installation of drywall, professional skills are still required, requiring knowledge of experience and time.

Useful video on preparing walls for wallpapering

We got acquainted with the main stages of preparing walls for wallpapering. The main thing is to observe the above nuances.