How to align the walls in an apartment or house

The content of the article

• Why align walls
• Alignment methods
• Materials
• Mortar for leveling walls
• Gypsum plaster
• Cement
• Clay
• Heat insulating
• Wall alignment sheets
• Drywall
• Gypsum fiber
• Panels

Elimination of bumps, cracks, chips on the surfaces is an obligatory procedure before repair. In addition, the walls can be curved vertically and horizontally. Special materials will help align them. Some of them are strong and durable, others are more fragile, unstable to external adverse factors..

Why align walls

Surfaces must be prepared before any finishing work. Alignment eliminates visual defects, improves the adhesion of the walls to the cladding, increases the service life of the used finishing materials. If you skip this stage, then the existing depressions and tubercles will lead to cracking, deformation, and violation of the integrity of the lining. In addition, it is difficult to stick wallpaper on uneven walls; it will not be possible to decorate them with stone or tile.

Alignment methods

• Raw plaster or putty method – for small defects. The method involves carefully sealing existing cracks and holes with a special composition, subsequent smoothing of possible defects.
• Dry method using drywall or other sheet materials – with strong curvature. Plates are mounted on a prepared frame or directly to the wall surface.

Materials

• Functional Blends. Irregularities close up using different types of plaster. It is suitable for differences up to 3-5 cm. Putty – for cavities up to 0.5-1 cm.

• Sheet materials. To align the walls using plywood, lining, PVC, MDF boards or drywall. The latter type of material is the most popular. Use it with bumps greater than 5 cm.

Mortar for leveling walls

It is difficult not to get confused in the choice of building composition – there are a great many of them in shops: from simple alabaster to decorative plaster. It is important to know what qualities this or that material possesses, whether it can be applied outside the house or just level the walls in the apartment.

Gypsum plaster

Powdered formulations help align the curved walls inside the building. In the mixtures there are different plasticizers, thanks to which the plaster evenly lies on the surface. Plaster is convenient to align brick or concrete walls. It is not recommended to use it for building facades, wet rooms – saunas, bathrooms, pools.

Benefits:

• elastic compositions with fine texture;
• well grasps with different surfaces;
• do not require finishing putty;
• freeze quickly (you can start the final finish in a week).
• soundproof.

Disadvantages:

• not suitable for external decoration of the walls of the building;
• seize for 45 minutes, which is not very convenient during operation;
• lose their quality in wet rooms;
• relatively expensive.

Cement

These mixes will help to close up serious irregularities, level the concrete wall inside or outside the room. The composition contains cement and sand of different fractions. To increase ductility, lime is added. Mixtures with coarse sand help close up serious defects, cement-lime with fine sand serve to finish the surface.

Benefits:

• cheaper than gypsum compounds;
• suitable for wet rooms;
• evenly distributed on the surface.

Disadvantages:

• may crack over time;
• have low adhesion, especially with concrete;
• freeze for a long time – it is possible to start the final finishing in 20-30 days;
• have a not very smooth texture, therefore, grinding or applying a more plastic and fine-grained solution is additionally required.

Clay

Eco-friendly, safe and affordable type of plaster. The mixtures are made on a clay basis, mixed with sawdust, chopped straw and other natural materials, applied before chalky or calcareous whitewashing. At the end, the surface is leveled by grinding or fine-grained clay plaster.

Benefits:

• maintain heat indoors in the cold;
• keep cool in summer.

Disadvantages:

• no.

Heat insulating

The mixtures are made on a cement-lime basis with the addition of polystyrene balls, perlite. Low thermal conductivity of the elements of the composition helps to accumulate and retain heat indoors even with sudden temperature changes. To increase the heat-saving properties, the plaster must be applied with a thick layer.

Benefits:

• it is convenient to work with lightweight compounds;
• additional heaters are not needed.

Disadvantages:

• the solution absorbs a lot of water, quickly sets, so you need to knead it in small portions;
• due to the lightness of the composition after solidification, it is not durable.

Wall alignment sheets

Not always in repair work you want to mess around with mixing different components – it is long, dirty, and you need to be able to apply it evenly. It is easier and faster to level the walls with finished tiles. To do this, it is worth arming yourself with a drill, screws for the frame method or strong glue for the frameless.

Drywall

The material is often used to level different surfaces inside the building, create partitions and all kinds of decorative elements. The main component of the material is gypsum filler. Cardboard, surfactants, starch are used as additives in the production..

Benefits:

• eco-friendly, safe material;
• there are many colors and coatings on sale;
• easy to process.

Disadvantages:

• fragile;
• collapses in contact with moisture (if the material is not moisture resistant);
• unstable to temperature extremes;
• suitable only for internal cladding.

Wireframe method

The method is relevant to use for large surface curvatures. It is suitable if you need to hide communications behind drywall, additionally insulate or soundproof the room. Before installation, note that the frame will occupy part of the free space, so pre-calculate the working area.

Aligning the walls consists of three stages:

1. Create a wireframe. The profile for wall mounting can be wooden or metal.
2. If necessary, filling the frame with communications, heat, sound insulating material.
3. Drywall Installation.

Frameless way

This installation helps to very quickly level the wall surface. It is suitable for masking slight curvature – possible level differences from 2 to 5 cm. Work should be carried out at an air temperature of at least 10 degrees. Drywall sheets must be kept in the room for at least two days.

Work sequence:

1. Clean the walls of dirt, primer.
2. Cut Drywall.
3. On the ceiling and floor, mark where the sheets will be placed.
4. Apply glue to drywall precisely.
5. Press the sheet against the wall.
6. According to the layout, install the rest of the drywall.

Gypsum fiber

GVL sheets are made of pressed reinforced gypsum and paper. Externally, the material is similar to drywall, but unlike it is not covered with cardboard, just as the first one can be moisture resistant or not. For rooms with high humidity it is recommended to use GVLV boards.

Benefits:

• withstands severe mechanical stress;
• can be used in cold rooms;
• retains heat;
• almost off.

Disadvantages:

• high price;
• the surface must be treated with putty.

Panels

With a large curvature of the walls horizontally and vertically, it is better to use cladding. Such decoration is recommended when it is necessary not only to mask defects, but also to insulate the room, to provide good sound insulation. The materials are very durable, resistant to increased moisture and mechanical stress..

Chipboard

Plates are produced by hot pressing of wood chips with thermoactive resins – their amount can be from 6 to 18%. The smaller the latter in the composition of the material, the safer it is for health. For wall cladding, it is better to purchase fully clad plates.

Benefits:

• durable material;
• has a homogeneous structure;
• easy to process – cut, saw.

Disadvantages:

• deformed in contact with moisture;
• badly holds nails and screws.

PVC

Sheets are made of polyvinyl chloride, a safe synthetic material. The panels can be decorative, laminated or varnished. PVC with patterns should be used in dark rooms, as the pattern quickly fades in the light. Lacquered panels can be used everywhere, they are not afraid of sunlight, are resistant to scratches or cracks..

Benefits:

• many different colors are on sale;
• the material is simply processed;
• resistant to external adverse factors, including high humidity.

Disadvantages:

• collapses in the sun.

MDF

The boards are made from wood chips by dry pressing. The material is characterized in that it contains lignin – a natural polymer contained in wood. It makes MDF boards resistant to damage by fungi and other microorganisms..

Benefits:

• retains its original qualities in almost any environment;
• moisture and fire resistant;
• holds screws and nails well.

Disadvantages:

• sawing creates dust that is harmful to health.