Ceiling Repair Methods

2023 Author: Douglas Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:23

Finally I got out to visit my friend. She recently bought an apartment, and all our friends and acquaintances have already admired her one-room mansions … First, a slipper in something white and very dirty flew out of the apartment to meet me. "I hate renovations!" - in the hearts cried out a friend of Alexander, for some reason turned from a brunette to a platinum blonde. "Have you decided to whitewash the ceilings yourself?" - I asked, running my finger over the flying shoes. “Yes, I decided. What is there to do? All the money went to this damn kennel, and the ceilings in it have not been whitewashed, probably since the first five-year plans!"

Indeed, the ceiling was a sad and wonderful sight. Firstly, the impression was created that they had walked on it - it was so crumpled, pitted and trampled. Secondly, something was constantly falling from him - the apartment was in the same building with the metro station - apparently, it was shaking …

It took a long time to convince my friend that specialists were needed in this matter. All her savings, as I said, were spent on buying an apartment, and she really did not want to find additional funds to repair the ceilings. But when a piece of something fell on us from above, she made up her mind. We began to ring up firms and small firms. At first, of course, they searched according to the principle "cheaper and faster." The first to appear on the threshold was either a Moldovan or a Romanian, looked at our “heavenly” beauty and said: “Five hundred dollars. The ceiling will not be even - the house is old, the slabs are skewed. Measurements are not needed, I'll figure it out by eye. The materials are yours. What do you need, you know? " “Well, about,” we bleated, frightened by such a price we hadn't planned. - Probably, you need chalk, lime … "-" In short, you young ladies, decide and call."

For a week, my friend still tried to "decide" on her own. Something was scraping and scrubbing, but the ceiling, of course, didn't get any better from this …

I had to contact a reputable company. Looking ahead, I will say - literally two weeks later, the apartment had perfectly white and perfectly flat ceilings. All this time I was spinning under the feet and stepladders of the repairmen. Due to the editorial assignment, I was even allowed to participate a little in the process. But now I know for sure: if something happens, I will not be left without work. I'm going to hunt for ceiling repairs.

And now I bring to your attention "A guide for those who want to have a good, but not very expensive ceiling."

First look up

When starting a repair, you need to know, at least approximately, when you are going to do the next one. If you intend not to look up for a long time - one option. If in a year or two you want to change the "sky" above your head - a completely different song.

If your ceiling is covered with oil paint, there is nothing else you can paint it with. Because the oil is put on a primer using drying oil, which impregnates the concrete, and no other material will stick to it. In this sad case, the choice is small: or again oil paint, which turns yellow after two or three years even if all sanitary standards are observed (meaning that you will not constantly smoke and cook food in this room without leaving the stove day and night), or an expensive stretch ceiling.

There are times when ceiling wallpaper is glued to the ceiling. Be aware: they are glued directly to concrete slabs, which means that you will have to do full preparation for a new coating (more on this later). I do not recommend gluing paper to the ceiling again - in typical houses, builders do it solely for reasons of speed and cheapness - then they do not have to prime or putty the ceiling. "Paper beauty" retains its divine appearance for a maximum of three years.

There are other "subtle" moments - not every house can achieve the perfect look of the ceiling. The fact is that the work of our builders leaves much to be desired. It is understood that the ceilings should be at a 90 ° angle to the walls. In new panel buildings, slabs “walk”, therefore, it is not so easy to align the ceiling perfectly. Some types of fillers should not be used in older houses. Excluded, for example, are the expensive imported putties of the firm "Pufas" - they increase the weight of the ceiling, and the old plaster may not withstand.

Ideally, the ceiling is updated at the same time as the walls, but I advise you to do all the dirty ceiling work before you start repairing the floor (lay parquet, linoleum, carpet or tiles). But if you do decide to pay attention only to the ceiling (as is the case with my friend), take care of the safety of the floor, walls and furniture. Old newspapers or plastic wrap will do. Those who are not sorry for the wallpaper use buttons or ordinary tape. More "advanced" ones know that there is a special masking tape. This is paper tape with a layer of special glue applied. The tape does not leave any marks on wallpaper, paint or glass. A roll of such a tape 50 meters long costs from 30 to 100 rubles (depending on the width). Fix the film on the floor, walls, furniture with masking tape. All,what will fall from above in the process of creating the ceiling - let it fall for itself. At the end of the work, the tape is easily removed.

Down with the old disgrace!

Are you armed to the teeth and ready to start repairing? Forward! That is, up to the stepladder! Remove old coating. You can use the old proven method: wash out the whitewash with water, and soak the water emulsion with a solution of iodine (in the proportion of a bubble of iodine to a bucket of water) and clean it off with a puncher (it is better to send your family and friends to the country - away from noise and sin). All this is long, troublesome and messy.

Now there are special removers with which you can easily remove any old paint. Washes of the German company "Pufas" are in high demand. Price: 0.375 l - 120 rubles, 6 l - 680 rubles. Consumption - 0.5 l / sq.m.. Our washes, produced in Shchelkovo or Volgograd near Moscow, are almost as good as German ones. Unless you need to keep them on the ceiling a little longer. And they are much cheaper: Shchelkovo - 52 rubles. for 1 liter, Volgograd - 40 rubles. for 1 liter. The washes are applied to the ceiling with a roller or a wide brush and can be easily removed after 20-30 minutes along with the old paint. Fast and clean!

You can, of course, not suffer, but use the services of a construction company. Removing wallpaper from the ceiling costs 20 rubles. for 1 sq.m., removing paint or whitewashing - 40 rubles. for 1 sq. m.. It turns out two and a half times more expensive. But during this difficult time you can fly to Honduras for a week or go to a friend (girlfriend) at the dacha. Think for yourself.

In the process of work, many are faced with the fact that it is necessary to remove not only old paint, but also such an unpleasant thing as fungus. For uninformed people, I explain: it looks disgusting - spots and growths of mildew of brown-green colors, most often appearing in rooms with high humidity.

If the fungus has settled on your ceiling, you shouldn't ignore it. Redecoration will not save the situation. As a result - money wasted and wasted energy. It is better to immediately declare war on this organic infection. For the fight, it is best to use special anti-mold products.

On sale there are German remedies for mold of the firm "Pufas" in bottles of 500 g worth about 175 rubles. and the Finnish ones - by the Tikkurila firm called Homeenpoiste. They are four times cheaper than the German ones - $ 3 per liter. The choice of our means of struggle is much poorer: the national habit of copper sulfate is affected. It also removes the fungus. But you can get this tool only in construction companies or in specialized stores.

It is simple to use the remedy for mold: they puffed on the fungal muck from a spray can, waited 30 minutes, watching how it all hisses and bubbles - and there is no fungus. Died. The only unpleasant thing is the acrid smell of bleach, creeping through the room during the process. While the invasion of the fungus has not taken on the dimensions of a disaster, but is in its initial stage, mold remedies are really helpful. Checked.

It is a good idea to protect yourself from future fungi in advance. To do this, you need to take preventive measures. There are special antifungal additives to paint ("Pufas" - 44 rubles for 250 g, "Tikkurila" - at about the same price).

Fungal foci of large sizes can be cleaned like this - concrete is hollowed out or burned out with propane or plasma welding. Then it is closed again and primed with vitriol. It is clear that in this case they turn to specialists. The conventional wisdom that it is useless to fight a fungus is wrong.

So, the ceiling was cleared. But before starting work, you need to find out how horizontal you have. The easiest way is to use a plumb line to measure the distance from floor to ceiling in the corners of the room. If it turns out that there is still a slope, you will have to remember this during priming and plastering work in order to "return" the ceiling to a horizontal position.

Layer Pie - User's Guide

First of all, we seal all the seams in the floors. Some say that this is a must, especially if the house is old or built according to a standard design. At the junction of the ceiling and wall slabs, "shifts" take place: the house is constantly living, air is blowing, wallpaper peels off, plaster and putty are crumbling. Others believe that the seams should be left open, precisely because of this very "play" of the plates.

Proponents of the first opinion should stock up on cement mortar (in other words, cement with sand). It is sold already in the form of a mixture. It remains only to add water. Just enough to get the consistency of the dough. Most often, the trade offers Russian mixtures to the domestic consumer. The universal "M-150" costs 45 rubles. per package weighing 50 kg. Consumption - 24 kg / sq.m. with a coating thickness of 22 mm. Seams are closed with a spatula or a "pistol".

Adherents of a different point of view use serpyanka, which in translation means just a construction bandage. Serpyanka is glued in strips directly to the rustic (open seams) using PVA glue diluted with water. A roll 100 m long, 8 cm wide costs 48 rubles, a 50-meter package of a bandage 1 m wide - 225 rubles. For PVA glue, you will need to pay 20 rubles / liter.

After the labors of the righteous, you can go to dinner with peace of mind or watch your favorite movie - during this time (about two hours) the seams will have time to dry out.

The next two stages - primer and putty - are designed to prepare the ceiling for finishing, which can be painting the ceiling (but not with oil paints) or gluing wallpaper.

The primer should saturate the concrete so that nothing will fall from the ceiling later, and level the surface. Primers differ in penetration depth - the deeper, the better and more durable.

The ceiling is primed with a roller. When it comes to materials, there are plenty to choose from. From the import specialists recommend the products of the German company "Pufas": "Tiffing-primer LF" and "Universal Tiffing-primer LH", which are most often found on sale. The first primer is used in cases where the ceiling is of medium unevenness, there are few roughnesses on it. The second is absorbed deeper, it can be primed on an old, poorly cleaned surface. Both cost approximately the same - about 45-60 rubles / liter. You can also use Russian primers - they are two or three times cheaper (10–20 rubles / l), consumption - 120 g / sq.m.. But our primers are less durable. There is also a very simple way - 10 liters of water per 1 liter of PVA glue. However, keep in mind - such a ceiling will not live long.

The primer must be done conscientiously. After all, its function is to soak the concrete so that the base of the ceiling turns into a monolith. For processing 1 sq.m. you will be charged from 80 rubles. This price includes a primer along with a putty. Our repairmen, working the old-fashioned way, cannot get used to the imported primer, which looks like water with the smell of paint, and out of habit they still use drying oil. And although only oil paint can ideally be put on it, would-be repairmen can paint the pro-painted ceiling with water-based paints. As a result, the ceiling loses its decent appearance within a few months.

Putty is the most exciting activity, but terribly responsible and in some cases quite expensive. Whether the ceiling is perfectly flat depends on the quality of the putty.

The filler itself is a white powder that is diluted with water to obtain a thick, soft mass. There are three types of putty: for indoor, outdoor and wet rooms. The sales leaders are the German "Pufas" and the Finnish "Vetonit". Our best putty is from Glin. Quite tolerable - the Polish company "Atlas". The Russian and Polish putty has a higher consumption than the German and Finnish, but in the end it still turns out two or three times cheaper ("Pufas" - 200 rubles for 5 kg, "Glin" - 98 rubles for 5 kg). But, using a German or Finnish putty, you make the ceiling "for centuries".

"Pufas" ceilings today are really the highest quality - their service life reaches 30 (!) Years. You can use mixed putties, say, "Vetonit" + "Pufas". BUT! It is necessary to clearly understand the pseudo-mathematical rule: from changing the places of the terms, the sum, oh, how it changes! There is such an unpleasant thing as the rejection of materials. If you put "Vetonit" first, and then "Pufas", expect a collapse. And if you do the opposite, it holds on with a "stranglehold". Using the services of repairmen, do not hesitate to inquire about the sequence of applying layers - would-be firms do something else.

To insure against the appearance of cracks on the ceiling, you can stick ordinary gauze or a wide serpyanka directly onto the dry putty, which serve as a reinforcing mesh.

The final touch to obtain a perfectly flat surface is a finishing putty that hides very small flaws (average price - $ 1.5 per 1 kg, consumption - 1.6 kg / sq. M.).

The finishing putty is fine-grained, that is, completely even and smooth. Our ("Clay") or Polish ("Atlas") in stores should be asked exactly as "finishing". And "Pufas" produces all its putty in a fine-grained version, therefore the main one, which is mentioned above, can also be used as a finishing one.

After a few hours, when the putty dries up, the ceiling is skinned. The most commonplace sandpaper. (Frankly speaking, the activity is very tedious, and most importantly - the endless running around like "climbed off the ladder, moved it, perched again - you skin; again tears, moved it …" tires you to heartburn. But nothing can be done - it is necessary.) Monolithic base, looking forward coloring, ready.

But before proceeding directly to the "artistic" part, it is worth giving a description of another method of preparing the ceiling for painting. It is good because it requires a minimum of effort and five times less cost than the "vetonito-pufas" one. Perhaps this is the simplest and cheapest option for a high-quality ceiling (whitewash or ceiling wallpaper does not count).

Drywall is a ready-made ceiling panel, usually 1.2x3 m in size, at a price of 30 rubles / sq.m. They are sold together with instructions for use, in which, in principle, anyone, even the most distant from repair, can figure it out. A metal frame is attached directly to the floors, and gypsum plasterboards are screwed to it using self-tapping screws. Then we putty and paint all this.

The only drawback of this method is the loss of up to 5 cm of ceiling height. But the advantages are undeniable: fast - one, cheap - two, ideal for crooked, humped ceilings - three. Any irregularities are hidden, both for each individual slab, and for the entire ceiling as a whole. Ideal for the aforementioned cases when the ceiling has a slope - the savings on putty and primer are enormous.

Plasterboard boards can be painted with any paint, it lies flat, the surface looks smooth. You can recommend Tigi-Knauf drywall and produced by the Novomoskovsk plant. Everything seems to be. The only annoyance is that drywall is afraid of water, and if you are flooded by neighbors from above, it's a bad thing.

To make the ceiling more beautiful

So the ceiling is ready to go. It has already been said about oil paint, and I do not advise you to contact it. Better to use alkyd enamel. The best option is water-based or water-based paint. Better - matte. If you look up, as if into a misty distance, the volume visually expands. If you want - make the ceiling colored. There are a lot of paint colors now.

The advantage of water dispersion is its durability. "Allows" to wash yourself up to two thousand times! In addition, this paint is a smoker's delight. Even if you grind like a locomotive, the ceiling will remain pristine for a very long time. A 20-kilogram bucket (average price from 200 to 400 rubles) is enough for 80-100 sq. M. It is enough to put imported paint in two layers, ours is better in three. And do not grab your grandmother's favorite brush, with which she painted the ceiling back in those distant times when she married grandfather - use more progressive painting tools - a roller or a spray gun.

Water-based or water-based paint. The difference between these paints from each other is only that the first one can be washed off, albeit with difficulty. The second is absolutely moisture resistant. The best are German "Feydal" and "Pufas", Finnish "Tikkurila". Quite good domestic paints also appeared - from the Raduga company and the Lytkarinsky plant. The range of colors of water emulsion is quite wide. Water-based paint is mainly white only.

If you want to paint the ceiling in some exotic color, you cannot do without colorings - coloring additives. By mixing them with the main paint in a certain proportion, you can get any shade. The proportions are always indicated on the container. In the store "Klyuchstroyarsenal" I was offered a "color" service (when buying paint in this store, this service is free). On a special tinting machine, they mixed the water-dispersion paint with the color I had chosen - we got the desired color (my friend and I wanted peach).

Oil paint - Russian or Belarusian production. You can also find Polish. But foreigners justly do not like "butter" and almost never supply. As already mentioned, it does not allow the ceiling to breathe and turns yellow quickly.

Alkyd enamel - German "Pufas" or Finnish "Vetonit". The imported enamel has a very wide range of colors, our domestic (Rostov-on-Don) has a little less. But Turkish is almost always only white.

In the West, enamels are used very widely: they are abundantly used for painting both living quarters and cars. We treat them with caution, for a very banal reason: it is twice as expensive as water-based paints. But on the other hand, the white color of the enamel is whiter than the color of the "white paint". And the enamel dries faster, and moisture is not afraid of it.

The packaging of all imported materials must contain instructions for use in Russian. Foreigners do not indicate expiration dates - it is believed that paints are durable. Our dates are indicated. But experts assured me that a little "expired" paint is not a problem, the main thing is to mix it well.

If I have not convinced you, then you are the champion among all the conservatives of the world in conservatism, nothing can be done, it happens. Then dilute the chalk with water, add blue for the shade and get a whitewash. But believe me, a banally whitewashed ceiling is a dubious pleasure, and it does not add to the cleanliness of the house for a long time. It's better to paint after all.

Or even paste over with ceiling wallpaper. According to sales consultants, two-layer (duplex) wallpaper produced by the Mytishchi factory is now considered the best of Russian ceiling wallpaper. Price - 60 rubles per roll (10 m with a width of 53 cm). Made in Minsk a little cheaper - 50 rubles the same roll, Saratov - 45 rubles. Imported ones are not in great demand - with the same quality, their price is 80–90 rubles per roll.

Ceiling decorations

For aesthetes or owners of "skewed" apartments, I recommend a ceiling plinth or stucco.

The two most common skirting boards are foam and polyurethane foam. Foam plastic costs an average of $ 1 per linear meter. Polyurethane foam is five times more expensive, but it looks like a stucco molding, and it can be painted. The skirting board visually evens out the distortions, and it looks pretty.

If funds allow and the style of your home matches, decorate the ceiling with plaster moldings. Prices depend on the flight of fancy and on the thickness of the wallet. For example, the firm "Kompleks-remontstroy" told me about the renovation of Rutskoy's cottage. So, only the stucco molding cost the governor of the Kursk region $ 62,000. But keep in mind that the stucco molding and the plinth visually "lower" the ceiling. If it is already low, and you still need a plinth, do not buy a wide one.

In general, it is not so difficult to bring the ceiling to mind and not for too much money. There would be a desire. The choice of technology and appearance is yours. Today, in addition to classical ceilings, there are also suspended, rack, stretch, wooden and even mosaic ceilings (the list is given according to the principle "from cheap to more expensive"), but this is a separate conversation.