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Making door slopes is an obligatory part of a major overhaul or decoration of a newly built house. Plastering can be considered a classic design today. This method, although it takes a lot of time, is the most reliable: with such a finish, there are no voids left. Although this is not an easy task, but, subject to technology, do-it-yourself plastering of slopes can also be done at a good level. In any case, you can prepare the surface for wallpapering yourself.
How to plaster slopes
Plaster slopes for the door can be made using different compositions:
- Cement-sand mortar (CPS). For 1 part of cement, 3-4 parts of sand are taken and diluted with water (less than a part) to a state of thick sour cream.
- For a faster “setting” of the solution and increase its plasticity, you can add a little alabaster or other similar additive to the cement-sand mortar.
- Special mixtures for plaster type (Rotband) and MP 75 from Knauf.
These compounds can be used for plastering door slopes.
What plaster is better to plaster slopes? It is easier to work with Knauf compounds, cheaper – cement-sand. Which is better for you is up to you.
Technology
Plastering slopes begins after the surface of the main walls is leveled. The work to be done is dirty, therefore it is desirable to close the door leaf, floor and door frame with film, oilcloth or other similar materials. The jamb can be pasted over with masking tape – it will be easier to clean.
Prepare
The first stage of work is the preparation of surfaces. First, poorly adhering plaster, pieces of brick, and other building material are removed. If the doors have been changed, the old plaster can stick out a lot. In this case, even if it holds up well, it is beaten.
Then, grease or oil stains, if any, are treated with neutralizers. Old paint is also cleaned off: plaster does not adhere well to it. After that, dust and dirt are removed.
If the cracks didn’t foam when you installed the door, you’ll need to do it now. Mounting foam is applied to the wetted surface in volume – no more than 1/3 of the required amount. First, all the dust is cleaned, then moistened with a spray bottle. After a few minutes, it will greatly increase in size, filling in all the empty gaps. After waiting for the foam to polymerize (harden), the excess is cut off with a knife. It is more convenient to do this with ordinary stationery for paper.
If plastering will be a cement-sand mortar, the surface is moistened. This can be done from the same spray gun or with a brush, roller.
We expose the guides
Plastering slopes with your own hands, as well as walls, is more convenient along the guides. Outside the doorway, in order to obtain a smooth and rigid edge, a perforated paint corner is usually placed. Well fixed, it can be used as a guide.
It is cut to the height of the doorway. The upper edge of the corner, which will be adjacent to the main wall, is cut down at an angle of 45 °. It is better to do this, because for some reason this edge always lifts up during work and causes a lot of inconvenience.
You can fix the corner in several ways:
- Gently apply the solution inside the corner, then press it against the corner. You need to apply the solution carefully: the walls are made very thin and even from a small mass it breaks. Therefore, it is better to use the second method.
- The solution is applied to the corner, and the corner is pressed into it.
There should not be too much solution, but also voids
Having pressed the corner well, it is leveled so that its edge is flush with the main wall. The solution that has come out through the holes is removed with a spatula. Then they take an even bar (you can use a building level or a rule), apply it to the corner, checking how evenly the corner is set. They check both from the side of the main wall and from the side of the slope.
The procedure is repeated on the other side, and then on top. At the junction of the corners, the absence of drops can be checked by running a finger along the junction.
There is another way to fasten the corners – on nails or on self-tapping screws. This method is good when working with drywall, but it is not used for plastering: the hats interfere.
The second guide is the door jamb. When installing the door, they were set exactly, so this is a good guideline. But since the solution should not cover the entire surface of the jamb, a template is cut out of some dense material, with which the solution is then leveled. It is better to cut it out of a piece of plastic: the edge is even, and it glides well, and is quite dense. You can use a piece of flat wooden plank. Only the edge that will cut off the excess solution should be perfectly flat. The part of the template that will slide along the jamb is made in the form of a step. This protrusion will remove excess solution.
You can work with a spatula or a rule, but then a beacon is installed and fixed along the jamb at the required distance. The tool rests on it when cutting off excess mortar.
In this video tutorial on plastering slopes, the technology for attaching perforated corners is explained in detail, explanations are given regarding the technique of applying putty during a fine finish.
Do-it-yourself rough plastering of slopes
The process of applying plaster to a slope is no different: a solution is thrown onto a dust-free and wetted surface. They do this with a wide spatula or a paint bucket – whoever is used to it. It is more convenient to start from the bottom, moving up.
Leading the rule or template along the guides, shaking from side to side, the solution is leveled, the excess is removed back into the container. For the first penetration, you can not achieve a particularly flat surface, but be sure to monitor the condition of the corners – remove excess mortar regularly.
Some problems may arise when plastering the upper slope: it is more difficult to apply the mortar here. It is taken with a wide trowel (spatula) and slightly pressed, applied with a small broach. If the surface is rough, there is usually no problem. They can occur if a concrete beam is installed on top. To such a surface, the solution, especially cement-sand, “sticks” badly. In this case, it is necessary to pre-impregnate it with a primer, which serves to improve adhesion (adhesion) with finishing materials.
It may also be necessary to process if the surface on which the DSP plaster is applied strongly absorbs water (silicate and clinker bricks, for example). Only in this case, the primer should still reduce the absorption of moisture. The second way out is to use special Knauf formulations – they do not react so sharply to a lack of fluid. And the third way is to apply a layer of tile adhesive to the surface treated with primers, forming a wave with a notched trowel. Tile adhesive remarkably “clings” to the most difficult surfaces, and itself serves as a wonderful base.
If all this seems very complicated to you, read the article on how to make slopes from MDF. Everything is extremely simple there. No mortars and spatulas, and the result is excellent. Or you can make slopes of drywall. The view is almost the same, but done faster. After installing plastic windows, plastic slopes can be made.
Finishing layer
After some time, or the next day, the dried plaster is leveled, applying a second finishing layer. It is impossible to start leveling too early – the solution “floats”, loses its shape. Touch the plastered surface: the mortar should crumble, but not “float”.
For fine alignment, the solution is made a little more liquid. It is also applied and stretched. Only this time you need to make sure that the surface is even. If necessary, the solution is re-added to the voids, filling even minor pits.
Grout
This step creates a perfectly flat surface. You can overwrite the plaster only after the mortar has set. This should take at least 16-24 hours (depending on humidity and temperature). To determine if you can start grouting, take a little grout from the wall in your fingers and rub it. If it crumbles – you can work, if it is smeared – we are waiting for more.
The solution is made even more liquid. It is no longer applied, but rather poured onto the surface. And it is distributed not with a spatula or template, but with a grater – a foam surface with a handle. With this grater, the solution is distributed over the surface in a circular motion. At the same time, the plaster becomes even, monophonic. This procedure is optional, especially if then everything will be puttied. But this is how your do-it-yourself plastering of slopes takes on a finished look. But again, this is not necessary.
This video shows how to plaster door slopes with cement-sand plaster. The case is not easy, the explanations are detailed, only in some places the sound is not the best.
Finishing of plastered slopes
If further the slope is painted, the putty is perfectly leveled. To do this, apply two layers: starting and finishing. The starting putty has a larger grain, it can be laid in a layer up to 1 cm. With its help, all flaws that are difficult to remove with cement mortar are eliminated. After the finishing putty dries, all the bumps and protrusions are polished with a special mesh. After that, a layer of finishing plaster is applied. It is even more plastic than the starting one, and it can be applied in a very thin layer. With its help, you can achieve perfect smoothness.
For a beginner plasterer, getting a perfectly flat surface for painting is very difficult. It is much easier to level the slope for wallpapering. In this case, you can stop at the starting putty.
If the old slopes were slightly damaged during the installation of the door and they can simply be restored, there will be less work. It will only be necessary to throw a cavity with a solution and level it with a long trowel (trowel).
Stucco doorway
Sometimes doors are not placed in the opening, but in this case, the doorway requires finishing. And the easiest way to do this is with plaster. The technology of the plaster itself is similar, but the guides and their installation methods are different.
The plastering of the doorway begins only after both adjoining walls have already been plastered. The opening itself is covered with a primer (the principle of selection is the same).
Guides are installed from the sides. These can be boards, metal profiles, two rules, pieces of plastic, fiberboard, etc. One is installed on the right, the second – on the left, they are fixed. The easiest way to fix them is with clamps. If there are no clamps, you can use nails or screws – the remaining holes will then need to be carefully repaired.
The leading edges of the guides will serve as the basis on which the rule or wide spatula will move. The sequence of actions is the same: the first layer is rough, the second is finishing, if it is necessary to bring it to an ideal state, grout is done. For more information on how to putty a doorway, see the video.