Contents
Choosing a material for wall decoration is not easy. It must be beautiful, practical, durable and, preferably, inexpensive. Venetian plaster meets almost all of these requirements. It is beautiful – it looks like natural marble, it is practical – the waxed surface can be washed repeatedly, it is durable – if it is not scratched on purpose, it is not damaged, it can be applied to any surface – even, curved. Just the perfect finish. But, as usual, there is a “but”. She is expensive. This is the first negative. The second is that it is difficult to apply it with your own hands. Rather, it is easy to apply, it is difficult to get a beautiful surface without experience. But you can try or hire a master. But before concluding a contract, ask for customer contacts. If you succeed, see the results of the work yourself, or call and ask about your impressions.
What is Venetian plaster and its composition
If the wall resembles a marble surface in appearance, but there are no seams on it, it is finished with Venetian plaster. This finishing material was invented centuries ago in ancient Rome. When someone came up with the idea of mixing marble dust and slaked lime. The result was an elastic composition that looked like natural marble on the walls. For a clearer pattern, natural dyes were added to the mixture.
Clay was the most popular. The walls had reddish or pinkish (depending on the color of the clay) stains, which made the decoration more similar to natural marble. To make the coating durable, the plastered surface was covered with a layer of wax, which was then polished. The walls were indistinguishable from marble. Only there were no seams.
And only centuries later, during the Renaissance, Venetian plaster appeared in Venice, where it began to be used instead of marble slabs. The technique of its application was not simple, but working with Venetian plaster is much easier than fitting and polishing marble slabs. Because this type of finish has become very popular. She trimmed walls, ceilings, columns in palaces. The finish was beautiful and durable, weakly reacted to changes in humidity and temperature, which, in the conditions of high humidity of the Venetian canals, led to the widespread use of this material. The fact that it is easier to bring marble dust, and it costs less, also contributed to its popularity. The remaining components were added locally mined. The fame of the most beautiful finishing material was quickly spread by merchants, and they called it Venetian plaster. Since then, that has been the case.
The composition of Venetian plaster described above – marble dust, slaked lime and coloring additives – is still used today. Completely natural finish. But there are compositions in which synthetic dyes (acrylic) are added or modern binders are used instead of lime. There may also be rubber tree sap, crushed granite. All or some additives are contained – it depends on the manufacturer, but this material is also called Venetian plaster, since the main component – marble dust – remains the same.
Application technology
Applying Venetian plaster with your own hands is a difficult task. The problem is that this is a creative process and there are a lot of ways to apply it. From different movements, a surface of different appearance is obtained. Without experience, it is impossible to predict what you will succeed. To find out which movement will lead to which result is possible only experimentally, that is, one must try. But. Venetian plaster is not cheap at all, so the experience is expensive. Although, you need to study somehow …
The only thing that can be advised is to plaster a piece of plywood with an area of at least 1 square, and preferably 2, sand it, cover it with a primer and try to apply Venetian plaster on this surface, honing the technique. It is not recommended to start finishing immediately. Most likely, you will have to remove everything and redo it again, which is insulting, expensive, long. If you’re lucky, you can get to dealers who teach how to work with Venetian plaster. They provide material and a stand for work, show how to do it. But, this rarely happens.
Preparatory work
The base on which the Venetian plaster is applied must be perfectly even. It is pre-puttied and leveled to absolute smoothness. Use latex putty. If you apply the composition on an uneven wall, it will only emphasize the flaws and increase the consumption of the Venetian. Alignment can be done with a base layer, but such alignment will be very expensive.
A flat wall is coated with a deep penetration primer. Preferably two layers. This will ensure good adhesion of the finish, remove the dust that remains after grinding the plaster, and prevent the development of fungi. After the wall dries, work can begin.
Mixing and coloring
Sold Venetian plaster in buckets, the appearance is pasty. The basic version is white, colors are added to obtain color, for various effects there are decorative additives – mother-of-pearl, sparkles, etc. You can tint the composition in the store or on your own.
For self-tinting, you will need a drill with a mixing nozzle. In some cases, Venetian plaster is covered with a layer of water to prevent it from drying out. In this case, before using or tinting, the water is drained. Then, using a nozzle on a drill, the composition is mixed until a homogeneous state. And only after that, the dye is poured into the mass, mixed for several minutes (5-10) with a drill and a nozzle.
When mixing, be careful: near the walls of the bucket, the composition often does not stain. After removing the nozzle, take a clean wooden block of small section, run it along the walls. Most likely, there are places where the dye did not get. Run the bar several times along the walls, making sure that the walls have painted material. Re-mix the composition with a drill until a uniform color is obtained. This procedure can be repeated again – for greater certainty. There is one more nuance: some manufacturers recommend waiting 12 hours after staining.
When self-tinting, it must be remembered that in some compositions the color changes when dried (not all). Therefore, to determine the future color, it is necessary to make samples: apply a couple of strokes and wait until it dries. According to the results, either add a dye, or – an untinted composition.
Also remember that with manual tinting, the same color cannot be repeated. The new batch will be different. Therefore, the material must be painted in a larger quantity than the expected consumption: it is better to have something left than not enough.
Layer rules
Layers when applying Venetian plaster can be from two to a dozen. It all depends on the desired result. And the correspondence between the “desired result” and the actual one is a matter of experience.
Layers are applied in different ways, but each of them is leveled and polished to smoothness, each must be allowed to dry. And only after applying and drying the latter, the surface can be covered with wax – bees or synthetic. Depending on the type of wax, either a glossy surface (beeswax) or a matte (synthetic-based) surface is obtained. The walls covered with a synthetic protective compound also become water and moisture resistant, so if you want to finish the walls in the bathroom with Venetian plaster, take synthetic wax.
Base
The first layer is the base. It is applied evenly, according to the rules for applying ordinary plaster – it must be even. It can be tinted, it can not. Depends on what kind of background you want to have – white or colored. If 2-3 layers of material are applied, it will shine through them. If there are 5 or more layers, most likely it will not be visible (again, it depends on the type of composition).
To determine exactly, read the manufacturer’s recommendations or watch master classes on how to apply Venetian plaster. And to feel the difference, try doing this and that on a piece of plywood. It’s more reliable.
Second and subsequent
The second layer of Venetian plaster, and all subsequent ones, are applied in chaotic strokes. The composition is taken on a flexible thin metal spatula or a special Venetian trowel. The composition is applied to the edge of the spatula / trowel, applied to the wall with small strokes in different directions. At the same time, one should try not to see the trace from the first touch of the surface tool. The subsequent smear, as it were, closes, lubricates this place. Moreover, it is not necessary to achieve uniformity. The whole point is in the randomness of directions, shapes, lines, bends. Approximately the same as in natural marble.
Venetian plaster dries 1-10 hours – depending on the composition, manufacturer, temperature and humidity. See the packaging for the exact time. After drying, the surface is rubbed with a dry trowel. At the same time, all the differences that remain after applying the layer are smoothed out. The next layer is applied to the cleaned surface, dries, smoothes. And so on until you get the desired result. And the result – usually this – darker stripes shine through thin layers in those places where, during application, the composition lay more densely. The depth and brightness with which the stripes “shine through” depends on the number of applied layers.
Finishing
The last layer of Venetian plaster must be applied with a thin metal spatula. The technique is called “on a strip” and the layer is almost transparent. They take a little composition on a spatula, apply it to the wall, firmly pressing the blade, collect the composition from the wall back. At the same time, a very thin layer of material remains on the wall. Here at this stage it is necessary to try to make the surface even. Small irregularities will be removed during grouting, but you need to try.
Iron formation
We do not completely dry the last thin layer of Venetian plaster. After 20-50 minutes, we begin ironing the surface. Please note that some compositions must be ironed in small sections. Venetian plaster was applied to a small area (about half a square meter), rubbed off. Other manufacturers allow a longer period of time. You should definitely look at the packaging or ask the manufacturers.
The ironing process itself is a grout with a dry, clean metal surface. We take a Venetian trowel clean, without stripes, scratches or other defects and smooth the surface in a circular motion. In the process, a pattern appears, shine appears, gradually the Venetian plaster acquires “depth” and layering, which distinguishes natural marble.
When ironing Venetian plaster, care must be taken to ensure that scratches and rips do not form. To do this, there should be no grains of sand, grains of material, etc. on the trowel. It is also necessary to iron the wall with the plane of the trowel, without touching its edges. We process a small area at a time, when a drawing appears on it, we move to another area, not forgetting to pay attention to the boundaries of the two areas.
Ironing Venetian plaster may be the last step. In this state, you can leave the walls or ceiling in the rooms. For corridors, baths, kitchens, a protective wax coating is required.
Waxing
Wax is applied after the Venetian plaster is completely dry. To be sure, it is better to wait a day. Wax is applied with a wide spatula in a thin layer “on the sdir”. A thick layer begins to flake off and peel off over time, so we leave a minimum on the wall.
Approximately 30-50 minutes after application, we begin to polish the wax. For this, a fleecy nozzle on a drill or grinder is suitable. The pile of the nozzle should be short and soft, should not crumble. We set the speed to no more than 3000 rpm. At higher RPMs, the wax is rubbed off rather than polished. Polishing lasts until you get the desired degree of gloss (depending on the type of wax).
Complete drying of wax – about two weeks. Only after this time it is possible to wipe/wash/rub. When it comes to the bathroom, it’s best not to use it too much (if possible).
Several application methods
Self-stuffing cones with a case of Venetian plaster is an expensive business. At the same time, it is almost impossible to understand from the description what and how to do, how to apply strokes is incomprehensible, the phrase “in a chaotic order” explains absolutely nothing, because there is still no complete chaos. There is some order or bias of application. So, to make it easier to find your own way, we will tell you at what angle to apply strokes in each layer. So there is a possibility that after a couple of tests “on plywood”, self-laid Venetian plaster will please you.
Method one: the drawing is not too bright, not very clear, smooth lines, without sharp transitions. Apply layers like this:
- Base – can be without tinting, white composition, even layer, well leveling the surface. Consumption – 500-600 mg / m2.
- The second layer is tinted material. The slope during the movement of the trowel is about 30 °. Darker and lighter streaks may remain. Consumption 220-250 mg/m2.
- The third layer is tinted. Pre-sand the edges of a small Venetian trowel with 600 grit sandpaper to remove dirt. Apply compound at 45° with this trowel. Consumption 80-100 gr/m2.
- After 20-30 minutes, carry out ironing, if necessary, apply wax and polish.
Venetian plaster in any interior looks rich
A good option with a good effect. Not too heavy technique gives hope that the Venetian plaster will look normal even if it was applied by a beginner without skills. But first test everything on plywood.
Method two: with a color base, multidirectional strokes in each layer. The application order is:
- Base – in an even layer, material tinted in the main color, consumption – 500-600 mg / m2.
- First layer. The composition of the same color. The strokes are thin, almost “on the rip”, alternately in three directions – vertically, horizontally, obliquely. Alternating these directions gradually, with thin strokes, we fill the surface.
- Second layer. Another color of the material, it can be a little lighter. The strokes are also multidirectional, but slightly smaller in scope.
- Carry out ironing, wipe with wax.
Venetian plaster in the kitchen should be protected with synthetic wax
This method is also not bad if you can master multidirectional movements. At the same time, do not forget that the strokes should be thin. In general, we try.