How To Cut Gypsum Decorative Stone
Preparing the stone for painting
Tiles that have already been used must be prepared for new painting, avoiding corrosion damage. To do this, follow these steps:
- The old layer of stone is removed;
- The surface is sanded;
- Blown by a compressor;
- Impregnated 2-3 times.
It is easier to paint a new stone than to paint an old one, because there is no need to grind and grind it. The surface is washed, soaked a couple of times, after which it is painted.
How to paint decorative stone: tips for choosing tools and materials
When you are wondering how to paint a decorative stone, it seems very simple. But this uncomplicated work has many pitfalls that it would be nice to know about.
What to paint?
How to paint. with a brush or airbrush? Stone painting can be carried out with any tools designed for such work. Skilled people with experience use an airbrush or paintbrush. Plus airbrush in paint spraying, resulting in a solid and natural color result.
Knowledgeable people will not undertake to paint a decorative stone with a brush at all. Even if it is the highest quality brush, it will still leave streaks and drops behind. In addition, the brush leaves behind a thick layer of varnish. When painting, individual plaster bricks will not be able to completely saturate with the next layer.
On: painting gypsum stone with a spray gun.
How to paint gypsum tiles
Painting of decorative gypsum stone is carried out when its natural appearance does not quite match the general interior details. Plaster tiles can be painted immediately after installation, as well as before. In the second option, the tiles must be absolutely clean, without glue or grout residues. It will be useful to varnish the surface.
Simple rules to help you achieve an excellent result when painting an artificial plaster stone:
- Only completely dry impregnated surface should be covered with paint.
- Do not paint on old decorative tiles that have not been sanded before, as this will result in a scattered surface.
- For finishing, only waterproof paints intended for outdoor use are taken.
- The surface of the artificial stone can be sprayed with varnish; for a better effect, you can use hardeners.
Gypsum is painted in at least three layers for a rich and vibrant color. For uniform staining, varnish is suitable. It is easier to work with and dries faster than paint. Varnish sets off plaster as much as possible, which is sometimes enough to give the desired effect.
Materials and tools
To paint quickly and successfully, you must first prepare the tools required for the job. These include:
- Sandpaper;
- Rubberized sponge;
- Cotton rag;
- Paint sprayer;
- File for grinding;
- Degreasing solution;
- Brush;
- Paint;
- Compressor;
- Impregnation suspension.
This decorative coating is often used for landscaping or when decorating houses. Therefore, you need to carefully approach the choice of paint.
Painting process
How to paint an artificial plaster stone? It’s pretty easy, no complicated tools or technology required. If the layer is applied unevenly, this will not be noticeable, since the texture of the gypsum hides imperfections.
Painting like a stone and painting decorative tiles are two different things. Artificial stone belongs to the second case, which can be easily painted from a spray bottle. The first is a primed and filled wall.
You can imagine the whole process of painting a gypsum stone like this:
- The composition is being prepared, the powder is poured into water, following the instructions.
- Paint is gradually added to the composition.
- All parts are painted accurately, without getting out of the permissible limits, using a spray gun at a distance of 45 cm from the wall.
Paint selection
Artificial stone is painted with silicone, acrylic and silicate water-based dyes for outdoor use. They are resistant to any damage and destructive factors.
To create the desired atmosphere in the interior, designers use various materials. This includes gypsum. It is great for finishing work. Gypsum in powder form is diluted in water and given the desired shape. In the construction world, he is highly regarded.
The most popular is the technology with which you can create a decorative brick from plaster. It looks like a facing tile made of bricks. It is easily assembled and assembled on the wall in the form of a puzzle.
Gypsum brick tiles are painted with the following substances:
- Water-based paint;
- Impregnation for concrete products;
- Water-soluble varnish;
- Glaze.
Finishing touch
Not everyone can tell the difference between a painted gypsum stone and a natural type. These types of paints began to be produced recently, but they are already in great demand. It is not surprising, because these works are done by hand, and paints have a lot of advantages:
- Protect material from external negative factors;
- They are used for outdoor work, decoration of facades, areas;
- Suitable for all surfaces;
- Artificial turf closely resembles the natural shades of natural stone;
- External work consists of painting flower beds and gazebos, internal ones are suitable for fireplaces and stoves.
When painting artificial stone, you do not need to have specific knowledge in this area. The most important thing is to choose the right material for painting, to choose the desired color. All manipulations should be carried out on a dry and clean surface finish.
As we can see, painting artificial stone is not so difficult. Do not be afraid of changes in life. It’s nice, having done the work with your own hands, to admire the results of your labors. Adhering to the advice on the technology of coloring decorative stone, the work will certainly be done perfectly. A flawless coating of artificial stone will delight the owners for many years.
Adhesives
The quality of adhesion of surfaces and the duration of the lining will depend on how correctly the glue is selected.
Installation of artificial stone can be performed on the following types of compounds:
- PVA;
- Dry cement mixture;
- Acrylic;
- “liquid Nails”;
- “Bustilat”;
- Densely rubbed paint;
- Tile adhesive;
- Putty;
- Mastic
- Polymeric assembly sealant;
- CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose).
The most popular brands of adhesives used for surface cladding with artificial decorative boards:
- Ceresit;
- Unis Plus;
- “Kreps”;
- “Akrilika”;
- Confiad;
- Litokol;
- Corian.
Tools and materials
To independently cover the walls with decorative stone, you will need tools:
- Rope;
- Building level;
- Roulette;
- Saw;
- Hacksaw;
- File or sandpaper;
- Drill;
- Long ruler (preferably one or two meters);
- Pencil;
- A spatula in order to apply the adhesive;
- Brush with metal bristles;
- Roller (brush) for applying a primer;
- Trowel with a base width from 6 to 8 cm, wooden, intended for grouting.
How and how to glue artificial and decorative stone: the secrets of craftsmanship
Decorative stone is widely used for interior and exterior decoration of buildings. Thanks to this building material, an imitation of almost any natural type of masonry (brick, slate, cobblestone) is created. In order for the work to be done efficiently, the decorative stone must be glued correctly.
Gluing instructions
Two technologies are used for laying decorative stone: seamless and with jointing. It is necessary to choose the best option even before starting installation in order to correctly calculate the amount of material.
The principle of facing works is very similar for both technologies:
- Place gypsum tiles (artificial stone) on the floor next to the cladding in the order in which they will be placed on the wall. This will make it possible to see the final result of the finish and make the necessary adjustments.
- Mark the wall surface to ensure the most accurate placement of the material.
- Carefully study the instructions for the adhesive composition and only then proceed with the dilution of the solution. This is important, since ready-mixed mixtures have a limited life.
- Prepare the glue. It should turn out without lumps, not too thick, fluid, but not sticky.
- If a cement-based mixture is used, then it must be applied to the wall with a maximum thickness of 6 mm. Do not cover more than one square meter with glue at a time. to prevent the glue from drying out.
- Apply the solution pointwise to the back of the tiles (6-8 points each) or in wavy stripes if the composition chosen as the adhesive is polymer assembly sealant.
- Start glueing the decorative stone from below from any corner where it will be more convenient.
- Press each tile into the wall mortar so that it protrudes around the edges of the part. Press the material to the surface as tightly as possible.
- If the installation method is with seams, then do not make the gaps between the tiles more than one centimeter. With a seamless technique, the edges of the fragments should fit as tightly as possible to each other.
- Fill the joints between the tiles with a special grout or glue that was used for installation. In some cases, the glue squeezed out around the edges is enough to level the surface and seal the seams.
- Rub the seams after the grout or glue has begun to set, but you cannot wait for the final hardening of the composition. It should be borne in mind that the approximate time for complete hardening for various products varies from 10 minutes to half an hour.
- Treat the paneled surface with acrylic or polyurethane varnish. This will provide reliable protection against moisture and long-term operation. For the same purposes, you can use any product that has water-repellent properties.
- Complete drying of the surface covered with gypsum tiles is achieved within three to four days.
How to stick on wallpaper
Despite its relative lightness, decorative stone is a heavy wall covering. Therefore, it is not recommended to mount it over wallpaper. Otherwise, there is a great risk that the gypsum panels will lag behind the wall and collapse.
If the design involves a combination of wallpaper and decorative stone, you will need to leave exposed areas under the panels. It is recommended to mark the walls in advance so that when installing the wallpaper, you do not glue the places where the decorative stone will be attached.
The surface must be prepared for wallpapering and stone installation: it is leveled, treated with a primer. Fastening of artificial stone is carried out only after the wallpaper is glued, and not on top of them, but on the left free sections of the wall.
If it is necessary to mount decorative plates on a wall, the surface of which is completely covered with wallpaper, follow the instructions:
- Mark with a pencil on the surface of the wall the place where you plan to install the stone, step back 1–3 cm and outline the border. The indent is needed so that the wallpaper slightly goes under the gypsum panels and there is no ugly gap between the two types of cladding.
- Using a sharp knife or blade, cut out the outlined fragments and remove the wallpaper in these areas.
- Prepare an adhesive solution and fix the boards on the wall according to the instructions.
- Treat the panel surface with a special varnish.
If for some reason it is necessary to first mount the decorative stone, and only then the wallpaper, use one of two methods:
- Attach all the slabs to the wall except the last, top row. Then glue the wallpaper, making a spade on the area under the stone. Finally, install the last row of gypsum boards.
- Lay all the slabs, without exception. Stick the wallpaper with a margin of 5-7 cm (depending on the type of tapestry). After completely drying with a sharp knife, cut off the excess by running along the joint. Cover the formed seam with a decorative plinth (baguette).
Surface and material preparation
You can attach gypsum tiles to almost any surface: brick, concrete or wood wall, metal, plaster and glass. The main requirement that will ensure a quality installation is the strength, dryness and cleanliness of the base.
Surface preparation:
- Remove the remnants of the old cladding. You will need to remove the glue and plaster.
- Scrub the surface of the base with a metal brush.
- Apply a deep penetrating acrylic primer to the surface. After that, leave the wall to dry according to the instructions for the primer.
The next step will be to prepare the material for cladding. Initially, you will need to calculate the area of the cladding. The standard material overrun is 10%, which must be borne in mind when calculating the required amount of material.
Material preparation:
- Cut the artificial stone into pieces of the desired shape and size using a saw or hacksaw.
- File or sandpaper the cut areas to give them a natural look.
- Lubricate the reverse side of stone slabs with the same primer that was used to treat the walls. Leave to dry.
- Apply paint to the facing material and let it dry. Multiple shades will be required.
Advantages and disadvantages of decorative stone
The popularity of decorative panels is due to their positive properties, the most important of which are:
- The widest range of colors;
- Small weight;
- Ease of installation;
- The ability to recreate the most accurate imitation of natural masonry;
- Environmental friendliness;
- Compressive and flexural strength;
- The features of the components that make up the decorative stone make it possible to regulate the indoor climate;
- Resistance to high temperatures;
- Long service life;
- Low cost in comparison with natural stone;
- Almost any available adhesive is suitable for installation;
- The texture is pleasant to tactile contact.
The disadvantage of such a building material is fragility. if you hit it, it will crack.
Useful Tips
The decorative stone looks good without any tweaks. However, there are a few secrets on how to give the final finish a designer look:
- The lined surface looks harmonious if the sequence of stacked elements of various shades and sizes is correctly selected. In the case of using plates of the same size, it is necessary to accurately maintain the evenness of the lines diagonally, vertically and horizontally.
- The trimming of the corners of individual fragments will give the maximum attractiveness to the finish.
- The seams must be closed with the utmost care and a special bag or syringe pistol must be used for this. The fact is that the solution that got on the front surface of artificial decorative plates is extremely difficult to remove.
Installation of artificial stone is simple and does not require significant costs, but work at all stages should be done as carefully as possible. In addition, you need to pay close attention to the compatibility of color shades and sizes, only in this case the finish will please the eye.