Many apartment owners have quite professionally learned how to prepare wall surfaces for pasting and painting, but when faced with the question "how to align the corners of walls at 90 degrees," usually a stupor arises for beginners. Indeed, this process is one of the most difficult types of finishing work, which is why it is sometimes best to entrust the alignment of angles to professionals.
If, nevertheless, it was decided to independently engage in alignment of the external and internal corners, the owner will need to familiarize himself with several ways of carrying out these works. You can align the corners in the following ways:
- using GCR;
- by plastering;
- by installing a perforated corner;
- plastering according to marks;
- combination of plastering and leveling the base with drywall (recommended for slight deviations in the vertical).
Surface preparation
Before you do the alignment of the corners of the walls with your own hands, it is necessary to prepare the adjacent bases. To obtain a high-quality right angle between the walls, you need to perform the following work:
- Remove the old wall covering by thoroughly cleaning the surface from small particles.
- Treat the walls with a deep penetration primer, especially carefully brush the corners with a brush.
- If you plan to plaster with cement-sand mortar, the prepared wall surface should be moistened.
Instructions for plastering corners
It is quite possible to bring the angle to the ideal state by conventional plastering. If surfaces were well prepared and plastered, the place of their connection is not difficult to level. This will require the following tools and materials:
- laser level;
- roller;
- 150 mm wide brush;
- mixer;
- capacity for the preparation of plaster mortar;
- deep penetration primer;
- rule
- building plaster mixes;
- perforated corner;
- wide spatula;
- the spatula is narrow.
Before plastering the corners of the walls, it is necessary to prepare the surface. Then perform the following work:
- Using a plumb line or a laser level, a line is drawn on an adjacent wall that will be a guideline for aligning the base in the corner. If necessary, a guide rail is installed along the line;
- Focusing on the mark or guide rail, apply plaster to the wall and align it with the rule, pulling the mortar from the corner so that the geometry of the already plastered wall is not disturbed;
- After the plaster dries, the final finishing of the surface is done using putty.
This technology is applicable for plastering the corners of walls during their preliminary alignment. If the walls were not plastered, the alignment of the corners is recommended to be carried out together with the alignment of the walls using beacons for both internal and external corners.
To align the outer and inner corners, it is recommended to use metal profiles. They not only form an even angle, but also serve as protection against accidental wall damage. Also, as a corner reinforcement, you can use a paint net.
GKL Alignment
With significant vertical deviations of the walls in the rooms, it is recommended to level them using GCR. This method allows you to quickly fix all surface irregularities. At the same time, if all the work is done correctly, the corner joints will be almost perfectly smooth.
To align walls and corners with the help of gypsum plaster, the following tools and materials will be required:
- laser level;
- GKL sheets;
- guide profiles;
- self-tapping screws;
- construction knife;
- fixing glue for GCR;
- putty knife;
- serpyanka;
- metal corner;
- putty mixture.
If the vertical deviations are more than 50 mm, it is recommended to install guide profiles, which are the basis for fixing sheets to the wall. With less significant deviations, there is the possibility of mounting drywall on special adhesive solutions.
It is possible to use drywall solely to align the slopes at the window or doorways, in which case the sheets are cut to size and a non-adhesive solution is fixed.
Before starting the installation of drywall, it should be noted that this material is afraid of moisture, so the installation of even moisture-resistant gypsum boards in the bathroom or toilet is not recommended.
Exactly installed drywall sheets do not require special finishing in the corners, but since this material is quite fragile, it is necessary to install metal corners on the outer corners.
In order not to violate the horizontal, a groove equal to the thickness of the metal corner is chosen according to the height of the place of contact of the walls on both sides. The corner is mounted using adhesive solution, and after installation, it is masked with putty.
To strengthen the internal joints, a sickle is used, which is attached to the plaster mortar, after which it is also masked with putty.
This technology is applicable in rooms with a large area, since the installation of drywall "eats" significant volumes. Aligning the walls using drywall in old prefabricated houses will leave very little living space, so for such rooms it is best to use plaster.
Seam alignment
Often there are situations when, in order to obtain the proper quality of decoration of the internal walls, it is not necessary to remove the contact of the bases at 90 degrees. In this case, it is enough to achieve an even seam, both on the inner surface and on the outside.
External corners
Typically, at the junction of the walls, the external corners form 90 degrees, while obtuse angles are possible when equipping window openings.
To form blunt contacts of the walls, it is recommended to use an angular spatula, the sides of which are specially bent to the desired degree of the walls of the opening, this process is quite complex and requires professionalism. Also obtuse angles are leveled with plaster mortar, using a rigid base (straight board) on one side.
A special spatula can also be used to align right outside angles, but the use of metal perforated profiles, which are also called counter-trunks, is considered the best solution. The installation technology of the counter-shell consists in the following actions:
- A piece of counter-cutter is cut off with metal scissors along the height of the wall;
- An adhesive solution or gypsum is applied on both sides along the entire height;
- The counter-schulz is carefully recessed in the solution so that particles of the mixture appear through the perforation;
- Using the laser level or plumb, the verticality of the corner is checked and adjusted if necessary;
- The solution emerging through the perforation is leveled with a spatula, completely covering the metal surface;
- After the solution has fully risen, the surface is cleaned with sandpaper. Before finishing the walls and the installation site of the corner, putty.
If you want to form an obtuse angle, you will need to use a straight guide. Usually for this purpose they find an even board. The production technology for aligning an obtuse angle with the help of a board is reduced to the following actions;
- The leveling surface must be strengthened, for which a sickle is glued onto it;
- The board is prepared in size and is rigidly fixed from floor to ceiling;
- A plaster mortar is applied to the adjacent wall surface, while the edge of the board is used as a limiter;
- After the solution has risen, the board is dismantled and installed on the surface that has just been prepared, freeing up space for plastering the first side;
- The completely finished surface is rubbed and sanded with sandpaper, after which the putty is applied.
Internal corners
For the installation of internal angles, two methods are most often used.
With a countersunk
This technology is simple and reliable. To get the perfect surface in the place where the walls touch, you will need to perform the following steps:
- At the required height, the countertop is cut off;
- A solution is uniformly applied to the place of contact of the walls on both sides;
- The contrashulz is placed on the prepared spot and gently pressed with the help of a long rule. If point pressure is applied to the counter-schulz, dents and, as a result, violation of the right angle are possible;
- With the help of a laser level or a plumb line, the position of the counterjet is adjusted to the desired one;
- The residual solution penetrating through the perforation is smoothed, the excess is removed, the entire surface is sanded with sandpaper;
- The processed joint of the walls is plastered together with the entire surface, which allows you to eliminate a small difference due to the thickness of the countersunk.
With leveling base
You can get a flat surface of the internal contact of the walls using the guide. You must complete the following steps:
- On one of the walls determine the most prominent point. To do this, just attach a rule with a level to the wall surface;
- To this point along the adjoining wall, a guide is fixed strictly vertically (a flat board, usually a metal profile), departing from the point by the width of the corner spatula;
- Using an angled spatula, a leveling solution is applied to both walls. If the measurements and installation of the guide were made correctly, the contact surface of the walls will be aligned;
- The guide is removed;
- Using a spatula, remove excess solution;
- After the final drying of the leveling mixture, putty and grinding are carried out.