How to repair the ceiling in the apartment with your own hands

The ceiling is a place in every apartment, the repair of which raises a lot of questions. And taking into account modern finishes, the head can even go round. Almost all of them can be brought to life with their own hands - this is whitewashing, and plastering, and wallpapering, and the formation of plasterboard ceilings. True, in this case, you will have to at least consult with the omnipotent Internet. An option that will require the intervention of professionals is a suspended ceiling. Now we will talk about all this.

Traditional options

These include puttying, plastering, painting and wallpapering. For these options, you must definitely prepare the ceiling. Stages are as follows:

• Removing the old trim.
• Cleaning damaged areas, chips, cracks.
• Primer (in the case of leveling the ceiling, it will be needed if there are tangible differences that can be eliminated with plaster).

If whitewashing and painting is planned, the ceiling should be plastered in any case to give evenness. Here it is desirable to apply two layers: start and finish, they differ in the size of the fraction in the mixture.

This preparation will not be easy, because in order to achieve perfect smoothness, you will have to sweat and sand even after puttying. It is important to choose the right and high-quality mixtures that allow you to achieve the desired result. After all layers have dried, you can start whitewashing or painting. Regarding the paint, the choice on the market is simply huge, there are those that are created specifically for the kitchen, they can be washed without problems, and they do not absorb fat, and are also moisture resistant. Other options can add texture, which will make the ceiling, for example, in the bedroom or living room deeper, and if you also design it in color, then more saturated. The modern market of building materials especially for those who want to have a stretch ceiling, but not spend money on expensive repair services, has created a paint that can mimic the glossy surface of this type of finish, as well as other textures. True, the price of such frills will be three times more, at least.

High-quality materials are not cheap, so if you want to make the ceiling beautiful, you will have to spend money, and as a result, this type of finish can not be called budget.

As for wallpapering, this option is acceptable to use only if the ceilings are even or require a minimum of cost for their alignment. The modest appearance of such ceilings can be transformed by using unusual ornamental wallpapers instead of the standard white color. They will last a long time, unless the neighbors try to test your ceiling for durability with water. Wallpapers tend to fade, but replacing them does not require a lot of resources and time.

Simply plastered ceilings will look untidy, since there is no perfect white plaster. Another option, rather non-standard, is to apply a structural composition to the ceiling or create it based on a standard finishing composition. But do not forget that it is difficult to care for the finish on the ceiling, and here too deep structures will not please you after a few years, since dust will accumulate there and beauty such a creation will not give to the ceiling.

Drywall

This ceiling decoration has many variations in terms of shape. If you have very curved ceilings at your disposal, and you passionately want to see even and neat, then you should choose the option of decorating the ceiling with plasterboard.A simple flat mount is easier than with any niches or ornaments. On sale there is a special ceiling gypsum board, which has a smaller thickness than the wall. As a result of this, it can be mounted on the ceiling with less labor, and if you also choose a convenient sheet format, you can do it yourself.

Before attaching plasterboard to the ceiling, it is necessary to make a crate of profiles or wooden blocks. Here it is not necessary to make a grid, since longitudinal slats are enough for a wall from drywall, the distance between them is 60 cm. If you have a standard sheet of drywall 120 x 250 cm, then you will have to resort to the help of comrades.

But a flat ceiling made of drywall is not the only thing that can be done with this versatile finishing material. Real architectural constructions are made of it, but note that without special preparation with your own hands it is unlikely to do this. In addition, if the room is small, then such a creation on the ceiling will make it even smaller both visually and actually.

If you decide to make a plasterboard ceiling in a bathroom or any other damp room, then it is worth choosing special moisture-resistant plates.

Whatever you think of creating from drywall, the design must be brought to mind after installation, namely: to seal up the joints of sheets with a special tape and plaster. If the decision was made to paint such a ceiling, then preparing it for this is identical to preparing a conventional ceiling for painting. Also, designs can be finished with wallpaper or just plaster.

Adhesive ceilings

This finish option, so to speak, is an amateur, since the polystyrene plates on the ceiling have a somewhat outdated appearance. Their idea is certainly not bad, because it does not require careful alignment of the ceiling, it will not be difficult to mount such ones, and the process goes quickly.

But if you decide to use this particular finish option, then there is no need to save money, since there are improved options on the market that are coated with lamination, that is, with a special film, it will protect the ceiling from dirt, it can be washed, which greatly facilitates maintenance. We can easily implement this option of finishing with our own hands, but there will be many seams here, and this will not allow us to achieve a monolithic ceiling. Still similar plates do not tolerate sunlight well, if they are colored, then they will burn out, if they are light, they will turn yellow.

Tile installation rules:

• Cleaning the ceiling surface from previous finishes, dust and dirt.
• Primer surface.
• Laying tiles (this must be done starting from the middle). For gluing, you can use both liquid nails and a special adhesive for polystyrene.

To give the integrity of the ceiling, the edges between the wall and the ceiling are covered with skirting boards, the material of their manufacture is the same polystyrene.

Stretch ceiling

This characteristic gloss cannot be confused with anything, but this only applies to glossy stretch fabric. Matte will look like a simple whitewash. Installation of such a ceiling is quite expensive, and you won’t be able to do it yourself, but today its appearance is attracting more and more apartment owners, and here's why:

• Glossy stretch fabrics expand the space.
• The use of such ceilings does not require preliminary preparation, you can simply remove the old finish.
• Dark tones in suspended ceilings make the interior of the apartment deeper and more unusual.
• The service life of such a ceiling is 50 years.
• Even neighbors from above cannot damage it with their water leakage.
• It is easy to look after them, it is possible to wash.

But, like any type of finish, it has its drawbacks. Of course, this is a high price and complexity of installation. And the first and threefold will depend on the type of structure and the number of radius sides. Also, such ceilings are afraid of sharp and piercing-cutting objects. After all, minor damage will cause their canvas to become unusable.

Laminate

We talked about all the possible options for finishing the ceiling, which are used today in the repair business. Regardless of the type of material chosen, to achieve a beautiful appearance of the ceiling, it is important to use only high-quality materials, and if you are not sure that you can do this or that finish with your own hands, then it is better to trust the professionals, well, or at least consult with them.

Video: installation of a multilevel plasterboard ceiling