Subtleties of painting decorative plaster stone

Sometimes there is a strong desire to change something in the design of an apartment or house. In this case, you can use gypsum stone, the painting of which is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. The use of decorative stone will allow you to transform any room, but first you need to understand the intricacies of staining the material.

If unprocessed products are purchased for finishing, or the material is made independently, then the products need painting. The first step is to test the selected compositions in order to understand what color the result will be.

Painting is carried out using the following mixtures and solutions:

• Acrylic paint - this water-based solution is suitable for gypsum stone due to its resistance to external influences, good elasticity, due to which cracks will not form on the facing element.

• Vitriol - copper and iron vitriol acts as an impregnation and helps to increase the strength of parts. Copper sulphate gives the stone a blue tint, and iron - yellow.

• Stain - one-color mixture used for painting cement-based materials, as well as gypsum stones. Decorating is carried out with acid stain or wood compound.

In addition, painting is carried out with other solutions: various varnishes and impregnations with a wet effect, paints that give the plaster stone a natural look.

Correct painting of gypsum stone implies adherence to simple rules:

• parts are pre-dried within 1-2 days;
• the old material is sanded, otherwise the paint will crumble from it soon;
• impregnations are applied according to the instructions on the label - some solutions are applied before the painting procedure, some types are not compatible with certain paints;
• to make the product shine, a varnish coating is added over the paint, but it is not always appropriate - due to this, the feeling of the naturalness of the stone is lost.

When you follow these tips, it becomes possible to protect the decorative stone from negative influences, corrosion, and the paint layer will last for a long time.

To create a decorative element that attracts attention with your own hands, you must use the tools thanks to which the painting is performed.

The main devices include:

• airbrush or spray gun;
• brushes and rollers;
• sandpaper or sander.

Most often, an airbrush is used for painting.

With an airbrush, you can give the stone different shades - for this you simply adjust the flow of paint and the distance from the tool to the working surface. A conventional airbrush with a compressor equipped with oil cooling and an automatic pressure regulator is suitable for painting the material.

It is very rare to paint the entire facing stone with a brush, because the device leaves streaks and ugly stains. The brush is a great tool for highlighting areas.

Preparation for staining is carried out depending on the type of material: a previously used stone or a new one.The old corrosive layer is carefully removed from used products. The stone is then sanded to eliminate large surface drops. Facing elements are blown by a compressor and impregnated 2-3 times - due to this, during finishing, the consumption of coloring compounds will be significantly reduced.

The new stone does not need to be sanded and rubbed - it is enough just to wash it and soak it 2 times. In this case, painting will take much less time.

No need to use high-precision tools and special technologiesto color the material. First, a composition is prepared from a dry powder, filled with the required amount of water indicated on the instructions from the manufacturer. If everything is done incorrectly, then you can get an overly liquid or thick solution - it will be rather inconvenient for them to paint textured gypsum stone.

In the process, you need to paint over all the details without getting too far beyond the boundaries of each element. As it dries, the paint on the plaster will fade slightly. The surface should be varnished to provide protection. Decorative gypsum stone is painted with water-soluble paints, so the varnish is chosen with the same characteristics: alkyd, matte, pentaphthalic.

There are several methods of painting the material: in bulk and surface.

The first method is used for self-made stone. The technology consists in adding coloring pigments to the plaster solution - as a result, the product is painted over from the inside. To paint with this method, mix 1/2 part of the color with 200 ml of water and the same volume of acrylic primer. Matt varnish is applied to the required surface of the stone after complete drying.

The surface method is very simple: the finished facing material is coated with a coloring agent from a spray gun. The advantage of this method is the ability to give the decorative stone the desired shade, to create a natural, natural look.

There are several ways to paint the surface of a decorative plaster stone in an interesting way, with the help of which you can achieve an unusual look of the product:

• Old marble - a stone made with one's own hands is dried, and one purchased in a store is placed in a warm, dry place and kept for two days. After that, with a flute brush, the surface is impregnated in two layers with heated linseed oil. After some time, you will get a coating with an aging effect, reminiscent of marble.
• Terracotta - the technology is similar to the creation of an old marble coating, only it is not drying oil that is used, but rosin and varnish - they are diluted in industrial alcohol.
• With a bronze sheen - gypsum stones are thoroughly impregnated with linseed oil and dried for 8-10 hours. Then two layers of bronze powder diluted in varnish are applied to the material, and the stone is dried. Take 10 g of silver nitrate, 100 g of vinegar, 300 g of pure water, a special solution is prepared from these components. The product is re-coated with bronze powder and treated with the prepared solution. At the end of the procedure, the decorative stone is wiped with a piece of velvet cloth.
• Stain application - the composition is slightly warmed up, plaster elements are immersed in it literally for 5-10 seconds and sent to dry.

Thanks to these tips, preparation for painting a decorative gypsum stone will be productive, and the result of the work will be of high quality and long-term.

One of the ways to paint decorative plaster stone is presented in the following video.