Gypsum tiles: application features

In the process of finishing work, many people prefer gypsum tiles. This material stands out against the background of analogs with an unusual structure; it has a number of features and advantages. Consider the main nuances and explore the subtleties of the application.

Gypsum cement tile is a building material for interior decoration of walls and ceilings. Today, this material is widely used in the decoration of the walls of private houses, apartments, office premises, exhibition halls. This is an interior decorative finish for walls, less often for a ceiling. It can be used exclusively for internal work.

This material is presented on the modern construction market in the form of decorative stone, as well as rectangular and square tiles with a relief pattern.

It is based on gypsum - a cheap building material that is environmentally friendly, due to which gypsum tiles are harmless to health.

The convenience of the material is the ability to cook it with your own hands, thanks to which this finish can be done in any form for individual requests. This allows you to significantly save money on finishing work, as well as create a unique facing stone that has no analogues. This criterion allows you to finish the interior of the room in different stylistic directions of design.

Decorative gypsum tile material contains sand, gypsum, water, as well as modifiers and surfactants. It is somewhat reminiscent of aerated concrete, which is a type of aerated concrete.

In such material the main components are cement, silica sand, lime, aluminum powder and water... Due to the modifiers, the quality characteristics of the gypsum cladding are quite high: after the adhesive has dried, it becomes strong and durable. Before facing, it is subject to crumbling and chipping.

The parameters of gypsum tiles depend on the type of material and its design. It can be presented in the form of individual rectangular bricks (narrow, wide), as well as blocks with a relief, on which several bricks or stones are applied.

This feature determines the appearance: the parameters can be 28 x 6, 29 x 6.5, 38 x 9.5, 19 x 5, 19 x 9.5 cm.The relief fragments under the stone are 21 x 10, 27 x 10 cm. Their companions (corner blanks) differ in the presence of a side edge with a length of 7 and 12.5 cm.

The base color of the gypsum tiles is white. However, today the palette of this cladding is more diverse. On sale you can find varieties in milky, beige, sandy, light gray shades. Sometimes the manufacturer makes smooth transitions of tones to give the tiles the effect of versatility: there may be several related shades on the fragments (for example, light gray and beige). This technique gives the tiles more realism, equating to natural stones and brickwork. In addition to light colors, it can be gray, brownish and even black.

This tile perfectly conveys the texture of stone and brick. In addition to the brick and stone design, such a finish can be slabs with a smooth surface and ornaments.... In this case, the pattern depends on the forms into which the tiles are poured.More often it is geometry, simple leaves, lacy monograms.

Gypsum tiles have a lot of advantages. It is lightweight, which makes it easy to replace the masonry of stone or brick, significantly reducing the area of ​​the room in the case of choosing accent areas for facing. Due to the use of this material, there is no need for additional strengthening of the walls. For this reason, it can even be laid on primed drywall.

Gypsum tiles are easy to use: you can lay them yourself, without the help of professionals. Often, the finished result looks professional, as if the work was carried out by an eminent designer. In the process of work, there is no significant effort: the tile adheres perfectly to the prepared base.

Due to the manufacturing method, gypsum tiles have the same thickness (with the exception of varieties with different levels of relief). When laying finishes with a stone or brick texture, there is no need to adjust each fragment to the desired thickness: a prepared base and a uniform layer of glue are enough. Due to the vapor permeability, the walls after finishing will be able to breathe, so the appearance of mold and mildew is excluded... This material is able to absorb excess moisture, when dry, it gives it back into the air.

After laying, the surface is firm. The material is durable, as it eliminates the possibility of repair for at least 10 years.

With a lot of positive properties, gypsum tiles have several disadvantages. It is completely unstable to moisture.... For this reason, such cladding is excluded for decorating the walls of a bathroom, basement, unglazed balcony or loggia. This does not allow the use of water for cleaning the surface, as it can lead to the fact that the material will gradually wear off, changing the texture of the relief.

Gypsum tiles are afraid of temperature changes... If during the production process the trademark has not provided for a special protective layer, this cladding should not be laid near the heating pipes: the tiles may crumble.

For the choice of gypsum tiles to be successful, factors are taken into account, ranging from characteristics to the choice of shade.

The place of decoration matters: for the hall, the hallway, it is worth using practical material, which is reflected in the choice of shade. Brownish or grayish tones of material and medium size are preferred here.... The best option would be with several shades.

If the tile is taken to accentuate the arch, you can start from the cladding: from the side of the hallway, corridor, it is better to choose a tone for wood or sand. If the arch is decorated with such material from the side of the living room, it is better to choose a lighter tone (milky, cream, white).

For the hall, you can use options in white and beige. No less interesting is the tone of light wenge oak: today it is the focus of designers' attention.

When choosing gypsum tiles for interior wall decoration, preference is given to a manufacturer with a good reputation, confirmed by reviews of real buyers. You need to take into account the size and style. The size is selected in accordance with the parameters of the room: the more spacious it is, the larger the fragments and drawing... The stylistics obeys certain nuances: the relief with brick and stone is successful in modern interiors, stucco decoration and symmetrical forms are inherent in the classics.

When buying, pay attention to the batch number by opening each box of tiles. Examine the corners, chips, compare the shade. If necessary, check the length of the side edges: then it will not be possible to cut it.

Decorative gypsum tiles are laid in two ways:

• brick (or a checkerboard with a shift);
• classic trick (with the formation of crosshairs).

In this case, the choice of the method is subject to the shape and size of the facing material. If clinker bricks are used in the work, they try to glue them with the formation of joints. When imitation stone is needed, they try to avoid seams altogether. At the end of laying with this method, possible gaps are covered with a special cement mortar to match the tile itself. This allows you to minimize the visibility of the joints, since the solidity of the wall surface is needed.

If the work is based on finishing fragments of different sizes with multilevel relief of the edges, gluing resembles the assembly of a mosaic. In this case wall tiles are laid out on the floor before laying in order to understand how best to combine parts with a minimum of joints... This method is painstaking work in which the alignment of the side edges is not adhered to.

In the home production of gypsum tiles, it is worth considering the weight, dimensions of each fragment, its geometric shape, the number of tiles and the characteristics of the room. The manufacturing process is simple: you need molds, gypsum, a construction mixer, slaked lime. If colored tiles are planned, color is added to the mixture.

If you want to make a special painting, you can do it at the very end of the process, which includes 3 stages:

• pouring the solution;
• drying;
• painting.

Take 6 parts of gypsum, 1 part of lime, pour water (1: 7 in relation to lime). In consistency, the composition should resemble sour cream, you can stir it using a construction mixer. The mixture is stirred until a homogeneous structure is obtained and poured into molds. Before that the molds are moistened with water diluted with laundry soap, so that in the future it will be easier to remove the stone... It is important to make sure that the molds are on a level surface.

When pouring, check that there are no air bubbles in the composition. In the absence of a vibrating table, the molds are shaken several times: this removes bubbles from the filled material... Grasping takes place during the day: the molds are not touched, leaving them in a dry room. After a day, they are taken out. This must be done carefully: such a tile is rather fragile.

If necessary, paint it using water-soluble paint pigments. To speed up the work, you can use a spray gun, performing the staining evenly, avoiding colors. Sometimes a finishing putty is used instead of lime.

The shape should be shallow... For brick, a thickness of 0.5 - 1 cm is enough, for slate, a thickness of no more than 1 - 2.5 cm is sufficient. After painting, the surface can be treated with acrylic varnish. For an even dye, it is worth applying acrylic twice.

From time to time, dust settles on the surface of the gypsum tile. Contamination is not excluded, which outwardly makes the look untidy. The need for care coincides with the final stage of finishing work. Mechanical damage is unacceptable immediately after finishing, until the glue layer has dried. Gypsum material must not be treated with aqueous solutions: dust is removed with a semi-dry cloth. You can attach it to a stiff bristled brush: brushing with your hands can cause injury.

The use of a vacuum cleaner is unacceptable: this may cause chips. If during operation a fragment has moved away from the base or the die has burst, replace it.

This type of finish is quite specific. In order for gypsum tiles to look stylish, there should not be a lot of them: the abundance leads to the fact that the texture loses its expressiveness. It is preferable to designate one plane or a certain accent with a material, rather than cladding all walls.

It is worth starting from the place: if this is a living room, you can accent the wall near the dining room or video zone. If the decoration is conceived to highlight the fireplace space, you can decorate either the fireplace ledge itself or the wall on which it is located with plaster tiles.

If the decor is chosen to decorate the hallway of an apartment or house, it is worth using it partially, for example, depicting a torn stone (partial masonry). This technology is the advantage of gypsum tiles: if the design requires it, the application can be a ladder or abstract gluing. In this case, the fragments are placed with the long side parallel to the floor.

If you need to lay around the door, place the bricks perpendicular to the opening. If they decorate the lower edges of adjacent walls, emphasizing the design in ethnic style, the fragments are laid parallel to the shift.

To be able to evaluate the beautiful interior decoration with plaster tiles, you can pay attention to the examples of the photo gallery.

• Plaster tiling in an open-plan space looks stylish: the accent wall and the highlighting of the cooking area do not overload the interior.

• If you want something special, you can lay one wall, supporting an interesting material with texture, making it a decor in the form of dishes on the wall.

• Accentuating the ledge is a stylish solution: you can lay out a video zone with a false fireplace with plaster tiles, separating it from the cooking space.

• If the material has thermal protection, and you want to accentuate the fireplace area, you can lay it under torn brick: this decor is the focus of design today.

• If the decoration is conceived in the living room, it is worth playing up the uniqueness of the material through partial styling, decorating it on both sides of the sofa, leaving space in the center for stylish accents.

• You can beat the difficulties of fixing pictures on the wall by means of partial cladding: it is worth laying near the location of the picture by installing an LED lamp for effective lighting. For complete harmony, it is worth repeating the decoration pattern under the painting.

• A complex and slightly pompous technique, not devoid of harmony: a small area above the fireplace looks unusual.

For information on how to make an artificial stone from gypsum, see the next video.