Decorative gypsum stones for interior decoration with their own hands

The use of natural stone in the interior has always been highly appreciated in terms of attractive appearance, durability, reliability and variety of choice. However, the use of this excellent material provides for some limitations that prevent the use of products everywhere. This statement is especially important for the private sector, since only the wealthy can afford to rent the house from the inside, whereas the average developer is beyond his means. This is due to the fact that high-quality natural stone has a fairly high cost. Not least because of the fact that it is produced in certain regions. Among other things, products have a high weight, therefore, a more reliable foundation or strengthening of the old one will be required. As you know, carrying out additional activities provides for material investments.

Budget Finish

As an alternative solution, you can use material that has found its wide application in the ordinary consumer. You can make a similar finish yourself, waiting for the appropriate mixture to harden. A variety of substances can be used as components, but one of the popular ones is gypsum. If you use it in the interior, it will be able to adjust the microclimate, to give the walls the ability to breathe. Among other things, you can produce these works yourself, without recourse to specialists. Finished products have high ecological properties, it can be used in premises of any purpose, there are no restrictions.

In order to save even more, you can make these products yourself, without the need for any special skills. As a result, the surface will be covered with a material that can have all kinds of textures and shades.

Preparation of formwork

In order to perform decorative stones from gypsum, you will need a form, which you can buy in the building materials store. The cost of similar products can start from 2700 rubles. a piece. You can create molds yourself, their number will depend on the time that is supposed to be taken for production. It's easy to understand that one form will slow down the process, and the samples will be the same. Therefore, the quantity will be determined by the features of the finishes and material possibilities. The more forms you can buy or manufacture, the more diverse the products will be in terms of texture and size.

If you decide to make decorative stones from gypsum, you must first find a sample, which will be used to make copies. It can be any natural stone, including one that is presented for sale. Dimensions of the form should be somewhat larger than the dimensions of the template.

Methods of work

The production of artificial stone is made by pouring the mixture into a template, which is a silicone matrix. For this, a mold is prepared for silicone, and the choice of material for this is quite large. It can be a layered moisture-proof plywood, pieces of PVC panels, etc. It is necessary to take into account before the work, how many samples will need to be made, and whether the mold will withstand the weight of the mixture being poured.

Preparing for pouring

If you decide to make decorative gypsum stones, then the original natural product should be placed in the formwork center, by placing the separation layer. This surface treatment is required to prevent the bonding of the material with silicone. Processing is cheaper and more convenient to produce a solidol, which should be coated with the inner surface of the formwork, including the sample. Experts advise to apply the lubricant "Tsiatim", but it is quite expensive.

The frame should be installed on a thick polyethylene film, while it is important to ensure the evenness of the surface. The edges of the formwork should be pressed tight enough to prevent the spreading of silicone.

Work on the matrix

On sale can be found in a wide range of sealants, but their cost is quite high. If you take into account that this material will need a lot, it is best to follow the recommendations of home masters who advise using silicone. It is just applied for such purposes. In the process of pouring it is necessary to check that the mass is distributed throughout the area as evenly as possible. In order to correct the position of the composition, you can use a brush, moistening it in a detergent solution. However, it should not contain alkali. For this reason, laundry soap is not recommended if citric acid is added to the mixture. The thickness of the template should be such that its operation lasts as long as possible.

Once the mass has dried, it can be removed from the formwork and inspected the quality. The resulting shells are embedded silicone, and the formed protrusions are smoothed out, that is, cut off. It is important to note that the silicone hardens slowly throughout the depth. As practice shows, with a layer of one centimeter it will be necessary to wait about a week or more. This is important to take into account and allow the template to lie in the formwork. The period can be shortened if you put the frame in a warm room. Do not silicone harden by forced heating method.

What else you need to know about making a template

The production of decorative gypsum stone , as mentioned above, is impossible without the use of a mold. For its implementation, you can apply a conventional box, the area of which will be able to accommodate all the stones acting as a template. Once the elements can be compactly placed in a box, you can proceed to pour silicone. Sealing should be done with a paint brush, which is often wetted in the usual Fairy. Such forms can dry out in time even up to 3 weeks, after which the formwork can be disassembled freely, samples can be extracted, which will allow to obtain ready-made silicone molds.

For reference

If you make a decorative gypsum stone, a photo of which you can see in the article, then the template can be executed independently, and not purchased in the store. The cost of a self-made form can vary from 220 to 280 rubles. If desired, you can pour up to 40 tile samples.

Mix preparation

In the frame in place of the stone should be installed silicone shape. The gypsum mixture is not a deficit and is sold in any specialized store. The main question that wizards ask before making a decorative gypsum stone for interior decoration: what should be the tiles - painted or have a natural color? It will be cheaper to paint products, but the durability will not be too high. If you want to get a better finish, then it's best to add color, while the dye is poured or falls asleep to the ingredients. When you make a decorative gypsum stone for interior decoration with the addition of color, you should be prepared for the fact that the elements are expensive. In order to save money, it is best to fill in two stages, for each of which a composition is prepared. The dye can be added to the top layer. First, a colored mixture is poured, which involves the need for compaction. Most often, the mixture is pierced with wire throughout the area, which allows you to remove excess air. A layer of the second composition is poured on top, it does not stain during manufacturing. It should also be condensed.

Increasing the strength and quality of adhesion

When decorative gypsum stones are made at home, they need to give increased strength. For this, the reinforcing material should be laid on the first layer of the mass, as a grid for plastering. Among other things, you can prepare a mixture not from pure gypsum, but with some cement. In this case, the brand of the last ingredient does not matter. It is necessary to use a ratio that involves the use of a part of cement and two parts of gypsum.

The production of a decorative stone from gypsum can be accompanied by an increase in the quality of adhesion of the products to the surface to be trimmed. For this, longitudinal strips should be applied to the top of the solidifying paste, after which the mixture will grasp fairly quickly. You can apply the finished tile in about an hour.

Recommendations for the use of stone

Obtained products are not recommended for exterior finishing. If you decide to put this material on the walls of a room with high humidity, it will be necessary to carry out a number of measures that will protect the blocks from the negative impact of water. In addition, the walls are impregnated with a primer, and the surface is treated with lacquers. And as an alternative option is the introduction of plasticizers, namely polymers.

If you want to make a decorative stone from gypsum with your own hands, then the substance that is intended for the preparation of concrete solutions can act as a coloring component. The ratio by weight between the dye and gypsum should be 1:20. After the finished tiles have been removed from the mold, the template should be washed with a soap solution. Experts advise adding citric acid to the ingredients if there is a need to increase the setting time. From the total mass, the acid should amount to 0.4%. When carrying out work at home, it will be enough to have 4 templates for each tile size.

Selection of glue composition and recommendations for finishing

Once the products are ready, you will have a reasonable question: what to glue decorative stone from gypsum? As its additional advantage, it is possible to use almost any adhesive solution available for installation works. This can be acrylic glue, liquid nails, thickened paint, mounting polymeric sealant, putty, PVA, cement dry mixes, tile adhesive, and CMC.

For laying, you can use one of two technologies, the first involves the presence of seams, while the second provides for their absence. Before making decorative gypsum stones, it is necessary to choose a more suitable principle of laying the cladding in order to correctly calculate the amount of material. If you decide to prefer a seamless method, then the material consumption will be 15% higher.

Decoration with decorative gypsum stone should be carried out on a perfectly flat surface, in this case the consumption of adhesive will be less. The substrate must be firm and dry, and before starting work it is important to check if there are any flaking elements that need to be disposed of.