Water-based paint for walls and ceilings: how to choose?

Water-based paint has long and successfully been used not only for interior decoration, but also for outdoor works. But in recent years, water-based formulations are experiencing their second birth. They drew the attention of designers. Such paints began to gain popularity rapidly, superseding various paint and varnish materials, produced on the basis of harmful solvents.

Almost disappeared unsafe oil paint, as well as nitro-enamels, which were often used in our country during the Soviet era. Water-emulsion paint for walls and ceilings is a composition with embedded (but undissolved) in water fine polymer particles, additives, fillers and pigments. After applying the paint on the wall (or ceiling) and further evaporation of water (in other words, after drying the composition), a hard and dense polymer film is formed, firmly grasping the base.

What is attractive for such a coating?

Water-based paint for walls and ceilings is universal: it can be used for finishing surfaces of any type. This is plaster and gypsum board, wood and brick, wallpaper for painting (especially fiberglass) and concrete.

When choosing the necessary water-based composition, it is necessary to take into account that there are several main types of water-based paints intended for finishing different rooms. They have their advantages and disadvantages. In this article we will tell about all the pros and cons of water-based paint for walls and ceilings, how to choose the right composition, calculate the required amount of this material, and, of course, discuss how to apply the product on the surface.

What are the water-based paints?

Water-based formulations are divided into several categories. Let's get acquainted with them in more detail.

Acrylic paints

This is the most popular and often used kind of cover. Acrylic water-based paint for walls and ceilings is resistant to external influences. In many respects this is due to the presence of acrylic resins in its composition. In case of contamination, it can be washed. Therefore, it is ideal for finishing living quarters, offices, etc.

Features of acrylic paints :

• Suitable for any interior and exterior work is acrylic paint for walls and ceilings. Consumption - from 100 to 200 grams per square meter (depending on the manufacturer's company).
• Application on alkaline substrates (plaster) is allowed only after the surface has dried completely. This is because the process of hardening the plaster layer is rather long, not less than 30 days.
• They have low gas permeability, they are a good protection against corrosion of reinforced concrete.
• Not suitable for finishing premises with wet walls and poor waterproofing of the foundation. In this case, silicate and silicone paints are more suitable .

Paints based on silicone resins

It is the presence of silicone resins that make these compounds expensive. They can be used to apply to any mineral coatings. The main advantage of this paint is its elasticity: it paints cracks up to two millimeters. Silicone paints are vapor-permeable, and, not least, microbes do not multiply on this coating.

All this makes it possible to use silicone compounds in rooms where the humidity is high enough: shower rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, cellars, etc. Due to the filling of roughness and roughness this paint is resistant to temperature and mechanical influences, humidity. It can be applied directly to the plaster without priming the surface in advance.

Silicate paints

It is a mixture consisting of an aqueous solution, a liquid glass and colored pigments. Its main advantages include the absence of a surface film, which is replaced by strong chemical-physical bonds. They are very resistant to mechanical and atmospheric influences. Manufacturers of silicate paints guarantee a long service life of these compounds - about twenty years. Such paints are excellent for exterior finishing of open terraces and facades of buildings.

Polyvinyl acetate paint

This paint is very popular because of the quite affordable price and at the same high quality. It is produced on the basis of PVA and is intended for interior finishing works.

Benefits:

• It falls perfectly on cardboard, plaster, wood and other porous materials.
• It is possible to use in rooms that require a high level of fire safety.
• It does not contain harmful components, it is explosion-proof and fireproof.
• It does not have a very large color palette, but special additives will help to give it any shade. Use of additives allows to receive a matte or glossy surface.
• It dries quickly.

Mineral paints

Mineral water-based paint for walls and ceilings basically has cement and slaked lime and is used for painting concrete and brick surfaces. The disadvantage of these compounds is a short service life, so recently they have lost their popularity.

Washing latex paint based on water

If you need a surface that is completely unaffected by moisture, then you will need a water-based paint for walls, washable ceilings. To obtain this effect, latex is added to the paints. As a result, it can withstand more than five thousand wet cleanings, while ordinary paints can only be wiped occasionally. Therefore, it is suitable for painting ceilings and walls in the kitchen, bathroom. This is a subtype of acrylic paints refers to the average price category.

The advantage of these compounds is not only excellent water-repellent properties, but also the ability to cover rather large cracks (two layers of paint easily cover cracks up to one millimeter), so before the application, thorough preparation with putty is not required.

Today, washable water-based paint for ceilings and walls of the following brands is popular:

• "Expert";
• EcoDom;
• Dall;
• "Premiere";
• Alpalux.

Degree of gloss

Water-based paint for walls and ceilings differs for one more indicator - the degree of gloss. To date, manufacturers offer:

• Deeply matt;
• Glossy;
• Matt;
• Semi-matt (silky matt);
• Highly glossy;
• Semigloss.

Glossy and semi-gloss paints are more resistant to abrasion, rather than matte and deeply matte. Paints with a glossy effect can be washed much more often. This is because the surface of such a paint is perfectly smooth and smooth. Cleaning with a damp cloth practically does not change its texture at the micro level, while the matte paint can be quickly wiped, resulting in unsightly glossy spots on the surface. In this case, the surface will have to be repainted.

Water-based paint for walls, ceilings: characteristics

Before purchasing a water-based paint, it is necessary to study its characteristics: composition, consumption, viscosity, drying time, specific gravity, storage conditions, shelf life.

Viscosity

An important indicator, which should be quite high. It determines the degree of dilution of the composition with water. When applied by brush, this value ranges from 40 to 45 c, when using a spray gun - from 20 to 25 c.

Consumption

It is 150 grams per square meter, 250 grams with a two-layer coating. Often manufacturers unintentionally mislead customers, indicating that their water-based paint for walls and ceilings consumption is 110-140 grams per square meter. Such indicators correspond to ideal conditions - a well plastered, completely smooth wall, covered with a thin layer of paint. In reality, consumption, as a rule, depends on the material of the surface being treated, its roughness, absorbency and painting method. For example, the application of a roller is much more economical than with a brush .

Drying time

This indicator depends on humidity and air temperature. The optimum humidity is 65%, the temperature is +20 ° C. Drying time varies from 2 to 24 hours .

Shelf life

Most manufacturers specify the shelf life of their products 24 months from the date of manufacture. In this case, it is necessary to observe the storage conditions: to provide a place protected from heat and not to allow freezing.

How to determine the quality?

One of the indicators of indicators of the quality of water-based formulations is their cost. If we consider that 90% of the components and materials used to produce acrylic and waterborne paints are imported to our country from Europe, then the price of one liter of paint can not cost less than 70 rubles. A significant reduction in this cost can be caused by a significant decrease in product quality.

There is another quality indicator - the weight of the paint. Its average density varies from 1.35 to 1.5 kilograms per liter, so a ten-liter bucket should not weigh less than fifteen kilograms. Water-emulsion paint for walls and ceilings should not be purchased in the market, especially in winter, in unheated rooms - when freezing and further defrosting the paint lose its properties.

Manufacturers

It is important to choose the right, well-known manufacturer of water-based paints. Today, Dulux (Great Britain) is the undisputed leader in our market, the water-emulsion paint for Tikkurila walls and ceilings (Finland) has excellent technical characteristics and high quality, Dufa (Germany) paints are equally popular, good quality, but high prices have compositions Johnstone's (Great Britain). From domestic products, we recommend that you pay attention to the "Admiral" and "Eurolux" (Russia).

Painting walls and ceilings with water-based paint

With the painting of the walls, as a rule, problems do not arise, but the finish of the ceiling is a more complicated process in terms of technology. Before you start, you need to prepare the surface - remove the remains of the old coating, polish and align. After this work, the paint consumption will be significantly reduced.

Primers can also be water-based paint, diluted 30-40% with water, but it is better to use a high-quality primer, for your type of surface.

Colored water-based paint for walls and ceilings needs to be pre-tested to understand what its color really is. Apply a thin layer of a small amount of paint on the wall and wait for it to dry. As a rule, it turns out that the color is several tones lighter than in a bucket.

Painting walls and ceilings with water-based paint starts from the far corner of the room from the window, after that it is necessary to paint the remaining corners and joints of the ceiling and walls: a strip about five centimeters wide is applied along the perimeter of the ceiling. After that, a roller or a spray gun comes into operation.

For the color to be uniform, it is better to apply two or even three thin layers, rather than one too thick. It is important to know that the paint layers must be applied perpendicular to each other. Each successive layer is applied after the final drying. The last layer should be applied parallel to the light rays, from the window. Due to this small trick, errors and small irregularities will be hardly noticeable.

To completely eliminate problems with errors, use textured glass pane. The woven texture surface perfectly masks all errors in coloring. Painting the walls, the ceiling with water-based paint is not difficult, this time it takes a little work and at the same time you can create an original interior.