Pasting walls with cork wallpaper, characteristics of the coating and the rules for choosing a material for different rooms, the advantages of this method of decorating a surface, a typical finishing instruction. The content of the article:
- Advantages and disadvantages
- Main varieties
- Features of choice
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Installation technology
- Preparatory work
- How to glue cork wallpaper
Cork wallpaper is a finishing material made from compressed cork bark sawdust. Decorating with cork is expensive, but the results are well worth the cost. To get a good repair and not spend money on remodeling, familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the coating and the peculiarities of handling cork materials.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cork Coatings
Positive reviews about cork wallpaper for walls are associated with the natural origin of the coating base. In addition to environmental friendliness, they have other advantages:
- The structure of cork wallpaper ensures the preservation of the integrity of the canvas for decades.
- Natural material does not change color for many years and is not afraid of sunlight. No signs of aging appear on the coating.
- Corked walls acquire sound and heat insulating properties. Therefore, in this way they decorate the surface in panel houses, music schools and studios.
- Cork creates a favorable microclimate in the house. In cold weather, it retains heat in the room, in summer it is not hot in the room.
- Dust does not settle on such coatings, they do not accumulate electrostatics.
- The cork does not burn or melt from high temperatures.
- The material is water-repellent. It can be cleaned with any detergent properties.
- The coating prevents the growth of mold and mildew.
- The plug neutralizes harmful radiation from the computer, which is why it is used in offices.
- Thanks to the variety of patterns on the surface of the wallpaper, you can create any style of room.
- The surface of the cork is velvety and pleasant to the touch, the coating temperature is always constant.
Users should also be aware of the negative aspects of cork wallpaper: cork has a porous structure and is easily deformed when pressed, so this material cannot be used to decorate walls in a crowded room; cork wallpaper is expensive, because natural wood waste is used for its manufacture; with excess moisture, the cork swells. For use in wet areas, purchase a specially treated cork.
The main varieties of cork wallpaper
Cork wallpapers are distinguished by style, design, installation method, etc. A wide range of materials allows you to create an elegant interior, the main thing is not to make a mistake with the choice.
Cork wallpaper is made from crushed bark of a cork tree by pressing the starting material. After processing, a flexible, porous coating of light color with dark spots is obtained. This structure provides good air access to the base wall and prevents fungal contamination of the surface.
The cork provides the canvas with strength and immunity to external influences. The characteristics of the cover are similar to those of heavy wallpaper. The obtained veneer is used to make sheet and roll wallpaper with or without a paper backing.
The sheet covering is available in dimensions 100x50 cm. The sheets are treated with wax on top, which protects the veneer from water and premature abrasion. Sheet wallpaper without a base is thin and fragile and requires care during installation.
More expensive sheet wallpaper is made in the form of panels 0.3x0.3 m, 0.6x0.6 m, cork layer - 3 mm. The sheets have two covers: the upper one is made of cork veneer with wax, the lower one is made of pressed cork. Such samples are glued even in the bathroom.
Cork rolls are produced without a base. The structure of the material is similar to sheet wallpaper, but it is sold in rolls 0.3 m, 0.6 m or 1 m wide and 10 m long. The cork interlayer is 0.2-2 mm. The surface is sometimes waxed. Cork wallpaper rolls are decorated with patterns or designs.
Inexpensive cork wallpaper is made on a paper basis. The face layer of these veneer products is 1 mm thick. Strip dimensions: length - 10 m, width - 0.5 m. Wallpaper can be painted or remain untreated.
On sale you can find self-adhesive wallpaper with cork veneer. They are used for cladding surfaces in kitchens, bathrooms, furniture can also be coated. On the front side there is a drawing, on the back side - an adhesive layer with a protective film. The coating has a variety of structures, from small chips to plates. Most often, the self-adhesive coating is painted brown-beige, less often the front side is golden or bronze.
Features of the choice of cork wallpaper for walls
Cork has some properties that do not allow the material to be considered universal. Each type of room has its own type of cork wallpaper:
- The coating absorbs odors well, therefore, the material for the kitchen must be impregnated with special agents that prevent the saturation of specific aromas. In the kitchen, cork wallpaper is in good harmony with furniture of the same color.
- In the nursery, the walls are trimmed with cork wallpaper when the child is old enough, because the wallpaper is easy to damage. The material completely eliminates the risk of allergic reactions.
- In the living room, cork wallpaper creates a comfortable atmosphere for communicating with guests.
- Often, walls are trimmed with cork to decorate a room in a country style or in a classic version.
For cork wallpaper, color is of great importance, it must match the style of the room. When choosing a cork color, check out our recommendations:
- Cork wallpaper is not used in small spaces where the walls must be light.
- To obtain a comfortable environment, cork wallpaper should alternate with other types of coverings, otherwise the room will turn out to be dull. When using different types of wallpaper, their thickness should be the same. If the thickness of the wallpaper is different, the joints are masked with ornament or molding.
- The monotonous design of all walls with one material has ceased to be fashionable. Often, beautiful patterns are cut out of the wallpaper and used with cool colors.
- In a room with bright brown cork wallpaper, it is recommended to create an atmosphere in brown, brown-green, brown and sand tones that harmonize well with the natural colors of the cladding.
- Golden brown wallpapers go well with beige or purple tones.
- If the cork is painted, it is better to place objects made of artificial materials in the room. Usually, rooms for children are designed in this way.
- Cork in delicate shades goes well with patchwork textiles and soft homemade toys.
- A room with cork wallpaper should not be cluttered with wooden furniture, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve a beautiful look. In such a room, dark polished furniture looks good.
It is easy to create three interior styles with cork wallpaper:
- The classic style involves the use of symmetrical decor - wallpaper or sheets should be the same in shape, size, color, patterns, etc.
- The avant-garde style includes the alternation of asymmetric elements when decorating the wall.
- Walls decorated in the ethno style also do not imply a blank wall cladding with cork. In this case, cork wallpaper alternates with plastered or whitewashed areas.
The thickness of the main layer of wallpaper also affects the applicability of the material. For decoration and heat and sound insulation of the walls of residential premises, a coating with a thickness of 2-4 mm is used. Walls in musical institutions are insulated with rolled cork wallpaper 10-100 mm thick, this material is called cork agglomerate.
Cork wallpapers are expensive, so pay attention to the little things in the store:
- If possible, purchase goods from well-known brands, you will have to pay more, but the risk of buying defective products will decrease.
- Reputable manufacturers sell products with a guarantee, so it makes sense to spend time looking for just such wallpapers.
- In the store, inspect the packaging of the product. If you find any defects, discard the purchase.
- Do not buy thick sheets, they are the most fragile.
Technology for installing cork wallpaper on walls
All types of cork wallpapers are fixed on the wall in one way - with the help of glue, but the complexity of working with sheet and roll material is different, it takes more time to install modular wallpaper.
Preparatory work before pasting walls with cork wallpaper
The quality of the coating depends on the condition of the base wall - all irregularities will subsequently appear on the wallpaper. It is not necessary to putty the wall, it is enough to level it with a lighthouse starting plaster. Before pasting wallpaper, clean the surface of the wall from dust and prime.
You can count the number of wallpapers as follows:
- Determine the area of all four walls of the room.
- Determine the area of the windows and doors that are in the room.
- Determine the area of pasting, for which it is necessary to subtract the area of the doors and windows from the total area.
- Determine the area of one roll of wallpaper by multiplying the width of the material by its length.
- Divide the area to be pasted by the area of one roll of wallpaper, round the value up to a larger value - and you get the number of rolls. Buy wallpaper with a margin for finishing complex surfaces.
For work, you need a special glue for the cork or another tool with similar characteristics. For example, acrylic tile adhesive works. If you have a choice, get a special one that provides good adhesion - the glue recommended by the manufacturer is applied on the product packaging. It is forbidden to fix cork wallpaper on the wall with universal adhesives, they will still lag behind.
Along with the glue, instructions for its preparation are supplied. The technology for preparing adhesive solutions differs only in concentration:
- Pour warm water into the bucket and add glue in a thin stream with constant stirring.
- Everything is mixed until the lumps disappear.
- Leave the mixture alone for 20 minutes, then stir again. After the second stirring, the wallpaper paste becomes homogeneous.
Before gluing the cork wallpaper on the wall, make sure that the surface is dry after priming. Cork glue, like all others, does not stick to damp surfaces. Dilute a small part of the glue with water to 20-30% and prime the wall with this solution again. The priming improves the adhesion strength.
How to glue cork wallpaper on walls
At the beginning of the work, they measure the distance from the ceiling to the wall and cut out the required sizes from the roll with a margin of 5-6 cm. Cut the material with a construction knife with replaceable blades. The cork is a brittle material, to make a beautiful cut, sharpen the knife well.
Wallpaper in rolls will wrinkle during storage, so spread the cut sheets on the floor and press down so that they return to their original shape. Do the same with the tiles. Otherwise, the canvas on the wall is deformed and gaps will appear between the sheets.
Using a plumb line, draw a vertical line on the wall along which the first sheet of wallpaper will stick. It is recommended to draw lines on both sides of the corner around the entire perimeter of the room. If the corners are uneven, you will have to trim the wallpaper so that it does not overlap.
If there are sockets, switches and other electrical accessories, remove the decorative covers from them by turning off the power on this branch. After gluing the wallpaper over the socket hole, cut the cuts crosswise and tuck the edges of the cuts into the socket box. Then fasten the cover in place. In a similar way, all electrical fittings are pasted over with wallpaper.
Wall cladding with wallpaper rolls differs little from working with paper wallpaper, the main difference lies in the strength characteristics of the material - it cannot be bent and deformed.
The sequence of work when pasting wallpaper:
- Spread a clean film or paper on the floor or other flat surface, and put the cut sheet of wallpaper on top.
- The way the glue is applied depends on its consistency. Liquid glue is spread with a brush or roller. Cover the surface with glue and leave to dry (the exact time is written in the instructions).
- The thick glue is applied with a comb-type trowel. If acrylic glue is used, the facing will be similar to tile laying: the mixture is applied to the wall, and then the canvas is pressed tightly against the ceiling.
- When using a special glue, it is smeared both on the wall and on the wallpaper, for more details, see the instructions for the glue.
- Apply the material to the wall using a vertical line and press down. It is advisable to do the work together, one exposes the upper part of the wallpaper, the other the lower one. If glued alone, there is a danger of damage to the sample.
- To prevent bubbles from remaining under the cut, smooth the sheets with a rubber roller. Press down on the cork carefully, if you press hard, traces will remain on the surface. As a last resort, draw glue into the syringe, pierce the bubble in the middle, let the air escape and pump the glue into the cavity to fix the wallpaper.
- Make sure that no glue is squeezed out of the gaps between the sheets. If this happens, wait for it to dry and then cut it off with a knife. Wallpaper heavily stained with glue cannot be cleaned; it must be replaced. Protect the edges with masking tape to keep the canvas clean.
- The cloth is glued with a margin. To cut off the excess part, mark the cutting line with a pencil, keeping to the horizon, then peel off a small section of the wallpaper and cut the required section with scissors.
- After applying the wallpaper, you need to make sure that it dries properly. At this time, doors and windows should not be left open so that drafts do not lead to flaking and rupture of the material.
- Inspect the surface of the wall after the adhesive has dried for defects. If the wallpaper is covered with wax, scratches from the surface can be removed very easily - just heat the cork with a hairdryer. The wax will soften and the marks will disappear.
- After the glue has dried, the cork veneer can be varnished or waxed. The negative side of the wax coating is that traces of palms and fingers are visible on the surface.
- If you plan to varnish the wallpaper, use furniture varnish, apply it in several layers.
How to glue cork wallpaper - watch the video:
Cork wallpapers look extravagant and are very different from other wall decoration options. With them, the room takes on a stylish and presentable look.
