Wall decoration with MDF panels, their types, advantages and disadvantages, calculation and choice of material, preparatory work and installation technology. By size and shape, MDF panels are:
- Rack … Products of this type are the easiest to install and therefore are quite popular. Outwardly, they resemble lining. The width of the slatted panels is 148-300 mm, and the length is 2400-3600 mm. Due to the wide range of sizes of MDF panels for walls, the material is easy to select for any type of room. The connection of the panels to each other during installation is carried out using special lateral grooves, and the fixation of the lower and upper edges of the plates is carried out using horizontal strips.
- Tiled … Such MDF panels look like tiles, but much larger in comparison with it. The installation of tile panels is technically the same as the installation of lath products.
- Leafy … These MDF panels are large decorative sheets with ornaments applied to them. The sizes of the sheets can be different, and the products themselves can be combined, adapting to the existing design of the room. Depending on the decorative design of the front part of the panel, it can also be divided into several types:
- Veneered … The appearance of the surface of such panels most accurately reproduces the texture and color of real wood. To make a high-quality imitation of it, a veneer sheet with a thickness of less than 3 mm, made of natural wood - beech, ash, etc., is glued to the base of the MDF board.
- Glossy … These products are laminated with transparent glossy film and look respectable and stylish.
- Painted … Most often, such panels are used in the manufacture of furniture, less often for cladding. The color depth of the products is achieved with the help of a special paint, which, when applied to the surface of the plates, spreads and smoothes all their irregularities. Painted MDF panels can have a matte surface, glossy or pearlescent, changing shades of color at certain angles of view or direction of illumination.
- 3D MDF panels … This is a new direction in the production of facing materials. With the help of modern technology, MDF panels can be visually aged, give them a relief, apply a volumetric drawing or photo, give the texture of the material silvery or gold highlights. You can create a relief surface of the panel by painting it with a large number of colors. In addition, the front parts of 3D panels can be imitated under the skin, silk, marble, followed by the creation of a laminated layer.
Advantages and disadvantages of MDF panels for walls
MDF panels are used to decorate premises for any purpose: living rooms, corridors, loggias, kitchens. The material is often used for wall cladding in public institutions and offices due to its advantages: resistance to moisture, easy maintenance, environmental friendliness and versatility.
Its properties are especially well manifested during installation:
- Installation of panels is a completely dry process. It does not require careful alignment of the walls, while saving labor and financial costs.
- Installation allows you to simultaneously perform wall insulation, which looks like an additional workflow procedure, but not as a separate operation. Naturally, such wall insulation leads to cost savings.
- Without resorting to outside help, you can do the installation of MDF panels on the wall with your own hands, which will significantly save the family budget.
- The cladding made with such panels serves as additional soundproofing of the walls.
- The decorative coating of the slab surfaces does not require finishing.
MDF panels for walls gain in price and surpass wooden cladding panels in strength, but they also have disadvantages:
- Despite the strength of the boards, their surface is sensitive to scratches, impacts and other influences.
- Due to the fact that the panels are produced in a dry way, the likelihood of their flammability is quite high.
However, if simple rules are followed, MDF panels can be used for many years, retaining their appearance. The rules are as follows:
- Do not apply mechanical action to the surface of the cladding.
- Do not use MDF panels for wall decoration in the kitchen work area.
- If there is electrical wiring behind the panels, insulate it with a corrugated braid.
- Use caution when using open flames.
Calculation and selection of MDF panels for walls
The calculation of the number of panels required for cladding is performed based on the data taking into account the length of each wall and the width of the selected product. Dividing the first value by the second, you can get the number of plates in pieces, a couple of panels should be bought in reserve. For example, if you want to revet a wall having a length of 5.2 m with panels 300 mm wide, the calculation of their number will look like this: 5200: 300 + 2 = 19.3 pcs. According to the rules of arithmetic rounding, 19 panels are required.
The cost of panels depends on the methods of their decoration during the production process, the use of special surface effects and technical characteristics. However, a wide range of products makes their purchase quite affordable for most consumers.
The price is formed on the basis of a package or square meter of coverage. Therefore, initially you should determine the required height of MDF panels and, based on this size, buy them by the piece. This will allow avoiding the transverse joining of the panels during installation, which occurs if the height of the panels is insufficient for facing the decoration area.
When choosing, you should pay attention to the thickness of the material. Thin panels during installation do not take up a large room space, but they are quite fragile. Panels with a thickness of 12 mm or more are considered durable. In addition to having decent characteristics, such products serve as additional wall insulation.
Sale of MDF panels is carried out through construction and specialized stores, as well as on the Internet from distributors or manufacturers.
Advice! It is recommended to calculate the budget for the purchase of the material required for wall cladding based on the number of panels, and not on the area of the entire surface.
Preparatory work before installing MDF panels on the walls
Before attaching MDF panels to the wall, you need to prepare it and stock up on the necessary tools. For work you will need:
- Pencil and tape measure. They are required to mark the wall for fastening the battens and select panels of the required length.
- Building level and square. Useful for checking the geometry of corners.
- Electric jigsaw. It is necessary for trimming slabs according to the made markings.
- Hammer, nails and stapler. Required for fixing MDF boards on the crate.
- Drill or hammer drill, dowels and screws. Needed for fixing frame elements to the wall.
- Screwdriver and screwdriver. Necessary for tightening screws when installing panels and battens.
After the selection of tools, you can start preparing the surface of the walls. First of all, they should be cleaned of old finishes: paint, wallpaper, whitewash, etc. The exfoliated plaster should also be removed, and the remaining differences on the plane should be repaired with a solution.
The technology of mounting MDF panels does not require careful leveling of surfaces. At the same time, the material for making the walls does not matter at all, be it wood, concrete or brick. It is quite enough to cover their clean surface with protective compounds such as a primer or antiseptic, and, if necessary, fix foil insulation on it. After that, you can start attaching MDF panels to the walls.
Technology for mounting MDF panels on walls
Fixation of panels on the surface of the walls is carried out by frame and glue method. The first of them involves the use of a lathing made of a wooden bar or an aluminum profile. It is used when it is necessary to hide engineering communications passing along the walls, or surface defects.
Another method is used when installing panels without lathing on prepared and level enclosing structures. The glue method is very simple to perform. To apply it, you only need neatness, glue or "liquid" nails. However, before gluing the MDF panel to the wall, it will need to be ideally prepared - cleaned and carefully aligned along all its planes. Therefore, it is less problematic to fix the slabs to the lathing.
The work is done in this way:
- It is necessary to select bars of arbitrary section for the manufacture of the frame, but of the same thickness. If it is planned to lay insulation under the panels, the thickness of the timber and the thermal insulation must match each other.
- Then you should choose the direction of installation of the panels.
- Perpendicular to the selected direction of installation of products, you need to fix the crate on the wall. The bottom bar should be 3-5 cm above the floor, and the top one 2-3 cm below the ceiling. Between them, intermediate bars should be placed and fixed with dowels with a step of 45-50 cm.
- The verticality of the resulting structure must be checked using a level. If necessary, adjustments can be placed under the elements of the sheathing pieces of fiberboard or plywood.
- In the corners of the room and along the perimeter of window and door openings, the vertical elements of the lathing should be fixed.
- If the installation of MDF panels on the walls is carried out with a vertical arrangement of products, then it should be started from an angle in the direction from right to left.
- The first panel must be fastened from the edge with a ridge to the bars along its height, using self-tapping screws, which should be located near the corner.
- The other edge of the panel must be fastened with special staples and a stapler, or use small nails.
- The rest of the plates on the wall are attached in the same way, inserting a comb into the groove.
- The last panel on each wall should be cut to the required size, and then inserted into the groove of the previous one, fixing the cut side to the bars with self-tapping screws.
- After the installation of all MDF panels is completed, the corners of the room must be closed with special corners, that is, they must be glued to the surface of the cladding. In this way, the screws holding the outer panels can be masked.
- The same corners should be glued to the edges of the products that frame the openings. Before this process, it is necessary to arrange their slopes, which are finished in the same way.
How to fix MDF panels on walls - watch the video:
We hope that our material was useful, and independent work on wall cladding with MDF panels will bring you not only significant cost savings, but also moral satisfaction.
