Hello.
I have built my own stair and am now considering the surface finish. The stair is U-shaped with a landing, the sides will be covered with plasterboard. At the end, there will be a stove with a built-up base and recessed wood storage in the stairs.
I've been thinking back and forth about how to clad it. Initially, I thought of plastering the sides white since there will be some masonry around the stove and thus making the whole stair look like it's made of masonry and plastered. Then I plan to add steps in ash, treated the same way as the parquet.
One day, thinking it was a car magazine, I accidentally picked up one of my girlfriend's interior design magazines in the bathroom. There I saw a bathroom where they had built a bathroom unit plastered with cement, and even a wall in the house was plastered with cement. For the first time in my life, I felt that a women's magazine had given me something, a real aha moment...
Now to my considerations.
1. Can you plaster a drywall with cement? I don’t want to sand to a top finish; I think the slightly raw concrete feel is cool. I first thought of filling the joints with adhesive filler and tape, then plastering. Is reinforcement needed?
2. Is it possible to also plaster the steps with cement? My idea (vision if we're talking architecturally) is that the entire stair should look like it is one big cast lump. I would prefer not to nail forms and cast concrete, but I assume that's the only way to avoid cracks since there will be some movement in the wooden frame.
The steps are made of 45mm Kerto, scraps from the roof trusses. The landing is laminated wood 115 mm, scraps from the construction. The walls that the steps rest on are nailed together with 70 x 45 studs.
I have read a thread about making custom concrete countertops, and there were some interesting things to read, but no one has done what I’m thinking about. Hope someone has some ideas on the matter.
Best regards / Jocke
I have built my own stair and am now considering the surface finish. The stair is U-shaped with a landing, the sides will be covered with plasterboard. At the end, there will be a stove with a built-up base and recessed wood storage in the stairs.
I've been thinking back and forth about how to clad it. Initially, I thought of plastering the sides white since there will be some masonry around the stove and thus making the whole stair look like it's made of masonry and plastered. Then I plan to add steps in ash, treated the same way as the parquet.
One day, thinking it was a car magazine, I accidentally picked up one of my girlfriend's interior design magazines in the bathroom. There I saw a bathroom where they had built a bathroom unit plastered with cement, and even a wall in the house was plastered with cement. For the first time in my life, I felt that a women's magazine had given me something, a real aha moment...
Now to my considerations.
1. Can you plaster a drywall with cement? I don’t want to sand to a top finish; I think the slightly raw concrete feel is cool. I first thought of filling the joints with adhesive filler and tape, then plastering. Is reinforcement needed?
2. Is it possible to also plaster the steps with cement? My idea (vision if we're talking architecturally) is that the entire stair should look like it is one big cast lump. I would prefer not to nail forms and cast concrete, but I assume that's the only way to avoid cracks since there will be some movement in the wooden frame.
The steps are made of 45mm Kerto, scraps from the roof trusses. The landing is laminated wood 115 mm, scraps from the construction. The walls that the steps rest on are nailed together with 70 x 45 studs.
I have read a thread about making custom concrete countertops, and there were some interesting things to read, but no one has done what I’m thinking about. Hope someone has some ideas on the matter.
Best regards / Jocke
Mortar can be used. Cement is just the adhesive in the mortar. There is also gray-toned putty. e.g. http://www.ardex.se/upl/files/40361.pdf
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Will it be durable enough to apply plaster mortar even on the steps?
Will it be the same shade as the concrete, will it look like concrete?
Considering building a "stair dummy" to test on first.
Will it be the same shade as the concrete, will it look like concrete?
Considering building a "stair dummy" to test on first.
I don't understand how you're going to make the cement powder stick to the wall by applying it. Cement is a powder. The same applies to the staircase - it will just be a lot of cement powder spreading out. In that case, you first have to mix concrete if it's supposed to resemble concrete. Cement is one of the components in concrete.
no guarantees.
you have to try and see what you think. thought you would just polish/fill a wall.
that mortar is only for walls
you have to try and see what you think. thought you would just polish/fill a wall.
that mortar is only for walls
Exactly. Maybe I was a bit unclear. I basically want to plaster the entire staircase with concrete, simply put. The question is really how to go about getting it straight and nice on the steps and how to prevent the risk of cracking.
I know that concrete is not suitable for plastering, but I want the entire staircase to look like it's a single piece of concrete. Even the steps...
I know that concrete is not suitable for plastering, but I want the entire staircase to look like it's a single piece of concrete. Even the steps...
the most important thing is the color difference. you have to check what you think.
then there are no guarantees that you get it crack free.
then the steps might get too small
then there are no guarantees that you get it crack free.
then the steps might get too small
I don't really think you understand how much the staircase will weigh and be loaded with all the concrete. If you're going to use concrete, you must reinforce with a 5 mm reinforcement mesh and make a pour that is at least 5 cm thick. Concrete weighs 2.3 tons/m3 - then you can easily calculate what the entire construction will weigh.
Maybe I'll do a test with rendering and see how it looks. I'm a bit unsure about how it will turn out, whether it will have too rough a texture. Do I need to put reinforcement underneath? Of course, I'm planning to cover the steps in drywall first. I'm not worried about the steps becoming too small since I plan to apply the same thickness over the entire staircase.
After casting some bases against a drywall in a basement, I had some fiber-reinforced concrete left in the bucket. Said and done, I used it to plaster the seams between the drywall sheets. I don't remember the brand of the fiber-reinforced cement, but it held like a rock in the drywall seams when I was done. So it might be something to consider, but above all to test.