How to putty corners: do it yourself

One of the trickier aspects of any wall finishing project is applying putty to corners. Achieving a professional appearance requires a smooth, even finish, whether you’re working on internal or external corners. Even if you’re not a skilled do-it-yourselfer, you can complete this project on your own with the appropriate strategy.

From setting up your equipment to applying the putty and smoothing it out, this tutorial will take you through all of the crucial steps involved in puttying corners. You can confidently tackle corners and make sure your walls are prepared for painting or wallpapering by adhering to these easy instructions.

You’ll discover that puttying corners need not be as difficult as it first appears if you have a little perseverance and practice. Let’s begin by creating flawlessly finished corners that will enhance the appearance of your walls.

Features of puttying corners

Leveling the corners is a necessary step when performing repairs in a residential building or apartment:

Selecting the appropriate mixture composition is crucial and can vary in:

• The amount of binder. The solution can be:

1. cement, has excellent moisture resistance, is well suited for repairing the kitchen and bathroom. The disadvantage of the material is the likelihood of small cracks forming during drying;
2. gypsum (see. Gypsum putty: its advantages and problems of use), used in residential premises;

Advice: Avoid finishing the building’s facades with gypsum putty.

• Degrees of readiness. The mixture can be:

1. dry, its price is low, it is quite simple to use, but you will need to make it yourself;
2. ready to use.

• Purpose. Compositions can be:

1. specialized, used according to the recommendations of the manufacturers;
2. leveling, used for preliminary leveling of surfaces;
3. finishing (see. Finishing putty: how to apply it efficiently), used to level areas with unevenness up to one millimeter;
4. universal, used as above;
5. decorative, with their help you can give the walls different textures.

Advice: The size of the mixture’s grains should be carefully inspected when buying puttying materials for corners. This will affect the surface finish quality; the thinner the coating layer, the smaller the grains).

Prior to correctly puttingtying the wall corners, you must buy:

• A corner spatula, which will be used to level the internal and external corners of the room. Its difference from the usual one is that the trowel handle is attached inside and outside the corner, as in the photo.

• Long building level.
• Perforated corners, metal or plastic.
• Metal spatulas, narrow and wide.

How to form an outer corner using pads

Without shaping the plane joints—usually at right angles—it is impossible to align walls with putty.

A unique pad is placed on the wall’s edge prior to caulking the outer corners. This pad can be:

• Metal. Aluminum or fairly thin galvanized steel is used for its manufacture. To reduce the weight of the part and the ability to completely drown it in a leveling solution, perforation is made on the sides. The disadvantage of the product is a small tendency of the material to the appearance of corrosion on it in the places where damage to the galvanizing occurred – on bends, scratches.

Advice: Do not confuse this section with the overlap of the plastering corners. They look similar, but the putty lining is not as noticeable.

• Plastic. Its shape is almost the same as the metal one, but at the same time the part is not oxidized and does not destroy over time. It is advisable to use such pads on the walls not too smooth due to the significant thickness of the sides, which leads to the need to hide the part with a rather large layer of putty-more than two millimeters.
• Flexible details. Such elements are used for:

1. the formation of edges in the arched openings of the room;
2. decoration of curved areas on suspended ceilings from GKL.

The corner’s unique shape allows it to be bent to the required radius without distorting the product’s edge.

Recommendation: Use overlays only when planes join at a 90° angle. Puttying obtuse angles doesn’t require any extra tools.

Guidelines for carrying out the task:

• A small layer of putty is evenly distributed along the entire length of the finished corner.
• A perforated plate is applied, which is then sunk into the solution.
• The part is set according to the level, and if necessary, the solution is added under its base.
• After it has set, you can begin the final processing.

Advice: You should double-check the beacon installation’s verticality before attaching the wall’s corner because the composition may shift as a result of shrinkage.

The following order is followed when processing the overlay:

• A little solution is collected on the spatula and applied to the wall on one side.
• The operation is repeated on the other side, at the same time cutting off the excess solution protruding above the overlay.
• The mixture is leveled with longitudinal movements, while you need to try not to leave grooves.
• The operations are repeated until the entire area to be finished is processed.
• After the solution has dried, the corner is sanded, impregnated with a penetrating primer, and, if necessary, a finishing putty is applied.
• Sanding is repeated in such a way that the sandpaper does not remove the putty layer and does not reveal areas of the corner trim.

It is advised to remove the chamfer from the planes’ intersection. In this instance, the putty won’t chip off, but the corner won’t look very pretty.

How to form internal corners

When it comes to internal corner puttying, the procedure appears slightly different:

• It is necessary to determine the curvature of the existing angle. Usually, deviations from 90 ° are not too large, but sometimes it is necessary to lay a large layer of plaster before puttying.

Advice: You must decide which curved corners on a small section of the wall to be processed should be "perpendicular" and which ones can be ignored if there are multiple of them.

• Existing flat areas on the wall are leveled, almost bringing them close to the joint.
• The solution is placed along the corner into the depressions, the excess is cut off using the rule, first the tool is carried along one wall, and then along the second.
• To make work easier, it is better to use a special angled spatula. The edge of its blade allows you to finish the inner corner quickly enough without the need to smooth out scratches and grooves.
• The planes are controlled by a level and a square. If there are deviations, the operations are repeated using a smaller amount of putty mass.

The video in this post provides a better explanation of the features and subtleties of puttying walls’ inner corners.

How to grout and sand a corner

Sanding can be used to remove the small rounding that always occurs when making an internal corner after joining the walls.

• A #150 sandpaper sheet is mounted on a special hand float so that its edge protrudes 20 millimeters beyond the edges of the float.
• With this tool, the wall is sanded from one side of the corner, then from the other. In this case, the movements must be done quite energetically and quickly enough.
• Bending well at a right angle, the sandpaper will begin to remove the rounding, which will create a perfectly smooth and sharp inner edge in the corner.

Getting the hang of puttying corners is a useful skill that will make your walls look much better overall. Even a novice can create neat, crisp corners that improve the look of any space with a little perseverance and practice.

Applying the putty should be done slowly and in thin, even layers. Building gradually is preferable to trying to fix errors later. The job will go much more smoothly and professionally if you use the proper tools, such as sandpaper and corner trowels.

If the results of your initial attempts are not perfect, don’t give up. Every project offers the chance to advance your skill. With practice, puttying corners will come naturally to you, giving you the confidence to take on increasingly difficult wall finishing tasks.

Developing proficiency in puttying corners is essential to attaining a perfect wall finish in your house. Knowing how to properly apply putty to corners will ensure smooth, sharp edges that improve the overall appearance of your walls, whether you’re painting or just updating your decor. You can save money and give your project a polished appearance by doing this task yourself with a few simple tools and techniques.

Video on the topic

How to easily putty corners, difficult places, at once, without alterations!

How to bring out corners with putty! THE BEST WAY!

How to putty an ideal inner corner? Visual example. Putty plaster video video tutorial.

HOW TO ALIGN THE CORNERS OF WALLS ON A BUDGET and quickly with your own hands.