Brick and stone stoves are plastered in order to prepare the walls for further decorative finishing and increase the tightness of the masonry. Self-plastering a stove is within the capabilities of every home craftsman, but 80% of success lies in making the right choice and mixing the plaster mixture. What solutions are suitable for furnace equipment and how to apply them correctly - this knowledge is the key to success and a guarantee of long-lasting results.

How to plaster a stove: traditions and innovations

Standard cement mortar is not suitable for finishing stoves and fireplaces. Firstly, high temperatures will lead to cracks, and secondly, not all components of modern plaster mixtures are safe after heating - some components emit substances that are unpleasantly smelling and harmful to health.

What types of oven solutions are there?

Traditionally for plastering heating equipment They used clay mixed with sand, straw, sawdust, and salt. Nowadays, for plastering stoves with their own hands, they use not only recipes that came from time immemorial, but also modifying additives that improve adhesion to the surface and resistance to sudden temperature changes.

The most popular among stove makers are lime-clay, lime-gypsum and cement-clay-sand mortars. You can make plaster for stoves and fireplaces yourself or buy ready-made heat-resistant mixtures in stores. For beginners, it is better to stick to factory formulations and strictly follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Ready-made mixtures guarantee correct solution

Popular recipes for clay plaster mixtures

Clay has a high thermal conductivity and is similar in nature to brick, so it makes an ideal plaster for a brick oven. Before mixing the solution, the clay is soaked for two days in settled water and then passed through a sieve.

The amount of sand in the solution is on average twice the volume of clay, but it is always determined experimentally - the higher the fat content of the clay, the more sand is required. The solution should be thick but plastic. To bind it, sawdust, crushed fiberglass or asbestos is added.

The solution should be thick and plastic

In addition to clay-sand mortar, for plastering the stove with your own hands, they use compositions with additives that increase the strength and durability of the structure. Here are proven recipes from stove makers:

1. Combine one part clay with two parts fine sand mixed with a tenth part of fluffed asbestos.
2. Take clay and lime in equal portions, combine them with two portions of sifted sand and a tenth of asbestos.
3. Mix sand and gypsum in equal volumes, add two proportions of lime, a fifth of asbestos and one part of clay.
4. To the mixture prepared from one portion of cement, add two parts of sand and a tenth of asbestos. You will need the same amount of clay as cement.

All components before preparing the solution for plastering ovens in mandatory sift through a fine sieve. Professional kiln makers first mix the dry ingredients and then add them to the wet clay. Gypsum is pre-diluted with water and added to the mass as work progresses, as it hardens very quickly.

How to plaster a stove with your own hands: work procedure

It is allowed to plaster a new stove no earlier than a month after laying - during this time the stove will finally dry out and the process of shrinkage of the structure will be completed.

The surface of the furnace is cleaned of any remaining masonry mortar.

Preparatory stage

Before plastering the stove with your own hands, the outer surface must be cleaned of residual masonry mortar, dust and other contaminants. The seams should be deepened by 5-10 mm - this will improve the adhesion of the plaster mixture to the masonry. Immediately before starting work, the oven should be heated well and then immediately moistened. To moisturize, you can use a water sprinkler.

Brick and masonry It is recommended to cover it with a reinforcing mesh - this will increase the strength of the plaster layer several times, enhance adhesion and prevent the formation of cracks. The mesh must be used if tiling is planned in the future.

Metal mesh increases the strength of the plaster

Sequence of plastering work

Plastering of red brick and stone stoves is carried out in several stages, during each of which one layer of mortar is applied.

1. Spray is the first thin layer; it is applied to the walls using the throwing method without subsequent smoothing. The solution for this layer should be diluted with water to the consistency of sour cream. The purpose of the spray is to fill in uneven areas and prepare the base for the main layers.
2. The second layer is called primer, it is applied immediately after the spray has set, preventing it from drying out. The thick mass is distributed over the surface with a trowel and leveled with a grater. Soil thickness – 3-4 mm.
3. Finally, a thin layer of a thinner plaster mortar is applied with a trowel; its thin consistency helps to hide barely noticeable defects. The final coating is called nakryvka, its thickness is no more than 2 mm.

Instead of a simple covering, decorative plaster for the stove can be applied, replacing painting and cladding. In this option, stone, lime-sand, terrazite and other compositions with the addition of heat-resistant pigments are used for the finishing coating.

Typical problems and defects

If plastering the stove with your own hands was carried out with errors, defects will appear on the surface that require repair. When applying the solution to dry brick, peeling is inevitable, and excessive moisture leads to peeling, requiring redoing the work after drying.

Dutiki are miniature tubercles that appear as a result of the use of poorly slaked lime. In this case, extinguishing continues even in a dry coating, forming small swellings that are prone to crumbling.

Cracks appear due to incorrectly mixed solutions. In most cases, the culprit is oily clay diluted with insufficient sand. Also, plaster can crack when applying too thick layers or as a result of insufficient adhesion of the previous layer.

To avoid mistakes when plastering stoves and fireplaces, beginners are advised to entrust the work to a professional craftsman. Observing the process will help you consolidate your theoretical knowledge and do the work yourself next time.

Video: finishing a fireplace with decorative plaster

When building a stove or creating a fireplace, you will need to decide not only on their design, but also on the facing material, mortar for fireplaces and stoves, chimney, and backing brick. A direct component of the process of creating a fireplace or stove is the solution for lining the stove or fireplace. The appearance of unlined stoves, as a rule, is not aesthetically pleasing; in addition, dust accumulates in the masonry seams, which, when the stove is heated, becomes a source of unpleasant odors. You can avoid such unpleasant consequences by plastering the stoves yourself or by covering them with decorative ceramics, tiles, glazed tiles, etc.

Composition of solutions for plastering ovens

Plastering stoves with clay is the most common application. Plastering of the front surfaces of the structure begins after the brickwork has completely hardened, when the possibility of its further shrinkage is excluded. As a rule, this requires at least a month. Properly prepared composition of the mortar for plastering the stove is a guarantee of a long service life.

To prepare a clay solution, the clay must be soaked the day before work begins so that it absorbs water. The sand is pre-sifted. A mixture consisting of soaked clay, sand and water is stirred with a hammer drill with a mixing attachment until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

PLEASE NOTE: a high-quality solution for plastering a stove should lie relatively easily on its surface and at the same time be smoothed out well.

How to properly lay plaster on the surface of the stove?

The start of work is preceded by cleaning the front surface of the structure from dirt, dust and remnants of masonry mortar. To improve the adhesion of the mortar to the brickwork surface, first clear the seams to a depth of about 0.5 cm. Before lining, the oven is heated so that the mortar is applied to the warm walls.

1. Sand: clay: asbestos - in a ratio of 2:1:0.1.
2. Sand: cement: clay: asbestos - in the ratio 2:1:1:0.1.
3. Sand: lime: clay: asbestos - in the ratio 2:1:1:0.1.
4. Lime: gypsum: sand: asbestos - in the ratio 2:1:1:0.2.
5. Lime: gypsum: sand: fiberglass - in a ratio of 2:1:1:0.2.

Due to the high toxicity of asbestos materials, avoid using them as part of plaster mixtures, both at the masonry stage and at the stage of stove repair. After preparing the plaster solution, proceed directly to the cladding process itself. It is recommended to start plastering stoves with clay from the top part.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW: in order to properly plaster the stove, the surface of the brick must be moistened with water and first a liquid and then a thicker layer of the mixture is applied to it. To apply the mixture, use a grater or trowel. To ensure uniform drying of the cladding, they try to apply the solution in even layers, and the thickness of each layer should not exceed 0.5 cm.

If the plaster for stoves or fireplaces is difficult to smooth due to the fact that it has already set, it is necessary to spray it with water using a large brush or broom. It is better not to allow the thickness of the facing layer to exceed 1 cm.

Stove corners are plastered in the same way as door and window openings. To do this, wooden or metal slats are leveled in the shape of the letter G. After 10 minutes after applying the solution, carefully remove the slats, correct the corner if necessary and rub it with a float.

ATTENTION: if you decide to opt for brick for cladding the stove, then heat-resistant plaster for stoves will enhance the reliability of the structure. The temperature of its use fluctuates at 800ºС, which corresponds to its intended purpose.

Secrets of professional cladding

There may be several reasons why stove plaster may begin to peel off:

• Incorrect seam thickness.
• Incorrect ligation of brick rows.
• Stove overheating.

In order to prevent this problem, the stove is covered with burlap before lining. To do this, it is pre-soaked in liquidly diluted clay, and the surface of the oven walls is covered with a thin layer of clay solution. A piece of burlap is straightened and placed around the perimeter of the oven in such a way as to avoid air gaps. In this case, the furnace must not be allowed to overheat.

As an alternative to burlap, you can use a thin steel reinforcing mesh, the cell size of which is no more than 1×1 cm. To attach the mesh to the brick, use wire 0.3 cm thick. It is important to remember that it must be installed in advance at the construction stage ovens in each of the rows of masonry. After the mortar for plastering the stove has completely hardened, it is covered with lime milk, to which salt is added (at the rate of 100 grams per bucket). Paint the stove with chalk and lime milk.

What results can be expected after finishing its cladding?

The results that indicate the successful completion of the stove plastering work are:

1. The deviation from the vertical plane along the entire height of the structure should not exceed 1 cm.
2. The horizontal deviation of a similar indicator should not be more than 2 cm.
3. The deviation of the thrust between the corners from the straight line should not exceed 0.3 cm.
4. The depth of differences from a flat plane formed when applying the two-meter rule should not exceed 0.2 cm.

If you decide not to plaster the stove

If you decide not to plaster the surface of the stove, you will need to decorate the brickwork. And in this case, the best option may be facing brick. The best alternative for external cladding of the walls of a structure are bricks with a flat and smooth surface. In this case, the masonry should be done quite carefully, and the seams will need to be embroidered.

For decorative jointing between rows of bricks, a special concave tool is used, and ordinary mortar is used. As an additional decorative element, the corners of the stove are edged, cutting them diagonally and thereby giving elegance to the structure. The same operations can be carried out before plastering the stove, during its construction.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: when doing colored jointing, bricks are selected based on the uniformity of their color. The seams on the front surface of the stove are left unfilled to a depth of 1 cm. The completed masonry is wiped with a damp cloth and sanded with a piece of brick. At the same time, all potholes, protrusions and chips are smoothed out.

Rub a mixture of white cement combined with asbestos flour and adding water into the seams with your hand, while wearing rubber gloves. The aesthetics of decorative masonry is affected by the uniformity and straightness of the width of the seams, therefore, when jointing, rules are used. Initially fill vertical seams, then horizontal. By adding various pigments to the solution, you can get a pattern of different colors.

What about fireplaces?

Unlike a stove, which accumulates heat in its mass, a fireplace is a less heat-intensive heating device. Heating of the room in an open fireplace occurs mainly due to radiation. A warm fireplace gives off its heat as long as the wood is burning and only a small part of the heat accumulates in the walls of the firebox. As a rule, for installing fireplaces they choose country houses, but in some cases this can be done in a city apartment.

Installing fireplaces in an apartment is associated with significant difficulties and the need to obtain permits, as well as the complexity of the work, and therefore its high cost. They arise against the background of the requirements imposed by the relevant services for such apartments. Serious difficulties may arise due to the need to redevelop the premises, as a result of which the fireplace may be moved to a new location with the need to equip a new chimney and lay down the old one. Connecting a fireplace also depends on the design features of a particular house, the ability to withstand the weight of the fireplace, otherwise it will be necessary to create solid foundation under the fireplace and chimney or strengthening of interfloor ceilings.

The times have come when traditional stoves began to seem like a dense relic of the past, because the total gasification of private housing has practically replaced alternative fuel. Behind long years they have undergone virtually no special changes in decoration, since new materials have not actually been developed.

This, of course, is in vain, since the stove is a fairly reliable source of heat that does not suffer from interruptions in the supply of gas, electricity, diesel fuel or pellets. It’s enough just to make a timely supply of firewood and coal, so the services of stove makers will most likely be in price again. In the article below we will try to reveal one of the secrets of what a solution for plastering stoves should be.

This question will inevitably arise when building a new or repairing an old heating device. Agree, the finishing conditions will be akin to extreme, since it will have to periodically heat up very much and then cool down. Not every modern mixture can withstand this.

In addition, you should not lose sight of the environmental friendliness of the plaster, so that toxic substances do not enter the room when heated. It must also be elastic and have good thermal conductivity. The price of the finished mixture is very, very low.

Why plaster the stove?

The question is far from idle, since during manufacturing they try to make it durable and airtight.

And yet, it is almost impossible to come across an unplastered stove, why:

1. Usage finishing material will allow you to decorate the interior of the room and improve appearance structures.
2. Clay mortar for stove plaster, used in the form of plaster, is a safety layer that allows you to make the stove masonry stronger and more airtight. This is due to objective reasons. Because temperature changes cause the masonry to crack, which can cause smoke to enter the room. This is a negative factor not only for the interior, but also for health.

If you look at the shelves of hardware stores, the price of many heat-resistant modern materials superior to those traditionally used based on clay.

For example, you can use a clay-sand mortar with the addition of lime or cement; a mortar made from lime and gypsum is also suitable. But most often they try to use clay-based mixtures.

Advice: start plastering the brickwork only after it has completely hardened, then shrinkage will not affect the result. Usually 30 days are enough.

Know that when you prepare a solution for plastering a stove, the proportions between the components of the clay-sand mixture depend on the fat content of the main parameter, the clay. For example, if it is oily, you need to add 4 parts sand to 1 part clay.

Tip: fiberglass or asbestos, which must be added to the finished mixture, will help increase the strength of the plaster mortar.

If you need to prepare a solution for plastering a chimney, be aware that it must contain slaked lime. Otherwise, it will fall off the brickwork due to condensation.

Kiln plastering technology

Below are ready-made instructions for action:

Preparation

1. The surface of the brickwork should be prepared by cleaning it from dirt and mortar residues (), as well as dust (with a soft brush).

Tip: clear the seams between the bricks to a depth of 5-10 mm so that the plaster adheres better to the base.

1. Drive nails (l=40-50 mm) into the joints in increments of up to 150 mm. They should protrude approximately 10 mm outward.
2. Don’t be lazy, treat the surface of the masonry with a primer.
3. A fiberglass mesh will also help you create a rough surface and give strength to the solution. Attach it to the masonry with a liquid mixture.

Advice: plaster only hot walls.

Process

1. Wet the brickwork with water. Apply the plaster solution in layers.
2. Make the first layer liquid, the consistency of sour cream.
3. Apply the second one after the first one has hardened, its thickness is up to 10 mm. Wait for it to set.
4. Level the surface. To do this, wait until the solution sets and rub all the unevenness on it, after moistening it with water.

Advice: open up the cracks that appear after drying, moisten them with water, fill them with mortar and, after drying, rub them in place.

Requirements for the solution

It must have special characteristics that differ significantly from traditional cement-sand mortars used for finishing houses. This is due to its operating conditions - the furnace masonry expands when heated, so it is extremely important that the finished mixture is elastic.

The second parameter is good thermal conductivity of the material, so that the stove can quickly warm up the room.

For this purpose, various components are added to the solution:

• clay;
• asbestos;
• fireclay;
• salt;
• fiberglass.

Simple clay and complex solutions based on it can be used. They can be purchased at a hardware store or made by yourself.

Mixtures for plastering ovens

What mortar to plaster the stove with is a serious question, since a lot depends on it. The components in the solution may have different ratios to each other depending on the fat content of the clay.

Its fat content is diluted with sand, respectively, the higher this parameter, the more sand will be needed. When mixing, the dry components are first combined with each other, to which clay or lime is then added.

Tip: add 200 g of salt to a bucket of clay-sand mortar to increase its strength.

Below are recipes on how to prepare a solution for plastering a stove yourself:

1. First composition of the mortar for plastering stoves, which is often used for plastering stove surfaces: 1: 1: 1/10: 2 (clay, lime, asbestos and sand). The components of the mixture must be thoroughly mixed together, it should be brought to the desired condition with water, which must be gradually added to the container.

1. Second method: 2:1:1 (sand, clay, cement M400 or M500). First, mix the clay with water to form a thick dough. Then add asbestos, cement and water to the solution, mix thoroughly. The thickness of the mixture should resemble thick sour cream. The disadvantage is that it takes 60 minutes to produce the solution.

Before you make a solution for plastering a stove, you must understand that any composition contains water and a binder, which can be alone or mixed with other components, in particular, lime and cement. When using high-strength gypsum mortar, remember that it sets within 6 minutes, and after 30 minutes it is unusable.

Conclusion

The finished mixture for plastering stoves must have special characteristics, in particular, be elastic. When preparing a solution from the recipes indicated above, or from store-bought mixtures, this must be taken into account.

A correctly prepared solution is applied evenly and easily to the surface, and can also be smoothed over without any problems. Keep an eye on the viscosity, which is adjusted with water; do not exceed the amount of sand, otherwise the plasticity of the solution will suffer. In the video presented in this article you will find additional information on this topic.

How to plaster the stove? At dachas and in their homes, the owners of the stove have recently wanted to give it an old-fashioned look: plaster it with clay mortar and whitewash it with chalk and lime. Such natural compositions smell fresh and have an antibacterial effect after whitewashing. The article will tell you how to plaster a stove at the dacha and in your home.

A stove without cladding does not look aesthetically pleasing.

Wherein:

• Dust and debris can collect in the seams between bricks.
• She doesn't wash well.
• Unpleasant odors spread when the stove is lit.
• If the masonry is of poor quality, some of the smoke and carbon dioxide, which is harmful to human health, escapes through microcracks in the seams.

Advice: To avoid such troubles, you should plaster the stoves, tile them, apply a thin layer of concrete, or perform other types of finishing of structures that require some expense. The price of kiln plaster is one of the lowest.

Before deciding what to plaster the stove with, you need to decide on its topcoat.

It could be:

• Initially, beautifully and evenly laid brick.
• Use of facing bricks when laying structures.

Both of these methods, if the work is done well with jointing between the bricks, make the stove look great without additional plastering, especially if the structure is then coated with a special water-based varnish that gives the effect of wet stone. In this case, you can avoid possible peeling of the plaster, which occurs over time due to mistakes when plastering the stove with your own hands.

Often the house already has a ready-made stove made of old, not very smooth brick. You need to decide how to plaster a brick stove with your own hands in order to do it efficiently. Before plastering the stove, it is necessary to find out the reasons why the coating may peel off.

They may be:

• The thickness of the seams is incorrect.
• Deviations in tying rows of bricks.
• Frequent overheating of the oven.

To prevent these problems, before plastering the stove, a thin steel reinforcing mesh is laid (see Plastering steel mesh - types and applications), its cell dimensions are no more than one centimeter. Grid to brickwork The device is fixed with a wire with a diameter of three millimeters. The wire must be laid on each row of masonry when erecting the stove.

You can replace the reinforced mesh by covering the stove with burlap, previously soaked in clay diluted to a rare state, and applying a small layer of clay composition to the walls of the structure. The burlap is laid out and neatly straightened on the stove without the formation of air gaps. The oven should not subsequently overheat too much.

How to prepare the solution

How and with what to plaster the stove, everyone chooses for themselves.

These can be solutions such as:

• Simple clay composition(see Clay mortar for plastering a stove: proportions).
• Lime-gypsum.
• A mixture of cement, clay and sand.
• Lime-clay sand.

Such formulations are available in dry form, sold in bags, or prepared with your own hands. Often a clay solution is used to plaster the stove.

Advice: Before plastering the stove, it is necessary that the brickwork is completely hardened and shrinkage of the structure is excluded, after about 30 days. With a properly prepared solution and high-quality application of plaster to the stove, the coating will last a long time.

The solution for the stove should be applied to the surface easily, smoothing it well. The degree of fat content of the clay is affected by the amount of sand that is mixed into the solution.

With a high fat content of clay, the proportions of the mixtures used for plaster are 1/3 or 1/4. You can add strength to the solution by adding a little up to 0.2 shares of small fiberglass or asbestos fiber.

Features of plastering the stove

Before plastering the stove:

• Its surface must be cleaned of dust, masonry mortar on the surface and other contaminants, which will improve the adhesion of the coating and the brickwork.
• It is necessary to clear the seams between the bricks to a depth of approximately 5 millimeters.
• Before applying the solution, the stove should be heated.
• The solution must be applied only to warm walls.

To find out what is the best way to plaster a stove, it is suggested that you familiarize yourself with the table, which shows the proportions in parts, the most popular compositions plaster:

Advice: It should be taken into account that the stove is a special structure, when plastering it everything must be done correctly so that you do not have to piece together the freshly laid plaster that has flown off.

• Preference should be given to a solution using clay or lime, but in any case asbestos must be added.
• Complex mortars made on a cement base, but also with the addition of asbestos, are suitable.

Tip: You can replace asbestos with straw or hemp.

• You should not plaster only the constructed stove; the masonry must harden well.
• The solution should be laid on a coarse mesh made of metal, which further strengthens the plaster layer from constant temperature fluctuations.
• After applying the coating, a material is selected with which to paint the plastered stove. However, oil paints should not be used. The drying oil contained in them burns after heating and releases unpleasant odors.

What tools are needed to plaster a stove?

After choosing the appropriate plaster composition, all the necessary tools are prepared.

These include:

• Container for preparing plaster.
• Drill with attachment.
• Trowel.
• Sandpaper with varying degrees of grit.
• Grater.
• Brush.
• Bucket for water.
• Building level.
• Fine mesh made from fiberglass or burlap.
• Nails.
• Primer of the required composition.

How to apply plaster to a stove

Coating instructions:

• Plastering the stove starts from the top of it, as shown in the photo.
• The brickwork of the stove is wetted with water.
• A liquid layer of solution is applied with a trowel or grater.
• A thicker composition is laid.

Tip: Do not apply layers thicker than 5 millimeters. For the plaster to dry evenly, it must be applied in a fairly even layer.

• After the plaster has set, but is still quite soft, it should be rubbed in a circular motion with a wooden trowel until a smooth and even plane is formed. If the plaster on the stove is poorly smoothed, this indicates that the material has had time to set. In this case, the surface must be sprayed with water and grouting continued. wooden brush. The thickness of the coating layer should not be more than one centimeter.
• The corners of the structure are plastered in the same way as door and window openings, which can be seen in the video in this article.
• After the plaster composition has hardened, the stove should be covered with lime milk, with the addition of salt, about 100 grams per bucket. You can use lime paste, which is removed when grouting with milk.

After plastering the stove you should get the following result:

• The deviation from the verticality of the furnace surface over the entire height should be no more than 10 millimeters.
• From horizontal – up to two millimeters.
• The deviation of the thrust from the vertical line should be no more than three millimeters.

How to plaster a chimney

Before plastering chimney, you need to purchase special heat-resistant mixtures. They must be environmentally friendly to prevent the release of harmful substances into the air during heating and cooling.

When preparing dry plaster mixtures, you must strictly follow the instructions for their use, without violating the proportions, which can reduce the properties of the prepared solution and lead to the formation of cracks on the surface.

To finish rough plaster, you can prepare the mixture yourself.

For this:

• Take one part of clay.
• Two parts of sand are added.
• One cement.
• 0.1 part asbestos.

The clay is soaked for several hours, the sand is sifted.

Before applying the coating, the surface is roughly reinforced with burlap, fitting as tightly as possible to the wall or with a metal mesh. In this case, the mesh must be fixed with nails or self-tapping screws; plastic dowels should not be used.

After covering the stove with a layer of plaster, it is better to paint it. To do this, you can use chalk diluted in lime milk; to obtain the desired color, dyes used for water-based paints are added. There are heat-resistant enamels, paints and varnishes. Some of them have a specific odor when the stove heats up, but it disappears over time.

A beautiful and correct coating on the stove will create additional comfort in any home.

Until now, in many regions of Russia, the stove remains the only source of heat and fire. Despite the fact that many owners of dachas and village houses prefer to spend gas heating, the stove still remains a symbol of comfort and the original Russian way of life. Are you used to doing everything yourself and is your stove ready for finishing? Or maybe you had an old stove and decided to revive traditions? In any case, when constructing and finishing a stove, the most important step is plastering its surface.

Russian stove in a modern interior

Why plaster the surface of the stove?

Why plaster the stove? We must not forget that with frequent and sharp temperature changes, cracks may appear in the masonry of the stove, and this can not only lead to sooting of walls and interior items, but can also become hazardous to health.
Some stove owners think that this is very difficult, you need to know some old tricks and it is impossible to do it. In fact, plastering a stove is not at all difficult; even beginners can do this process.

If you have a new stove, then you should plaster the surface only after two to three months to give time for the stove masonry to shrink. This will help to avoid cracks and chips in the plaster in the future.

We purchase tools

The new stove masonry must remain in place for at least 2-3 months.

We purchase tools

The very initial stage of preparation includes acquiring the necessary tools. What to buy at a hardware store? We recommend following the list:

1. If you don’t have a hammer, then we definitely take it. It may be needed for driving nails on which the mesh will be attached.
2. Special metal scissors for cutting mesh.
3. A trowel, which we will use to apply the solution with our own hands, as well as several spatulas of different sizes.
4. Coarse sandpaper to remove unevenness and defects after drying.
5. Plumb to ensure even vertical application of plaster.
6. Level. It will help ensure ideal vertical and horizontal planes.

Preparing for work and applying layers

Before you start plastering the surface of the furnace masonry, it must be thoroughly cleaned of small particles of debris, dust, etc.

Surface and seam preparation: cleaning from dust and small particles

To do this, you can use the most common materials available for DIY work, for example, a foam sponge. The seams in the masonry must also be thoroughly cleaned. Deepening of the seams by 5-7 millimeters is allowed.

More is used first liquid solution, which is applied to a metal mesh. Cell sizes in the mesh are allowed up to 20mm. The mesh must be secured to nails, which are first driven into the seams. We begin to apply plaster on top.

Mesh for applying the first layer of plaster

After the first layer has dried, apply a second, thicker one. The thickness of the second layer of plaster should be 8-10 millimeters.
All layers dry at normal temperature, that is, there is no need to heat the oven during the drying process. Do not be alarmed by the fact that cracks appear on the surface of the plaster during drying. They need to be slightly expanded, moistened and the solution applied again. Don’t be lazy to repeat this procedure several times, because a plastered stove done correctly, efficiently, and with your own hands can last for decades.

Applying a second layer of plaster

Little secret. If you want the stove plaster to last a long time and not crumble or chip, it must be applied not only to a well-cleaned surface, but also to a heated one. Heat the oven to about 60 degrees and only then begin to apply the first layer.

Recipes for mixtures and their preparation

Arises logical question: And what do they use to plaster a Russian stove?

The plaster mixture for the stove must be fireproof, and if you want to cook something in your stove with your own hands in the future, it must also be waterproof.

Mixtures for plaster may differ in composition. Here are a few simple recipes:

• clay - sand - asbestos (1:2:0.1)
• clay - sand - lime - asbestos (1: 2: 1: 0.1)
• clay - sand - cement - asbestos (1: 2: 1: 0.1)
• gypsum - lime - sand - asbestos (1:2:1: 0.2)

As you can see, ovens are plastered with clay, adding other components to it. Proportions must be observed correctly. The mixture is prepared in a special container, it is possible to use technical means, but one thing must be remembered: first, all the dry ingredients are mixed, and only then water is added. Mixtures for plastering a stove thicken quickly, especially those made with gypsum. A solution for plastering a stove using gypsum is unusable within half an hour after its preparation.

Clay-based oven plaster mortar

Do not forget that the clay is soaked for about a day before use. If the amount of water decreases while the clay is wet, then its proportion must be added. We must sift the sand so that in the future its largest particles do not interfere with the even application of the plaster. The prepared solution must be applied immediately.
Many manufacturers offer ready-made fireproof mixtures. It's up to you to decide, but don't forget that a solution prepared by yourself will allow you to be sure that you have avoided such characteristics as toxicity. Do not forget that the surface of the oven will be heated repeatedly in the future. Therefore, it is important that the plaster for stoves is environmentally friendly and absolutely safe for health.

If you want to ensure better adhesion of the plaster mixture and the surface of the stove, then under no circumstances should you carry out work in a cold room. The temperature of the solution must be at least 10 degrees Celsius.

Decoration

Decoration of a Russian stove using relief fragments and bricks

If, after applying the plaster, the stove is not covered, then you can decorate the surface with your own hands. After the coating has dried and all the cracks have been leveled, relief designs can be placed. A duet of two techniques is also possible, when drawings are created on decorative irregularities.

How nice it is to light a stove decorated with your own hands in winter! Plastering a stove is not so difficult, and comfort and warmth will settle in your home for many years.

Ready-made and homemade plasters for stoves and fireplaces