IDEAS BOOK - DIY CONCRETE TV WALL TUTORIAL

Has any of you ever thought of making your own concrete wall. Well here you go, I have done it myself. It's easy peasy if you know how to! When we started building our house I had general idea of how I want it to look like. Many of the ideas changed with the time, but from the very beginning I knew that I wanted to have a concrete TV wall in my living room. Originally I planned to buy some ready made concrete panels, but because they were pretty pricey I have decided to do it myself. To do that I had to buy some special concrete mixture for plastering. You can buy it already made and it's really easy to apply. All you need to do is to get the right equipment and be patient. Here is a little tutorial of how to make your own concrete wall.

SUPPLIES 

Like with every diy project you have to start from getting the right supplies. For a wall like this (approx. 10 square meters) you will need:

• a bucket of ready made concrete plaster
• primer or undercoat (mine was included in a concrete set which I bought, but generally the wall needs to be clean and prepared like for painting)
• finishing trowel
• stripping knife
• a bucket of water and a paint brush to clean the tools during application process
• spray water bottle
• spirit level
• paint roller
• measuring tape
• masking tape
• spanner

STEP 1 - before you start

Preparing the wall before you start is essential. First of all you need to make sure it's clean and secured with masking tape, after that you can start doing the measurements. It's good to know how would you like to divide your wall before you put the grid on. I've decided to divide mine into nine equal pieces. I simply left some marks on the masking tape, so it was really easy to connect them when I needed. Having all of these done I applied some primer using a paintbrush and waited the next 12 hrs for it to dry.

STEP 2 - application

Depending on what type of concrete mixture are you using always follow the instruction given by the producer! I had to mix mine first and then I started the application using finishing trowel and stripping knife (this one was only used to put some mixture on a trowel, but you can use any other tool that will be handy for you). The whole process itself is very easy, but you need to be quick if you've got bigger surface to cover, because concrete dries out fast. So remember to allow yourself extra time for smoothing before it gets completely dry. 

You need to apply only a thin layer of mixture at the time (no bigger than 1-2 mm!). To get the real concrete effect you've got to stick the trowel in and out to the wet surface. Then let it dry for about 30 minutes. That's how it should look like when you get closer:

STEP 3 - smoothing

Now when the whole wall is covered with concrete you can start smoothing it. Use the same finishing trowel to do that, but this time try to smooth the surface instead of making it rough. Don't worry if the mixture gets a little bit too dry, you can always spray it with some water, but remember not to leave it for too long. When it gets completely dry you won't be able to do anything!  

STEP 4 - finishing

Now when the wall is almost done, but not completely dry yet you can draw the lines that you have marked at the very beginning. The best way to do that is to use a long spirit level and a spanner end. It's good if you can ask someone for help in here, if not just try to be very patient and precise. Once you make a mistake at this stage it can't be reversible!

After all of these is done don't forget to add characteristic concrete panel circles. To do that use a paint roller with round end. Simply put it to the wall in the right place, turn around and here we go it's all done!

STEP 5 - drying

In the end let it dry for at least 24hrs and you may start enjoying your concrete wall.

Want to ask a question or share your experiences please fell free to do so. 

Good luck making your own concrete walls!