Base Treatment for Decorative Wall Panels
Release time:
2025-08-20 15:00
Source:
In this section, we will talk about the base treatment for decorative wall panels.
We all know that decorative wall panels are mainly used indoors. Currently, there are several common forms of interior partition walls: concrete walls, aerated block (aerated concrete) walls, lightweight strip partitions, light steel keel gypsum board partitions, light steel keel calcium silicate board partitions, etc. Due to their own characteristics, when installing decorative wall panels, how should the base, commonly known as leveling, be handled?
Let's first sort out the common forms of partition walls. Among them, concrete walls, aerated block walls, and lightweight strip partitions have rough and uneven surfaces with poor flatness, all requiring leveling treatment of the base, which can be classified as one category; while light steel keel gypsum board partitions and light steel keel calcium silicate board partitions have high surface flatness, allowing decorative wall panels to be installed directly, thus classified into another category. This section mainly discusses the bases that require leveling; the others can be ignored.
Having clarified which types of partition walls require base treatment before installing decorative wall panels, the next question is how to handle it. So, how do we level the base?
When it comes to leveling, many people might picture workers hanging vertical lines in front of the wall and applying mortar layer by layer with a trowel. ... However, this old-fashioned construction method has long disappeared.
Since we have stepped into a new era, our leveling methods must also keep up with the times.
The first method is to fully cover with high-flatness boards, suitable for wealthy clients or projects with high budgets. There are several board options, such as fire-retardant boards, gypsum boards, magnesia boards, calcium silicate boards, etc. If fire resistance is important, exclude fire-retardant boards; if you want to avoid aftereffects, gypsum boards rely mainly on facing paper for strength, but decorative wall panels are quite heavy, and over time, the facing paper can't hold up: it's not that it doesn't want to hold, it just can't. So, gypsum boards are excluded; the remaining options are magnesia boards and calcium silicate boards. To compare, magnesia boards are cheaper but have drawbacks like high shrinkage when damp and can really cause efflorescence; calcium silicate boards have relatively balanced performance, but to have peace of mind, you have to spend more money.
In terms of cost, fire-retardant boards > calcium silicate boards > magnesia boards > gypsum boards. As for which to choose, it depends on your priorities; if you can accept the drawbacks, then that’s the one for you.
The second method is that full coverage is costly, so let's do partial coverage. Since decorative wall panels are fixed with glue on the back, we only need to level the corresponding positions. The method is to cut the boards into strips and fix one every 40cm. As for board selection, refer to the first method. Besides strips, we can also use M38 keels for leveling; the principle is the same. 40cm fixed one, as for board selection, refer to the first method. Besides strips, we can also use M38 keels for leveling; the principle is the same.
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