My wallpapering seems to have gone to pot

mikeb222

Never had problem with wallpapering before but after putting 4 rolls up last night, came down to find you can see where all the edges are. Looks dreadful.
I thought I had butted them up nicely, but obviously not.
I did go over the old paper so I guess it may be that causing the problem, maybe I should have used lining paper.

Is there any way I can improve this without taking the whole lot down and re-starting?

Doozergirl

It depends on how patterned the wallpaper is. You can use polyfiller to close the gaps. It sounds like the paper has been wet then shrunk as it dried - too much paste or too sloppy a paste?

Crinkmeister

Doozergirl wrote: »

It depends on how patterned the wallpaper is. You can use polyfiller to close the gaps. It sounds like the paper has been wet then shrunk as it dried - too much paste or too sloppy a paste?

Polyfilla?!! You cannot be serious! You are right about shrinkage though. I suspect that the edges have dried out too quickly as the paste is drawn into the old paper, so edges are not stuck. Now as the rest of the paper dries out and shrinks slightly, the edges come apart, leaving a gap. Not sure what you can do about it though - sorry.

zax47

Sorry but skimping on the prep always shows! Get a steamer and take the old paper off first, do it properly.

mart.vader

Maybe not polyfilla, but decorators caulk can fill the gap, As previously said, it depends how patterned the wallpaper is. Otherwise, unfortunately, you need to take it all off and start again.

Edit: it also depends on whether you intend to paint over the wall-paper. It may be that you didn't allow the paper to soak before papering, so, as it dried, it shrank.

Doozergirl

Crinkmeister wrote: »

Polyfilla?!! You cannot be serious! You are right about shrinkage though. I suspect that the edges have dried out too quickly as the paste is drawn into the old paper, so edges are not stuck. Now as the rest of the paper dries out and shrinks slightly, the edges come apart, leaving a gap. Not sure what you can do about it though - sorry.

I've always managed to paper successfully, but my mum filled all the little lines with a fine line of polyfilla when I was a kid. It worked!

mrgoggins

Doozergirl wrote: »

I've always managed to paper successfully, but my mum filled all the little lines with a fine line of polyfilla when I was a kid. It worked!

Have seen lining paper gaps filled with filler as a cheap alternative to plastering.


Also allowing new paper to soak the paste for the required time is important to achieve correct performance. Papering over old paper is never the best way , much better to strip, make repairs and sand accordingly, apply lining paper or size, if required. Much better and cost effective to prep correctly, then be sorry afterwards .

nickj_2

what sort of paper is it , if it's a coloured paper then it maybe just the white edges showing , if this is the case, try a pencil of the same colour and gently colour in the lines ,
if it's something like an anaglypta-one you need to paint , just fill it with fine filler

Crinkmeister

The worst wallpapering experience I ever had was one wall - I think it was 3 rolls worth - of a medium heavy vinyl ready pasted paper. I don't normally like ready-pasted, but it was my son's choice in a bedroom in his house. I prepped and sized the wall, soaked the paper for the exact time stated, hung each piece correctly and by the time I got to the other end of the wall, the first piece was already beginning to peel. Thinking I had made an error, I pulled it off, sponged over the wall to remove excess paste and did another length. By which time, the rest of the wall was beginning to show signs: all the edges were curling up by a good half inch or so. Never seen anything like it! I smoothed them down as best I could and left it hoping it would sort itself out. It didn't. I had to remove the lot and took a sample back to the Dulux shop who were happy to get me a replacement batch. This time, after speaking to the manufacturer direct, I used a very weak paste mix, instead of soaking, and it stayed on no problem.

Gastines3

I have hung hundreds of rolls of wallpaper when re-decorating super -stores but of late,in my retirement, having to paper my daughters house have had problems with joint shrinkage. I believe that many of the "Shed" papers are quite poor quality.Having read labels stating "re-cycled papers,re-printed in Poland" etc. I always take the trouble to strip the wallsof old paper,fill any cracks etc, and prepare the surface.Paste with decent quality paste and wait the required soak time but have found joints shrinking.Having had one batch that was over-trimmed so the pattern had about 5mm of the match missing,I returned it to the store,explained the fault and saw it being put straight back out for sale. No quality control anymore in anything it seems.

BoxerfanUK

As someone else has said, always allow the paste to properly soak into the paper for at least 5 minutes before hanging it. After paste has soaked in wallpaper can expand as much as a centimetre, poss' more depending on the paper! If you put it on the wall as soon as it's pasted it will expand on the wall and then the joints will look awful.