Wallpapering! Help me save money without doing a bad job

Snakey

On this weekend's To Do list is papering one wall of one room in my flat. I have no equipment at all, and since I'm unlikely to ever do any papering again (and don't fancy storing big things indefinitely on a "just in case" basis) I'm keen to not buy things that aren't essential.

Of the list of "Things You Need" on the B&Q website I can see that I will need: paste, a pasting brush, and a brush for flattening it once it's up and getting the air bubbles out. And probably a Stanley knife. And I have already got a little stepladder thingy.

But what about:

- pasting table (can I just use the floor? I'm replacing the carpet soon anyway)

- plumb bob (I've no idea how this works - will it actually get used? If it is essential, can't I just tie something heavy on to a piece of string and call it good?)

- big scissors (any reason why my normal kitchen scissors won't be good enough?)

- seam roller (doesn't the second brush do more or less the same job?)

I have done wallpapering a couple of times before but it was 20-25 years ago. I'm hoping the technique will come flooding back to me once I get started! Also, it's just me on my own - I don't need a second person to help, do I?

Thanks!

pimento

If you buy nothing else, get a pasting table. B&Q do them for about a tenner.

I wallpapered my bedroom a couple of weeks ago using a pasting table, a pasting brush and a big sponge. Mind you, it was expensive paper (£55 a roll) so went up with no bubbles at all.
It looks the dog's doodabs.

ETA: Did it on my own.

saraih

I think if you want to do a neat job, the bigger scissors are essential and make a massive difference to how it ends up looking. However, if you are only doing the one room, pound shop ones will do and you can chuck them afterwards.

Do yourself a favour and get a pasting table. They come in handy for all kinds of things and they're a tenner.

Plumb bob - make your own. Brushing out brush can be more or less any clean cloth/sponge. Never used a seam roller myself.

Necessary - paste, bucket, pasting brush, big scissors, table.

Just go slow, there's nothing like wallpaper for showing a rush job. Good luck!

trailingspouse

We reckon it takes as long to hang the first sheet as it takes to hang all the other sheets put together.

Our essentials - pasting table, smoothing out brush, bucket, scissors, plumb bob, pencil, time. We don't have a special pasting brush, we find a paint roller puts the paste on more smoothly. Our scissors are just a decent sized pair of ordinary scissors.

PasturesNew

You're right about not accumulating belongings.... but many pasting tables do fold flat and can be useful for other things ... allegedly (although it never happens).

wallbash

I would forget the plumb bob and think of a spirit level . much easier to use and will come in handy for years to come.

Avoriaz

Snakey wrote: »

....- pasting table (can I just use the floor? I'm replacing the carpet soon anyway)....

No.

You will get paste on the floor which will them get on the front face of the next piece of wallpaper. You will also get backache. You may step on the paper or put your hands, elbows or knees through it.

A pasting table (or suitable equivalent such as a rectangular table) is essential. When you paste the edges of the wallpaper you hang them slightly over the edge of the table so that no paste gets on the table. You also work at a convenient height and avoid backache etc.

You could consider ready pasted wallapaper which you soak in a trough but I have never liked that. Every time I have used it I have had to add extra paste to get it to hang properly. Maybe it has improved in the fifteen years since I last tried it.

I have heard of wallpaper where you paste the wall but I have no experience of it.

Probably a limited range and expensive.

loracan1

There are plenty of paste-the-wall papers around at fair prices. Last few I've bought have been (though ended up pasting them as normal). Plumb line just needs a weight and string. Not convinced you absolutely need large scissors, I like those small hand paper guillotines. Small disposable snap off knives are better than a Stanley knife for trimming.
Second person - depends on how high the walls are. 10ft height into a corner gets a bit tricky when you're on your own

Ectophile

A plumb-bob is just a heavy weight on a bit of string, so there's nothing to stop you improvising your own. You use it to make sure you hang the paper vertical.

I found a seam roller rather useful. You will always get odd spots where the edge of the paper doesn't want to lay flat, and the roller can flatten things better (or at least harder) than a brush. You may be able to improvise with something else.

A big pair of scissors is useful - and will continue to be useful long after you've finished papering.

aggypanthus

In the old days, folks took a door off its hinges and used that, laid across 2 chairs.