Wallpapering for beginners

SadieO

Bought our first house just before Christmas after renting for 20+ years and thus never gaining any experience in decorating or much DIY. I'm pretty clueless but happy to give it a go. I've done some painting so far and after hearing that prep is the key I've been diligent in cleaning, sanding etc so I don't mind a bit of effort. We have decided to do a feature wall with wallpaper as there are so many pretty patterns around these days. How hard is it, especially for beginners? (My OH works really long hours hence why I've done most of the work so far, but I guess it's a two person job, so we'd do it when we both have some time off!) 

I remember my parents wallpapering when I was little and it seemed a huge undertaking with the giant fold-out table, mixing up the paste etc but I believe you can get pre-pasted paper these days, is it any good? I'm also wondering if it is reversable, ie if you want to redecorate in a few years? I know you can scrape it off but does it come off nicely enough to allow you to then just paint the wall if that's all you want, or are you bascially committing to having to re-wallpaper forever? 

Any other hints or tips for a total newbie? 

tacpot12

Wallpaper is easy enough to remove if you have a wallpaper steam stripper (which cost approx £40) and the paper isn't waterproof. The wall will be in roughly the same state that it was when you papered, but you might need to give it a quick wipe with a damp cloth. 

I wouldn't use pre-pasted wall paper. Pasting is easy enough once you have a pasting table and pasting brush. You will also need a long scissors (ordinary household ones will do if they are sharp - a good pair of Fiskars are £15 on Amazon), wallpaper hanging brush, a hard roller for the seams, a disposable knife and wide scraper/jointing knife. (The disposable knife is used to cut along the ceiling and skirting boards while you hold the wallpaper hard against the wall with  the wide scraper/jointing knife). Buy good quality tools and they will last a lifetime of papering, except for the disposable knife! 

Turn the electric off while you work around sockets and lightswitches, and don't forget to allow for the length of the pattern if you chose a wallpaper with a repeating patten. The roll will tell you the distance over which the pattern repeats.  

Finally, don't buy cheap wallpaper. It can be much harder to hang than the better quality paper you will find at the likes of B&Q and Homebase. 

 

FreeBear

SadieO said: I remember my parents wallpapering when I was little and it seemed a huge undertaking with the giant fold-out table, mixing up the paste etc but I believe you can get pre-pasted paper these days, is it any good?

I have memories of my mum using prepasted wallpaper. Cutting it to length, soaking it in a trough, and then sticking it to the wall... I've always gone for ordinary paper (shopping around for bargain rolls). You can get "paste the walls" or "paste the paper" types - I've gone for "paste the paper" stuff and haven't had any real issues. Where the walls are not plumb or square, it can be a problem getting the paper to hang without creases in the corners - In one room, I had to get creative with cutting to deal with the problem and also ensure the pattern didn't wrap round a corner.

Best tips I can give -

Get yourself a blumb bob and line, pick a spot on the wall where the first drop is going to hang. Use the plumb bob to mark a vertical line on the wall, and use that as a guide.

Aim for ~25mm of paper to wrap round a corner and never have a join right in an internal corner.

If you are papering a whole room, aim to have the last drop over a door, or if the radiators are under the window, hide the last drop behind the rad. Sod's law says you will need half width for the last drop, the pattern will not match, so you end up being creative with cutting the last few bits - In my lounge, the last drop was over the door, so I ended up trimming three drops to get the pattern to match and also did a bit of fudging under the bay window. Marking & planning is key.

If your walls are not dead smooth, lining paper will hide a lot of small dings in the plaster - Also gives you some practice before hanging the chosen paper.

Finally, use a good quality, thick paper. The cheap thin stuff tears way too easily as you try to brush out the air bubbles or go round a corner that isn't playing nice.

CliveOfIndia

OK, so just going from my own experience.  Yes, preparation is important.  If the wall is flat and undamaged then it'll just need a wash with sugar soap to remove any grease.  If it's already painted then it's worth giving it a light sanding to provide a key, then wash with sugar soap.  Wallpaper will cover minor scratches etc., but make sure there are no big lumps or hollows, you'll see them through the wallpaper.

Pre-pasted paper - yes, you can get that, always have been able to for as long as I can remember.  I tend to find it a bit more messy as you end up with water dripping everywhere after you've soaked the roll.  If you do choose to go for this option, you'll need a trough of water large enough to soak the roll (or part-roll) of paper.  Personally I prefer bog-standard paste.  Buy a tub of powder and you can just mix up as much as you need.  Do it in small batches so it doesn't start to go off mid-way through the job.  And a simple fold-out pasting table is cheap enough to buy.

When buying the paper, make sure you buy enough, allowing for wastage, especially if it's got quite a "large" pattern on it, if you see what I mean.  So a 3 metre length might not actually cover 3 metres, you have to cut a bit off one end to get the pattern to align.

Make sure all the rolls you buy are from the same batch (the batch number will be printed on it).  Different batches may have ever so slightly different shades of colour, which you'll only be able to see once it's up and dried.  A lot of shops will let you buy more than you need and return any unused rolls as long as they're unopened.

It's important to buy enough to start with as you may not be able to get the same batch number if you need to go and buy some more later on.

Buy some decent scissors - blunt scissors are an absolute nightmare to use, and will wreck the edges of the paper meaning you'll never get a neat finish.  And if you've got any fiddly bits, for instance around stair posts or coving or whatever, use a new, very sharp, Stanley knife blade.

Buy a decent pasting brush and smoothing brush (neither of which is expensive).

Oh, and either buy or make a chalk-line (AKA plumb-bob) to make sure each roll is perfectly vertical.  Odds on you'll find the line where the wall meets the ceiling isn't perfectly horizontal, so it's no use just using that as a guide for the top edge of the paper.  Make sure it hangs vertically and trim the top and/or bottom if needed.

Like most DIY jobs it's not particularly difficult.  Just take your time, don't rush it and you should be able to do a top-notch job.

Finally, if you're working up a ladder - it really is a good idea to have someone within earshot ..... just in case .....

FreeBear

CliveOfIndia said: When buying the paper, make sure you buy enough, allowing for wastage, especially if it's got quite a "large" pattern on it, if you see what I mean.  So a 3 metre length might not actually cover 3 metres, you have to cut a bit off one end to get the pattern to align.

Good point - I was only getting three drops of 2.4m out of a 10m roll. Fortunately, I had bagged 12 rolls at £1.50 each (normal price, over £25).

SadieO

FreeBear said:

CliveOfIndia said: When buying the paper, make sure you buy enough, allowing for wastage, especially if it's got quite a "large" pattern on it, if you see what I mean.  So a 3 metre length might not actually cover 3 metres, you have to cut a bit off one end to get the pattern to align.

Good point - I was only getting three drops of 2.4m out of a 10m roll. Fortunately, I had bagged 12 rolls at £1.50 each (normal price, over £25).

Wow, what an amazing bargain! 

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. 

SadieO

CliveOfIndia said:

Pre-pasted paper - yes, you can get that, always have been able to for as long as I can remember.  I tend to find it a bit more messy as you end up with water dripping everywhere after you've soaked the roll.  If you do choose to go for this option, you'll need a trough of water large enough to soak the roll (or part-roll) of paper.  Personally I prefer bog-standard paste.  

Sorry I meant more of a self-adhesive, sticky back kind of thing. 

plumb1_2

My tip is buy a wallpaper with a small pattern, much easier to line up.
I don’t mind papering , just take your time and don’t be scared, we all make mistakes at first. When you’ve finished you can stand back and admire.

greensalad

I'm a newbie homeowner and I now have wallpaper in 4 rooms of my house... I got my Mum along to help me the first few times but got the knack of it pretty quickly, although I still think it's a two person job. 

So here's my longwinded advice:

1. If you're not confident, avoid window reveals. They are the hardest thing to do. Although the first room we wallpapered was actual a full room and we did the window reveals first. It was hard but we got there, using this guys youtube video which I strongly recommend despite the waffling. I still quote what he says in the video every time I do a crafty project: it doesn't look good if it's right, it's right if it looks good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if7Jnzkt4FY

2. Paste the Wall. Buy a paper specifically that states paste the wall. No more of the long tables and folding it all up etc. Just slap the paste on the wall and go. I recommend the bright pink stuff made by Solvite. It dries clear. 

3. Bucket of warm water, two jaycloths, little step stool. Sharp long scissors. Stanley knife. Bin bag. Wallpaper brush. One of these thingies. This is what you'll need, aside from the most important accessory, your Bucket B*tch as I like to call them (mother, partner, whoever). Their job is to rinse off one cloth in the bucket for you whilst ensuring the next cloth is ready to go. 

4. Dont' squeeze out too much paste. In fact you barely need to squeeze out any. If it looks lumpy remember the paste shrinks as it dries so the lumps won't be there, and if you squeeze out too much paste then the wallpaper shrinks and gaps apart. I have a few gaps in my edges and it's really annoying!

5. Decide your start and end point carefully with measuring widths so you won't end up having to finish on a teeny tiny sliver of paper. Which inevitably will be the last bit you need from a whole fresh roll you then can't return...

Here are my wallpapering accomplishments: https://imgur.com/a/TthQAgz

CliveOfIndia

SadieO said:

CliveOfIndia said:

Pre-pasted paper - yes, you can get that, always have been able to for as long as I can remember.  I tend to find it a bit more messy as you end up with water dripping everywhere after you've soaked the roll.  If you do choose to go for this option, you'll need a trough of water large enough to soak the roll (or part-roll) of paper.  Personally I prefer bog-standard paste.  

Sorry I meant more of a self-adhesive, sticky back kind of thing. 

Oh, must admit I've never heard of that!  So, with the caveat that I know nothing about it - I don't like the sound of it.  With ordinary paper you either paste it or soak it, then hang it.  But crucially, you can slide it around a wee bit once it's up to get it perfectly aligned, and you can go over it with a papering brush to smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles.  I suspect this may be rather more tricky if it's self-adhesive?

I could be talking complete rubbish, of course - I'm sure the manufacturers must have thought of this potential problem !

Simonon77

My top tip for wallpapering is... paint the walls instead ! Wallpaper is horrible and goes out of fashion really quickly, and when you do want to change it is much more of a pain than just painting a wall.