How to Hang Prepasted Wallpaper (page 2 of 3)

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Preparation and Technique

Selecting Wallpaper
For your first time papering, we recommend that you buy from a paint and wallcovering store. The staff can advise you on the best primers, paste and tools for the particular paper you select. They’ll answer any questions unique to your situation. Tell the salesperson where you’ll be using the paper, and ask what features you’ll need to meet the demands of the room. Prices average $20 to $50 per roll, but some specialty papers can cost as much as $100 a roll.

Our paper cost $40 a roll and took three weeks to arrive. We used 11 rolls for our 12 x 12-ft. room.

Selection tips:

If your room has crooked walls (check them with a level and a long, straight board), consider a paper with a random pattern so the crooked corners aren’t so noticeable.
Big prints and dark colors will make a room feel cozy, but make sure the room is large enough to view the pattern from a comfortable distance.
Small prints and light colors make a room feel larger.
Once you get your paper, unroll it and inspect it for flaws. Save the run and dye lot numbers for ordering matching paper in the future.
Read and follow the hanging instructions of the paper you’ve selected. Pros always do. Fail to follow instructions and you could void the paper’s warranty. Or worse yet, it could fall off the wall.

Prepare the Walls
It’s far easier to paper a room if it’s empty. If it isn’t possible to remove all the furniture in the room, move it to the center and cover it with plastic. Turn off the electrical power to the switches and outlets at the service panel and remove the cover plates. Place a canvas dropcloth over the floor to catch any dripping primer or paste (plastic dropcloths are too slippery). If the ceiling or woodwork needs painting, do it before you hang the wallpaper.

Scan the wall with a utility light to highlight any imperfections, and fill or sand them down. Don’t cheat on this step; some papers can actually accentuate cracks and bumps in a wall. If a wall is in really rough shape, ask the salesperson about “liner paper.” Hang it like wallpaper over the wall to smooth it out. Then apply your wallpaper over it. Consider a heavyweight vinyl- or fabric-backed commercial paper with a dull background if your walls are lightly textured. Otherwise, skim-coat or sand them smooth.

Wash the walls down with TSP (trisodium phosphate), or a TSP substitute, to dissolve grease, oils and other dirt, then rinse with clean water. Next apply a 100 percent acrylic prewallcovering primer/sizer, which is available at wallpaper stores for about $20 a gallon. This gives you more working time to slide the paper into position. The primer also helps control shrinking, which could result in seams opening up, and allows you to remove the paper more easily when it’s time for a change. Prewall primer dries fast and is difficult to remove, so wash your brushes quickly and don’t get it on your hands.

Plan Carefully to Avoid Wrestling With Tiny Strips
Planning the sheet layout will let you visualize all your cuts and allow you to make adjustments to the beginning and end points. Ideally, you would hang your first sheet, come full circle and the pattern would match perfectly. That’s not going to happen. Put that final joint where it’s least visible. Your goals are to have the patterns match at corners where they’re most noticeable and avoid hanging strips less than a few inches wide. Narrow strips can be tricky (and frustrating) to hang.

Start your trial layout at the most visible corner of the room -- across from a door in our case -- and work around the room in both directions, meeting at the least visible spot. Use a roll of paper to roughly space how the sheets will align on the wall. If your layout leaves strips less than 2 in. wide against a door or into a corner, adjust your starting point by about 6 in. Our first layout left a tiny strip along a door, so we shifted it over to overlap the trim. The sheets now meet in an inconspicuous corner behind the door.

A Good Level Gets You Started Straight
More often than not, the corners of the room and the door and window molding will be a little crooked or out of plumb. Taking the time to set a plumb line with a level to start your first sheet and near each corner will provide consistent reference points to align the wallpaper on each wall. This makes hanging a whole lot easier.

Pros will cut all the full-length strips needed for a room before they start pasting. For your first time, we recommend cutting only two or three sheets ahead. Measure the height of the wall and add a few inches to the top and bottom, enough extra to shift the pattern up and down for the best position.

An Even Paste job and Proper Booking Ensure Tight Seams
If your paper requires paste, use the type that’s recommended in the instructions or by your supplier. Premixed is easiest. We’re using “clear hang” premixed adhesive. It took 2 gallons of paste for our 12 x 12-ft. room with 9-ft. high walls. Many papers come prepasted. Roll these into a tray of water to activate the paste. Your supplier may recommend a special activator for certain prepasted papers to guarantee they’ll stick to the wall.

Paste the back evenly. Roll it perpendicular to the long edge to move paste to the edges, then back and forth the long way again till the paste is evenly spread.

The strips of paper need time to “relax,” that is, expand slightly because of the moisture in the paste. Booking the paper keeps the paste from drying out while the paper adjusts. This is a critical step: If the paper doesn’t sit long enough, it could shrink on the wall, resulting in open seams, blisters or curling. Set a timer to remind you when a sheet is ready. You can let a sheet sit for a little longer than the booking time but never less.

Plan ahead. Paste two or three sheets in a row if you’re working on a blank wall that requires full sheets. Paste only one if you’re coming up on a tricky window or corner that’ll take some time to fit.

You’ll See the Payoff When You Hang the First Sheet
After the booking time is up, unroll your sheet and carry it to the wall. Gently unfold the top half. Standing on a stepladder, align the sheet to your plumb line. Leave the bottom half booked to keep the paste from drying out while you’re positioning the top. Even though it might seem easier to butt the paper right up to the ceiling, don’t try it. You’ll get a much better fit and professional look by leaving it long and then trimming it off later. Once the paper is aligned, work out wrinkles with a vinyl smoother. If you have a wrinkle that’s not smoothing out, pull one edge of the paper away from the wall, keeping the plumbed edge in place, and reset. Finish the top half while you’re on the ladder, then come down and unfold, align, smooth and trim the bottom half.

Trim the Paper in Place to Ensure a Perfect Fit
For straight, clean cuts, trim off the overlap by guiding the blade against a broad knife. Keep your blade sharp. The most common novice mistake is to try to economize on razor blades. A dull blade will tear the paper. Advance a new blade after every few cuts (after every one if you’re using heavyweight paper).

Pick a leaf, branch or other element to help align the second sheet. Gently slide it into position to align the pattern and seam, but don’t stretch the paper or it could shrink later. With some papers, the pattern may not perfectly align the full length of the sheet. Align these at eye level where it’s most noticeable.

Go over the seam with the smoother, roll it with a seam roller, then smooth out the rest of the sheet. Wipe down the paper at the edges with a sponge dampened with clean water after completing each sheet.