You will need:
First you need to strip any existing wall paper. Keep soaking the wall with warm soapy water.
You may need to do this quite a few times to get it to soak in. I use a roller on a stick.
Once soaked in you should be able to strip it easily.
On the other hand, If the wall has been painted in an oil based paint, it might not work
In this case its just down to elbow grease. Buy a scraper with a sharp changeable blade.
Once you have the wall stripped you will need to sand the wall to smooth off. Fill the cracks and holes and sand these too.
Once you have your wall smooth you can size them, by this I mean paint the walls with wallpaper paste. Seal the wall with PVA if it is very porus. Mix it up at around 1 parts PVA to 6 parts water.
Only size one wall at a time as you go.
Open up your paste table. Get a clean bucket and some paste and mix it according to the instructions. Always add the paste slowly as you mix.
Allow it to settle for a two or three of minutes.
Start in the corner and mark the position of the first roll so that it laps approximately 1 inch round the corner and into the adjacent wall. If the corner is badly out of square you will need to allow more of an overlap to cover it, cut in back to 1 inch. Mark where the other end of the paper will be and draw a vertical line with a spirit level or plumb line from that point.
Look at the batch numbers on the rolls to ensure they match, this should ensure that the colours match properly. Also check on the papers label, how long to leave the paper to soak.
Measure and mark for the paper so that you have 2-4 inches overhang above and below your finish line or enough so that you can comfortably cut it into the corner. Mark the paper at this length and fold the paper at this point and make a crease across the whole width to ensure the fold is square. Fold the paper back and cut along the crease mark.
If your paper does not have a pattern or a small pattern you can use your measurements for the rest of the wall, just ensure you have enough to match the surrounding patterns. On larger patterns it may be easier to cut the paper one at a time so that once you have your first sheet up you can line up the patterns and ensure it is correct before you cut the paper.
There are 2 ways I apply the paste to the backs of the wallpaper.
If it's just a small job I'll just apply the paste with a large paint brush.
When I'm looking for speed, I'll use a roller, this is a fast and even way of applying it.
Ensure you cover the paper with a generous layer of paste, it's important to check edges have paste on. Fold the paper in on itself so that the glued sides all meet together, fold again and set aside for the required time.
When ready pick up the paper still folded and walk up your steps with it in hands. Unfold half of it and stick it on the wall in line with the pencil mark. Make sure you are overlapped at the correct amount at the top, then use a paper hanging brush to evenly stick it over the wall.
Fold the other end into the corner and mark the top and bottom cut lines.
You can do this either by scoring the paper with your scissors or a pencil mark.
Pull the paper back and cut along the line keeping it as straight as possible as this will be seen when stuck finished.
For speed I like to use a wallpaper cutter. This cutter allows you to cut the paper in situ and without any marking. As a trader, this means almost halving my job time.
Cut the top and bottom and stick back into position using the brush.
Brush out any air bubbles you find and brush from the center to the edges of the paper.
Lift the edge and apply extra paste to ensure a good stick.
Another thing to note when looking for bubbles is that if you see what looks like a bubble but is full of paste and no air, this will go back as it drys.
Hold the next sheet to the wall and mark out your next cut ensuring pattern match.
Try to keep the soak times the same if possible on all sheets otherwise the patterns might not align very well. On the next drop just repeat the steps and butt join to the one before.
Some decorators leave a gap between sheets and use filler in between when using lining paper for a quality finish.
When hanging the adjacent wall into the corner its normally a better finish if you don't have to cut the corner in but sometimes it's unavoidable.
Don't try to continue the pattern around the corner as this will make the paper unlevel.
It looks fine if you don't as long as the pattern lines up horizontally.
Cutting around obstacles such as plug sockets are tricky and may take some practice to get right. You would normally loosen the socket and lap a small amount of the paper behind it.
When doing a reveal above a door you will need to do it by sticking paper over paper and cutting through both. This is difficult to explain in text form.
When wall papering in areas that are subject to a bit of steam, its worth adding a little PVA adhesive to the paste mix, this will make it stick stronger.
Wash your hands regularly as the paste on your hands will pick up dirt and mark your paper.
I always have a bowl of hot soapy water to hand and a sponge. Every so often, wash down your paste table too.
I would typically hang one wall at a time rather than one sheet but I wouldn't recommend this to the novice.
Of course if you don't fancy trying it you can always call BBS for an estimate. (subject to your area that is).
This tutorial was brought to you by Paul from BBS Building Services the builder in Ilford Essex
First you need to strip any existing wall paper. Keep soaking the wall with warm soapy water.
You may need to do this quite a few times to get it to soak in. I use a roller on a stick.
Once soaked in you should be able to strip it easily.
On the other hand, If the wall has been painted in an oil based paint, it might not work
In this case its just down to elbow grease. Buy a scraper with a sharp changeable blade.
Once you have the wall stripped you will need to sand the wall to smooth off. Fill the cracks and holes and sand these too.
Once you have your wall smooth you can size them, by this I mean paint the walls with wallpaper paste. Seal the wall with PVA if it is very porus. Mix it up at around 1 parts PVA to 6 parts water.
Only size one wall at a time as you go.
Open up your paste table. Get a clean bucket and some paste and mix it according to the instructions. Always add the paste slowly as you mix.
Allow it to settle for a two or three of minutes.
Start in the corner and mark the position of the first roll so that it laps approximately 1 inch round the corner and into the adjacent wall. If the corner is badly out of square you will need to allow more of an overlap to cover it, cut in back to 1 inch. Mark where the other end of the paper will be and draw a vertical line with a spirit level or plumb line from that point.
Look at the batch numbers on the rolls to ensure they match, this should ensure that the colours match properly. Also check on the papers label, how long to leave the paper to soak.
Measure and mark for the paper so that you have 2-4 inches overhang above and below your finish line or enough so that you can comfortably cut it into the corner. Mark the paper at this length and fold the paper at this point and make a crease across the whole width to ensure the fold is square. Fold the paper back and cut along the crease mark.
If your paper does not have a pattern or a small pattern you can use your measurements for the rest of the wall, just ensure you have enough to match the surrounding patterns. On larger patterns it may be easier to cut the paper one at a time so that once you have your first sheet up you can line up the patterns and ensure it is correct before you cut the paper.
There are 2 ways I apply the paste to the backs of the wallpaper.
If it's just a small job I'll just apply the paste with a large paint brush.
When I'm looking for speed, I'll use a roller, this is a fast and even way of applying it.
Ensure you cover the paper with a generous layer of paste, it's important to check edges have paste on. Fold the paper in on itself so that the glued sides all meet together, fold again and set aside for the required time.
When ready pick up the paper still folded and walk up your steps with it in hands. Unfold half of it and stick it on the wall in line with the pencil mark. Make sure you are overlapped at the correct amount at the top, then use a paper hanging brush to evenly stick it over the wall.
Fold the other end into the corner and mark the top and bottom cut lines.
You can do this either by scoring the paper with your scissors or a pencil mark.
Pull the paper back and cut along the line keeping it as straight as possible as this will be seen when stuck finished.
For speed I like to use a wallpaper cutter. This cutter allows you to cut the paper in situ and without any marking. As a trader, this means almost halving my job time.
Cut the top and bottom and stick back into position using the brush.
Brush out any air bubbles you find and brush from the center to the edges of the paper.
Lift the edge and apply extra paste to ensure a good stick.
Another thing to note when looking for bubbles is that if you see what looks like a bubble but is full of paste and no air, this will go back as it drys.
Hold the next sheet to the wall and mark out your next cut ensuring pattern match.
Try to keep the soak times the same if possible on all sheets otherwise the patterns might not align very well. On the next drop just repeat the steps and butt join to the one before.
Some decorators leave a gap between sheets and use filler in between when using lining paper for a quality finish.
When hanging the adjacent wall into the corner its normally a better finish if you don't have to cut the corner in but sometimes it's unavoidable.
Don't try to continue the pattern around the corner as this will make the paper unlevel.
It looks fine if you don't as long as the pattern lines up horizontally.
Cutting around obstacles such as plug sockets are tricky and may take some practice to get right. You would normally loosen the socket and lap a small amount of the paper behind it.
When doing a reveal above a door you will need to do it by sticking paper over paper and cutting through both. This is difficult to explain in text form.
When wall papering in areas that are subject to a bit of steam, its worth adding a little PVA adhesive to the paste mix, this will make it stick stronger.
Wash your hands regularly as the paste on your hands will pick up dirt and mark your paper.
I always have a bowl of hot soapy water to hand and a sponge. Every so often, wash down your paste table too.
I would typically hang one wall at a time rather than one sheet but I wouldn't recommend this to the novice.
Of course if you don't fancy trying it you can always call BBS for an estimate. (subject to your area that is).
This tutorial was brought to you by Paul from BBS Building Services the builder in Ilford Essex
How to wallpaper
| n | wallpaper brush |
| n | 2 clean buckets |
| n | paint brush |
| n | scraper |
| n | sandpaper |
| n | filler |
| n | step ladders |
| n | paste table |
| n | paste |
| n | water |
| n | measuring jug |
| n | washing up liquid |
| n | sponge |
| n | scissors |
| n | pencil |
| n | roller and tray |