Home Repair and Paint Guide

Hanging new wallpaper can transform your rooms into a brand new environment. Wallpaper comes in a huge selection of colors, textures, and sizes. The options seem endless. You can completely change the character of your living space with a few hours work.

To get started, you need a tape measure, four foot level, four inch putty knife, paint roller and pan, two inch paint brush, step ladder, razor knife, smoothing brush, and a large table or flat working surface. The surfaces to be papered must be smooth and free of all debris and high/low spots. Any defects on the walls will be magnified by the wallpaper, so take your time and make sure all problems have been corrected.

You can hang new wallpaper over old, but it’s usually best to remove old wallpaper and start with a clean surface. Moisture from the pasting process can loosen the old paper, and ink can bleed through new paper unless you seal it with a special primer/sealer. Old vinyl paper could prevent adhesion of the paste. Only consider applying new wallpaper over old if the old paper is in good condition, smooth, only one layer thick, and will accept the paste. Make sure the old paper is tightly bound to the wall and has no loose areas.

To prepare a papered surface, re-paste and roll any loose seams, repair nicks and rough spots, and flatten overlapping seams by removing the excess with a razor knife. Starting at the bottom, wash the wall with a solution designed for this task, or use ammonia and water, and let everything dry completely.

To check if ink will bleed from the old paper, moisten a small piece of the old paper with a clean sponge. If ink comes off on the sponge, apply a primer/sealer designed for the purpose. If the existing paper is nonporous, use vinyl-to-vinyl primer to ensure adhesion and prevent mildew.

For walls that are not papered, or where paper has been removed, first clean the surface to remove debris. Fix any imperfections such as nicks and high/low spots. Then apply a special primer designed for use under wallpaper. This prevents the paste from penetrating too deeply and also keeps the adhesive liquid a little longer, allowing time to slide the paper around for proper alignment.

Wallpaper must be hung plumb for a professional job. Failing to do this will cause problems getting patterns to align. Wallpaper needs to be plumbed each time you come out of a corner. Use a faint pencil line about one eighth inch away from the actual edge of the paper. If you place the pencil line right at the edge and the paper pulls away due to shrinkage, the pencil line will be visible.

Many wallpapers come pre-pasted. Using a premixed paste activator starts the adhesive. Apply the activator to the back of the paper using a paint roller. The wallpaper needs to expand on the worktable, not the wall. It usually takes about five minutes for the wallpaper to relax and expand once you apply the activator. Non-woven wallpapers do not expand and can be applied to the wall immediately after activating the paste.

Apply wallpaper by starting with the side edge first. Get the edge into position and then allow the rest of the sheet to lay against the wall. Use the smoothing brush to flatten the wallpaper. Don’t use a lot of pressure. Brush away from the edge, making sure the seam is still tight and there are no air bubbles. Trim excess paper on the top, bottom and edges with a razor knife.

Trimming wallpaper can be quite challenging. Some papers are very tender and tear easily once they are moist from the adhesive. Use a wide putty knife to help guide the razor along long cuts at ceilings, baseboard, windows, and doors. Gently push the wallpaper tight into the corners with the putty knife and cut immediately next to the putty knife blade with the razor knife. Be careful cutting around electrical switches and outlets. If you allow the blade of the razor knife to contact the wire terminals of the devices, you could receive a very unpleasant shock.