How to...Hang Wallpaper
How to... Hang Wallpaper
Tools you will need for the job:
Paste Brushes Scissors (large) Wallpaper Pencil Wallpaper paste Smoothing brush
Pasting table (ideally) Stepladder Plumb Line Long ruler
1. Prepare the room
Clear away furniture and lay down dust sheets over the floor and surfaces to prevent spillages.
2. Ensure walls are clean, dry and smooth
Strip off any old paper and wash down any painted surfaces before you begin papering. Decide whether you want to use lining paper first (usually used to hide any imperfections that might show through the decorative wallpaper). If you do use lining paper hang it horizontally so that the joins in the lining paper don’t line up with those on the top layer.
3. Measure the room and estimate how much wallpaper you will need
Most rolls of wallpaper are 0.53m wide and 10m in length. Measure the total perimeter of the room including the doors and windows (this will allow for any wastage) and then divide by 0.53 (the width of your roll) to find out how many strips you will need. It is worth buying a couple of spare rolls to allow for mistakes or miscalculations.
Next you need to carefully measure the lengths required (usually the length of the wall) including an additional 2” or so at the top and bottom for trimming. To begin with just cut one section at a time.
4. Mix your adhesive/paste
Mix your adhesive according to the manufactures instructions.
5. Hang the wallpaper
If the wallpaper is patterned label the top and bottom of the paper by putting a small T and B in pencil on the back of the paper to avoid hanging the pattern the wrong way up.
Decide where in the room you want to begin, if there is a focal point such as a feature wall or a chimney breast you should start in the centre of this point and work your way out. Otherwise it is easiest to start in a corner and work your way around the room.
Paste the back of the wallpaper and allow to soak for as long as the manufactures suggest. Mark a vertical line on the wall using a plumb line, then line up the wallpaper and smooth the paper onto the wall with a papering brush smoothing out any air bubbles. Don’t hang the wallpaper on the marked line but parallel to it so that you can check that it is straight.
6. Trimming
Once the wallpaper is on the wall carefully trim any excess by running the outside of the scissors along the angle at the ceiling and skirting board, pulling back the paper slightly, cutting along the line and pasting back onto the wall.
7.Finishing touches
Awkward places like light switches need a bit more attention. For light switches you need to be very careful and may consider turning off the main supply to prevent injury. Smooth the paper very lightly over the light socket then pierce the wallpaper in the centre of the socket and cut out diagonally to each corner. Press the wallpaper all round the outline of the socket and trim any excess.
