|
Preparing the room and the walls
|
|
Your room should be cleared in order to allow you to work carefully and comfortably.
Strip the walls completely. Remove the old wallpaper or paint. Remove
nails and hooks. Soak the walls with warm water and leave them for 10
minutes before stripping away the old paper. Remove paint with the aid
of a large spatula.
Remove paint with the aid of a large spatula.
It is always necessary to fill-in holes and cracks.
In order to achieve a good adhesion, the walls must be sufficiently porous.
PAINTED WALLS:
Such walls must be washed down and sanded in order to help the adhesion of the glue.
This is especially true of lacquered and gloss-finished paint.
NEWLY PLASTERED WALLS OR PLASTERBOARD WALLS:
You should apply a coat of slightly diluted paint 24 hours in advance to help the glue stick.
DAMP WALLS :
Such walls must be treated with a special, "damp wall" undercoat before applying the wallpaper.
In cases of severe damp, it is necessary to thoroughly treat your walls: contact a specialist.
IN EVERY CASE, A WALL PREPARATION 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE WILL HELP YOU IN YOUR TASK.
Always use a new glue, specially adapted to the type of wallcovering you are using.
Pour into a clean bucket the amount of water advised in the
manufacturer's instructions and sprinkle in the contents slowly,
holding the packet on the rim of the bucket. Mix well with circular,
stirring movements. This way you will avoid lumps forming.
Leave the contents in the bucket for 15 to 30 minutes
Cut the strips of walpaper
|
|
The strips should be cut with the aid of a razor knife and a ruler.
Measure the height of the wall not including the skirting board and add 10 cm or 3 inches
|
|
Pasting the strips of wallpaper
|
|
The pasting of the wallpaper must be carried out very carefully. You
should apply paper only to walls that have been prepared carefully. The
adhesion between wall and wallpaper depends upon this preparation. This
is especially true for the edges and corners of the walls.
Three steps must be observed:
APPLYING THE GLUE:
Always start
from the center of the wstrip, working your way outwards toward the
edges. Apply large amounts of glue and rub vigorously in order to allow
the paper to soak it up.
Apply glue liberally to the edges.
FOLDING AND SOAKING :
Fold the strip in two on itself so that the bottom and top edges fit
together. Then roll it up in order to avoid the glue drying up.
Make sure you leave the strip 7-10 minutes before pasting it.
UNFOLDING:
Unfold the strip and apply another coat of glue with a brush, paying
especial attention to the edges. Then fold the strip once more on
itself: You are ready to paste your wallpaper.
Ideally, your first strip should be pasted in the middle of the wall opposite the main entrance. Never begin pasting your strips at an angle. This strip of wallpaper should be pasted vertically. Mark a vertical line on your wall with the aid of a plumbline.
Apply the upper part of the wallpaper strip to the top of the wall, allowing a 4 cm (~ 1 inch) overlap onto the ceiling.
Apply the first half with a brush, always starting from the center an moving outwards toward the edges in order not to allow air bubbles to get trapped between the wall and the strip. Then do the same thing with the lower half of the strip, after unfolding it to the skirting board.
Press down the edges with a clean cloth. As far as it is possible, avoid the use of a roller on the joins, since this can crush the design on the surface of the wallpaper.
Paste the other strips to the wall side by side, using the same method, making sure there is no overlap and that the joins fit together.
Make folds in the wallpaper at the edge of the ceiling and at the edge of the skirting board and cut away the overlapping wallpaper with the aid of a razor knife, making sure that the blade fits horizontally against the ceiling to avoid the paper being torn. The blade must be changed regularly.
Use a sponge to remove traces of glue from the paper immediately. After they dry, they will be visible and impossible to remove.
Pasting borders presents no great difficulty :
When pasting a wallpaper border on top of wallpaper, use the same kind of glue.
When pasting a vinyl border on top of a vinyl-covered surface, use a special, white, ready-for-use glue.
Apply glue to the border and make a series of accordion folds in the paper. Then paste it on, holding it down with one hand, while using a brush with the other to apply it evenly to the surface of the wall.
In certain cases, it is simpler to paste the border onto the wall in sections of 2.5 m, making a simple join.
Whether you are dealing with inverted or protruding angles, use the same method:
Allow the wallpaper to overlap onto the next wall by 3cm. You will cover a part of this overlap with the next strip of wallpaper, applied vertically with the aid of a plumbline.
When dealing with lacquered surfaces, it is best to add extra glue to reinforce the adhesion where strips of wallpaper overlap.
The embrasures of doors and windows should be covered before the walls.
Leave an overlap of 3 cm along the fittings, and cut away the surplus
with the aid of a razor knife.
Do not forget to glue the edges down a second time if it is necessary.
Turn off the electricity.Unscrew the plastic fitting of the switch or socket. Cover the whole of the surface of the wall with the strip of wallpaper. Then make a cross over the switch or socket's hole. Cut along the lines of the triangle to remove the paper. Then replace the plastic fittings over the hole and the paper.
The best solution is to take the radiator off the wall, which is relatively simple in the case of electrical convectors.
In other cases, make incisions in the strip of wallpaper with a razor knife according to the position of the radiator's wall-fittings. The incisions should be long enough to reach from the floor to the height of the wall-fittings. Slip the strip of wallpaper behind the radiator and paste it to the wall using a long ruler or a scraper fitted to a shaft.
We advise you to work in pairs when wallpapering a ceiling.
The method we advise is to unroll gradually the strip of wallpaper (which should already have been folded like an accordion) and to paste it against the ceiling with the aid of a brush. The second person holds the strip of wallpaper and unfolds it as close as possible to the ceiling in order to allow you to fit it on as perfectly as possible.
