How to Hang Wallpaper Colorado

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Steps

1. Educate yourself, read the Tips and Tools You'll Need sections first. More than half the battle of hanging wallpaper is conquered by knowing what the pros know. OK, its time to hang paper! Get your work area set up and adhesives ready to go. It's assumed you have prepared and primed your walls already and turned off the power to the room at the circuit breaker box.
2. Get your tools and remove all wall switch plates, metal air vents, towel rods, toilet paper holders, etc. Take down any wall mounted light fixtures (turn power off a breaker first). To avoid losing the screws or having to keep track of them, screw them back in their respective locations after the plates and covers are removed.
3. Check all bolts to insure that they are all of the same "Run #". Sometimes the term is "Lot #" or "Batch #". This is important as the same pattern will be printed in production runs. It is very common for separate runs to have slightly different colors and backgrounds. It is highly recommended to not mix runs, especially for a beginner. Sometimes the variation in runs is not evident until the paper is hung and dry... a very disappointing revelation.
4. Open a bolt of wall covering and find the instructions if you have not read them already. Most of the time these are standardized by brand. Look for any special instructions regarding adhesives. If the wallpaper is pre-pasted then there should be no recommendations.
5. Throw the instructions away. The person that came up with pasting trays should be hung by his / her toenails.
6. Inspect the entire bolt for defects in the printing process. These are usually streaks of color, blobs of ink, or color voids. One small defect in an entire roll can usually be cut out and worked around. If there is enough defect in the paper that you may lose an 8 foot strip then you should return the wall covering for a refund. You may not get credit for defective wallpaper if you begin to hang it. Don't take back 5 feet of a 32 foot bolt and expect a full refund. If you are going to get lazy...this is the step to do it in.
7. Identify and measure the vertical pattern repeat. Find an object near the edge of the paper, measure down the paper until you get to the exact same object. This distance is called the pattern repeat. This number will be handy later.
8. Identify the pattern match: It is either a straight across match which means when aligned to a second piece the same part of the pattern will be straight across the paper. For example if you see a butterfly on the left edge of the paper when you line up and pattern match the next piece beside the first, the butterfly will be in the same spot on the left edge again. This is the most common matching method. For large patterns, especially florals, sometimes a drop match is used instead. A drop match means that the same object on the left edge (the butterfly in this example) will drop halfway down the length of the pattern repeat when the second piece is pattern matched to the first.
9. Study the pattern of your wall covering and decide what you want your ?top? to be. Here is the first instance where some judgment comes into play. This is what will be hung directly at the ceiling. Some patterns will have a natural break in the pattern and in between this break usually makes a good ?top?, try to avoid having a visually significant item in the pattern exactly at the top of the wall. Ceiling lines tend to rise and fall and if you have a visually significant item at the ceiling you will begin to lose the pattern if the ceiling dips. Try to choose a ?top? about 1 inch above any significant pattern items. This will allow for the ceiling to rise and fall without affecting the visibility of this item. If you can, choose a ?top? that has a small item in the pattern on the left or right edge of the paper that is easy to identify. This will make measuring and cutting much easier. Drop match patterns will have two ?tops?. You will alternate between ?top A? and ?top B? as you progress around the room. Most of the time with a drop match, you choose the ?top A? and take what you get with the ?top B?.
10. Determine your starting point in the room. Common advice is to start in the most inconspicuous corner of a room. For example, in a bedroom, this is usually in the corner behind the door. But wait, if you start in this corner, you will have to turn three corners, at least, to get back to the finishing point in the original corner. If you start in the corner opposite the most inconspicuous corner and work in both directions back to the most inconspicuous corner, then you will have only two corners to turn ? that is good. In bathrooms and kitchens, it may be more efficient to start in the corner or area that provides the greatest amount of uninterrupted wall space. This can help minimize waste. Hanging wallpaper behind an existing toilet can be difficult and tedious, so you may want to consider hanging those pieces first (most toilets will impact two strips of wall covering in one way or another) while you have the most energy and patience. An experienced professional may not even start in a corner, but at a door frame near a corner in an effort to minimize waste and make it easier to get off to a good and plumb start. Besides the toilet in the bathroom example, put yourself in a good position to have a full length or two of wall covering to hang before you have to start addressing corners and obstacles if at all possible.
11. Once the ?top? of the wall covering and starting point is established, measure for your first piece from ceiling to floor. Typically, in a house with 8 ft ceilings, your measurement will be about 92 inches since most everyone will have a base board at the floor. I will assume you are using a table that is 80 inches long as recommended. Take your 48 inch ruler and place it on the pasting table and let it extend past the edge of the table 12 inches. Now you have a 92 inch reference. Roll out your wall covering on the table, ?pattern up?. On the table, cut your wall covering about 1 inch above your designated ?top? ensuring you do not cut a crooked line or wavy line that extends down into the pattern where your ?top? is. This will give you excess while hanging and this will be trimmed away on the wall. Pull your freshly cut ?top? - NOT the end of the paper - to the end of the 12 inches of ruler hanging of the edge. You should now have a table full of wallpaper. Move to the opposite end of your table and now you will see what part of the pattern will be at the base molding just at the edge of the table. Take a razor blade and cut the roll about 1 or 2 inches BEYOND the table?s edge. This excess will be cut off on the wall. Note ? too much excess at the top will make positioning the paper and cutting much more difficult. There is a little more leeway with the bottom excess. Try to keep your top cuts neat and about 1? from what you intend to have at the ceiling once the piece is hung.
12. Turn your paper over and move the paper so that your top is back on the table and your bottom hangs over the edge. Using your paint roller, apply adhesive to the back of the wallpaper. The idea is to wet the paper, not drench it. It will take a few attempts to get a good feel for the right amount. Make sure you roll past the edges to get adhesive at the seams. This is important. Focus on applying paste to the top half of the paper for now, we?ll get to the bottom of the paper in a second. Once you are happy with pasting the top half of the paper, take your top and fold it down the table about 18 inches. Trust me, the length is more important than you think. Now you have ?glue on glue? for about 18 inches. DO NOT crease the paper at the point of the fold. Do try your best to align the paper?s edges so you do not have exposed edges. Gently rub or press the edges to seal against each other. Now, lift and pull the rest of the unpasted portion onto the table - the pasted / folded portion may hang off the edge - and paste the rest of the sheet. Once you are happy with pasting the bottom portion, fold it up to where the top ends. Align edges and gently smooth out any huge bubbles - small bubbles are no big deal. Now you should have a fully pasted and folded piece of wall covering ? ?glue on glue? with about one inch exposed ? kind of in the middle. Pick up the wallpaper and let it hang in your hands. If watery adhesive pours out of it, then you have definitely used too much adhesive or the paste is too thin. A few drops is OK, but you should not have a significant amount of dripping glue.
13. Booking the paper ? It?s tempting to take this piece to the wall and start hanging, but most wall coverings will expand due to the moisture in the adhesive. The 20 and ½ inch wallpaper will expand and become 20 and ¾ inch wallpaper. If you were to try to hang this right away, you would discover that vertical bubbles would appear and will not smooth out. This is because the paper is expanding on the wall and since the seams usually dry first, the paper creates ridges and bubbles in the center to compensate for the growth in width. You must let the paper ?book? a few minutes before hanging. This will allow the paper to expand as necessary before you put it on the wall. Once you get good at papering, you can actually paste up more than one piece at a time and hang while other pieces are booking. But let?s don?t get over confident at this point. If you paste too many, and you can?t hang fast enough, the booked paper may dry out before you get to it.
14. While this piece is booking, take a measuring tape, 2 ft. level, and pencil and go back to the starting point in the room. You want to establish a plumb line to ensure we hang the first piece perfectly straight up and down. You also want about ¼ inch overlap with our first piece of paper either to the starting corner or door frame. So, measure our ?booked? paper and discover it is now 20 ¾ inches. Subtract ¼ inch from 20 ¾. Measure 20 ½ inches away from the corner or frame and make a pencil mark at the ceiling. Using the 2 ft level, extend a plumb pencil line 36? down the wall ? don?t use ink pens as the adhesive will cause the ink to run and bleed and ruin the wallpaper. This should give us an overlap of ¼ inch in the corner or door frame.

Ready to Hang!Assuming you are hanging the first piece in a corner and you intend to work left to right. So, the intended overlap for the first piece would be at the left edge of the first piece assuming there are no obstructions.

1. Get your ladder in place, smoothing brush in pocket, and booked piece of paper. You can quickly identify which is the top as it will be the shorter of the two folds. Unfold only the short fold and align only the right edge of the paper to the penciled plumb line taking care to ensure your ?top? is at the ceiling where you want it. Before you rub this section out with your smoothing brush, notice if you are able to move or ?slip? the paper on the wall slightly. This is called slip and indicates that you have an adequate amount of adhesive on the back of the paper. It you have no slip, then you need to add a bit more adhesive at the pasting table. Slip is your friend as long as you don?t have too much.
2. Once you have good alignment with the plumb line at the right edge. Take your smoother and gently rub the paper to the wall in a left and up direction. You want to apply the paper by smoothing, not before smoothing. Ensure that you have not slipped or rubbed the paper?s right edge away from the plumb line. Never use significant force to smooth bubbles out or force alignment to plumb lines and seams with the smoother. This will take some practice. Forcing paper tends to make it stretch and often the stretched wallpaper will shrink as it dries leaving bad seams. For now, get the top edge as close to the wall as possible. We?ll trim this later. If you trim it now, and you end up letting the wallpaper slip down the wall as you work the entire piece then your paper will not reach the ceiling any longer. If you have a hard time getting the hang of it ? sorry couldn?t resist - you can take the paper back to the table and add a little more adhesive to buy you more working time. Remember, you should also have an overlap in the left corner. It?s ok if you don?t have the full ¼, but you must have at least some overlap. Paper that just gets to the corner or short of the corner will not work.
3. Now you should have the top 36 inches of wallpaper applied to the wall with the rest of the paper still folded up. Carefully find the bottom edge of the paper, lift away from the wall slightly so the paper you are pulling down will not stick to the wall and gently pull it down the wall until it is completely unfolded. You may undo an inch or two of the initial work above but that?s no big deal. Starting at the top right of this section, use your 24 inch level as a guide to stay plumb at the right edge and smooth out the rest of the paper starting from right to left. Don?t force the paper over to the corner, let gravity help place the paper onto the wall. Check that you have complete overlap top to bottom at the left edge corner. If you do have good overlap, go to step 5, If not, go to the step 4.
4. If the paper did not make a complete overlap on the left edge, you must relatively quickly remove the entire sheet ? it should come off easily if the walls were primed ? and lightly repaste it. No need to book again. Now instead of hanging the right edge directly on the plumb line, move the right edge to be ¼ to the left of the original plumb line. This will add another ¼ to the overlap and should get you to the corner in the second attempt. If not, your walls are really crooked and you will have to repeat this step until you get overlap top to bottom ? the key is to have as little overlap as possible but to guarantee the entire corner is overlapped top to bottom and a plumb right edge.
5. Now you should have a full sheet hung with excess at the top and bottom. Get your 6 inch joint knife and a new razor blade and go back to the ceiling. Work the edge of the joint knife blade into the ceiling joint. This should give you a nice little crease all the way across the width of the paper. Starting at the right edge of the paper, place the joint knife in the crease holding the handle down. Take the razor blade and press it into the crease on top of the blade ? cut on the ceiling side of the joint knife - right to left. Once you run out of joint knife blade, move the joint knife to the left and cut another 6 inches. One more cut should get you very close to the corner. If you can, go ahead and cut all the way to the corner. You may not be able to get the razor blade into the corner. If so, you can peel back the corner of the wallpaper and by using the already cut portion as a guide, cut the remaining excess wallpaper ?off the wall? and then place the corner section of the wallpaper back into place. If this little corner dries out while you are making the corner cut, take a sponge and dap a little more adhesive onto the paper before putting the corner section of the wallpaper back into place. Your top should be cut now.
6. Cutting the excess at the base board works the same as the ceiling, except the joint knife handle will face up the wall. Remember to cut on the baseboard side of the joint knife, not the wall side. If you try to make these cuts on the wall side your razor blade can wander and give you an uneven cut. Again, if you cannot get all the way to the corner, pull the corner back, make your cut and then place the finished corner back into place.
7. It?s guaranteed that you have some adhesive on the surface of your freshly hung paper. Using clean water and sponge, wipe down the wall covering ? top to bottom. Take your time, wallpaper adhesive can be hard to see. Don?t forget to clean the glue off the ceiling joint and baseboard. Avoid using terry cloth rags or towels. They can be too abrasive and can ruin the finish of your wall covering.

Handling obstacles - outlets, windows, etc.We'll assume your next piece will get to to a window frame and there is an outlet on the wall also. The key to addressing obstacles is to work your way down the wall managing one obstacle at a time. Now you know to hang your first third of the strip first and this will usually be where you will encounter the top of a window.

1. Start your second piece by lining up your left edge against the first edge to form your first seam. Focus on getting the pattern aligned on the left edge and smooth this top third of the wallcovering to the right until you hit the window frame. Rub your finger against the wallcovering and through the paper feel and locate the top left corner of the window trim. Once you locate the exact corner, take your razor blade place it at the exact location of the corner and cut at a downward right diagonal - which leads into the window itself. Once you are about three inches down and away from the starting corner, level out your cut and cut toward the right until you have cut all the way across the paper. Now, focus on getting this piece of wallpaper properly hung above the window ensuring a good pattern match and retaining your "top" at the celiling. Using your joint knife, make a good crease at the ceiling and window frame, but don't trim the excess off yet.
2. Once the "over the window" section is in place, unfold the rest of the paper and work your way down the wall focusing on your left edge and seam. Smooth the paper over to the window frame but do not trim the paper exatly at the frame yet. You can cut away excess that you know will be removed at the window, but avoid cutting down too far or too close to your window frame. You will probably reach the wall switch before you get to the bottom of the window. As you smooth down to the wall switch, feel with your fingers through the wallpaper and locate the top of the wall switch outlet. Take a new razor blade and cut a horizontal cut - no wider than necessary - for the outlet opening. Cut down the left and right sides of the outlet. Now you should have a rectangular flap you can fold down. Once you get to the exact bottom of the outlet, make your horizontal cut. You should now have an opening at the wall switch. You should be able to smooth your wallpaper past the outlet without impacting your seam alignment and get to the window frame to the right with no bubbles. Your goal with a switch cutout is to remove as little wallcovering for the opening so that all of the wallcovering is flat against the wall - not overlappping "switch parts" - without cutting away so much that your wall is exposed after you replace the switch plate. Did you know wall switch plates come in different sizes? If you have the "small" versions, you will need to be very precise with the outlet cutouts. There is a size called "jumbo" that covers a larger area around the switch or outlet.. These plates are great because they cover more wall area and allow for a less precise cutout. So, if you discover you cut too much and you have small plates, go buy some new jumbo switch covers - problem solved.
3. Now that your switch plate is conquered, turn your attention to finish working your way down to the bottom of the window. There is usually some tricky cutting at the window sill trim work. Using a new blade (for tricky cuts, don't torture yourself with a dull blade) and using the top-down obstacle philosophy make small cuts at the trim work until you have worked your way to the bottom of the window moulding and frame. An exact match to the trim detail is not necessary, but you do want a reasonalbly close cut. You should now have smoothed wallpaper except the section below the window. Work this section from the left seam to the right. If you can, use a level to insure the "below the window" section is plumb. If the space is too small for a level, use the baseboard and window frame bottom as a guide to check pattern alignment. Once all the paper is on the wall and smoothed, go back and trim the top, window frame and base board. After you get confident, you can cut your top sooner.

Finishing a windowLet's assume that our window is about 36 inches wide, which is about right for a standard window. The next piece will likely extend past the right side of the window. This results in a small section over the window, paper to the right of the window frame, and a small section below the window. At first you may be most concerned with how to get the two left seams aligned properly at the top and bottom sections. But, the most critical part of this piece is to ensure that you hang the piece with a plumb right edge. The farther this window is away from the next corner or window frame the more critical it is to get a good plumb line on the right edge.

1. Hang this piece and focus only on the top section above the window. Once you get it reasonably in place and seam is matched well, feel through the paper and find the exact corner of the window frame and make your cut starting in the exact corner and moving diagonally down and left for a few inches, then level out and proceed to the left until you have cut to the left edge. Now you should be able to smooth out the entire top section, with the rest of the paper hanging down the right side. Do not trim the excess at this point, you should wait until the entire piece is on the wall.
2. Take your level and smooth your way down the right edge of the window ensuring you keep a good plumb line at the right edge. Don't worry about how your pattern hits the window frame if the window frame is a little crooked. The key is to end up with a plumb right edge, not a perfectly great match at the window frame - top to bottom. Don't trim the paper at the window frame yet.
3. Conquer the trim work at the bottom of your window frame and sill next - use a new blade to reduce frustration. Once this is done, you should be able to smooth out the lower section below the window. When life is good, the bottom piece will easily align at the seam. When life is not so good, sometimes you will find that the bottom section below the window overlaps or it is just short of the left seam. If this occurs, using the philosophy that you want as plumb of a right edge as possible, make adjustments to the piece - top to bottom - to get good seams above and below the window frame. This may mean a slight overlap top or bottom. This is a good trade off vs. having great left seams and an "out-of-plumb" right edge. Pros don't always get it exactly right either, but they know how to prioritize these "errors" to maintain a beautiful result when finished. Since the top section is usually shorter in length than the bottom section, it is usually the best candidate for a slightly mismatched or overlapped seam.

Wallpaper WisdomNo wallpapered room is exactly perfect, and the person hanging the wallpaper always knows where the issues are. Most of the visitors to your finished masterpiece will never notice these subtle "errors". Cornering like a ProTime to let you in on a secret... Professional paper hangers almost never turn an "inside corner" with a full sheet of wallcovering. It is almost always a full sheet that has been cut into two separate pieces and hung one at a time. Let's assume you are approaching your first inside corner working from left to right. For all practical purposes, a bedroom will have four inside corners. Bathrooms and kitchens are more likely to have "outside corners".

1. Take your ruler or tape measure and measure the exact distance from your right edge of the last piece on the wall to the corner. Measure three times: at the top, middle and bottom. Take note of the longest measurement. If the three numbers are the same or very close, congratulations your corner is relatively plumb and you have done a good job keeping your wallpaper plumb also. Unfortunately, you may have "Monday morning walls" where the framer or sheetrock hanger was not quite in good enough state of mind to build out your walls properly.
2. Place a "previously pasted and booked" sheet of wallpaper onto your cutting table with your "top" and "bottom" edges facing up. Carefully ensure that the left and right seams are closely aligned as they are folder onto each other. Take the longest of the three corner measures and add about 3/8 of an inch. *Once you get good, you can consider using 1/4 of an inch in this cutting process instead of 3/8 of an inch.
3. Using your 4 foot metal ruler, place the ruler across your wallpaper just at one of the folded ends on the table and carefully measure from the left seam (if you are approaching the corner from the left) over to your "length + 3/8" distance. Take a razor blade and make about a 1/2 inch cut parallel to the edge (seam) of the paper at this mark.
4. Repeat your 1/2 inch cut at the other end of the folded paper using the same "length + 3/8" distance. Now you should have a small cut at both ends.

Assuming your wallpaper is less than 96" long, you should be able to now place your metal ruler lengthwise on the paper using the two 1/2 cuts as an alignment aid. For longer pieces, you will need to measure and cut a reference mark in the middle (these are tough to find after cutting!).

1. Ensure the paper is flat against the table, hold the ruler down reasonably firmly so that it does not slip as you cut. Take a new razor blade and make a lengthwise cut in order to cut the wallpaper into two sections. You now have a "to the corner" section and an "after the corner" section.
2. Hang the "to the corner" section. This piece should overlap the corner at least 3/8 inches, and if your walls are crooked it may overlap the corner by more at the top middle or bottom. The key is to have overlap "top to bottom" at the corner, but too much overlap can be noticeable. If the overlap is greater than about 3/8 of an inch, take a fresh razor blade and making a freehand vertical cut, carefully cut away any overlap that is greater than 3/8 of an inch.
3. Take your "after the corner" section and measure the width. Take your level and draw a plumb 36" pencil line onto the new wall at this distance. Using the plumb line as a guide, hang this piece and get as good of a pattern match in the corner as possible. Again, it is most critical that this piece be plumb as it will set the stage for hanging the next wall nice and straight.

You want to avoid overlapping back onto the prior wall if you can. It's better for this piece to not quite make it back to the corner than overlapping. The 3/8" overlap from the first piece will ensure you have wallpaper in the corner. If by chance, there is a "gap" where the second section does not get to the first section's "overlap", then remove the full second section, lightly repaste, and rehang but this time move the wallpaper's right edge away from your plumb line to the left by enough distance to eliminate the gap you had on the first attempt. Using your level, make sure the new right edge remains plumb.

• The result should be a successful corner turn with an excellent right seam to continue around the room. You will sacrifice an absolutely perfect pattern match in the corner, but refer back up the page to the "Wallpaper Wisdom" statement.
• Warning to those that think it's got to be possible to turn an inside corner without using the two piece technique:

1. Wrapped corners will almost never end up with a plumb right edge to continue on with.
2. Wrapped corners tend to contract as they dry. This results in the wallpaper coming away from the corner and you lose the 90 degree turn and get something that more resembles two 45 degree turns...very unsettling, and a sure indication that an amateur hung the wallpaper. By virtue of this lesson, you are no amatuer.
3. And probably most convincing, add at least another 30 minutes to getting this piece in place. The slightest out of plumb or crook in the corner will make getting the wallpaper smooth almost impossible - almost as hard as gift wrapping a basketball.

Tips

• Self-assessment time..How much patience do you have? One of the common characteristics of successful paper hangers is that they have a lot of patience - defined as "the ability to bear affliction with calmness". This is so much more important to the novice than it is for the pro. If you think you got the goods then let's proceed. Having the right tools and information before you cut, paste, and hang your first piece will make or break the entire experience. Lets talk about information first.

How much paper will you need?

• Wall covering retailers can help you calculate this, but here's a quick guide to a good calculation. Get a notepad and measure the room's height and width by wall section. This is a piece of cake for a bedroom. For example, two walls 12' wide x 8' high, and two walls 11' wide x 8' high. The math is:
• 12x8=96, 12x8=96, 11x8=88, 11x8=88. 96+96+88+88 = 368 sq. ft.
• Now you are thinking to yourself, "what about doors and windows? I must subtract for that, right?" Wrong. Remember you are a beginner, you will benefit by allowing for a higher amount of waste - ruined pieces that is. There's no need to be more precise than the above measuring example, especially in kitchens and bathrooms which generate more waste than bedrooms.
• Most residential wall coverings are packaged in double roll bolts which equal 56 sq. ft. But, even a pro has some waste from pattern matching and going around doors and windows. If you are optimistic like a pro, count on getting 50 sq. ft. out of a double roll or 25 sq. ft. out of a single roll. In the example above, 368 divided by 25 = 14.72. This means you will need 14.72 single rolls of wall covering. Since it is usually sold in double roll "bolts" and you cannot buy single rolls, you need to have 8 double roll bolts (or 16 single rolls) in hand when you leave the wallpaper store. Don't try to get by with 7 bolts or 14 single rolls in this case. There is no worse feeling than running out of wallpaper before the job is done; and can be an expensive mistake if you cannot get more. If the sun, moon and stars line up for you and you do not open the last bolt you can take it back for a refund. Or better yet, save the extra bolt just in case you need some for a repair.

There are different types of wall covering

• The most common residential wall coverings are vinyl coated paper. It is an all paper product which has a very thin protective coating on the surface. Typically, these are 20.5" or 27" wide. Almost all are pre-pasted which means there is glue on the back of the paper waiting to be activated by water. These papers offer the widest range of patterns and colors. Contrary to instinct, vinyl coated paper is a very good choice for a wet area such as a bathroom because it breathes and can dry out after being exposed to a long steamy shower.
• You may see wall coverings labeled as "solid vinyl". This is a little misleading because most residential solid vinyls are actually a two layer product. The surface is a thin flexible layer of vinyl, but it is glued to a paper backing which is most often a slight cream color. These are almost always pre-pasted. If you are in the store and can handle this product, you can identify it by making a slow tear in the paper. You will see the two layers separate from each other. The paper backing makes it easier to hang, the vinyl surface makes it more washable than vinyl coated paper. You would think that this would be an excellent product for a bathroom or kitchen. However, after many years of observation, I have found that this product tends to absorb moisture at the seams over time (usually a few years) and delaminate. This causes the vinyl layer to curl inward ever so slightly - or away from the wall. In bathrooms, mainly above the shower, water tends to sit on the ledge at the tile / shower joint. This paper backed vinyl will "wick" the water up the paper backing. The water is trapped behind the vinyl layer and results in adhesive failure and sometimes mildew. Gallons of wallpaper paste can't repair this type of problem once it occurs and its very obvious to the casual observer. This wall covering tends to have more muted coloring as the printing options are more limited than vinyl coated papers.
• Real solid vinyl products are usually called fabric-backed vinyl or contract vinyl. These are usually packaged in 27" widths and 48"-54" widths for commercial purposes. Sure, you can use this very durable product in your home for a different look. Because of its thickness, weight and paste needs it is recommended to go ahead and hire a pro.
• Grasscloths, strings, and textile wall coverings can provide interesting textures on walls. Most of these are much more natural in construction and require a moderate to advanced hanging technique. Some grasscloths can be relatively easy for a beginner if the room does not have many obstacles and corners. A careful beginner should have a good chance at success in a dining room for example. Almost always, these are unpasted and will require specific adhesives. Check the instructions packed in the wall covering. If you do decide to take on grasscloth, keep your excess adhesive to a minimum as these wall coverings are essentially not washable even if the packaging claims they are.
• Untrimmed wall coverings are truly the most beautiful residential products due to the vivid colors that can be achieved by the usual hand-screen process. They are called untrimmed because the edges need to be trimmed at the job site - either "on the table" or on the wall. These are on the high end in price and require highly refined skills that many paper hangers simply do not have. Don't even think about trying to hang untrimmed wall coverings if you are reading this page. As a matter of fact, I would not hire a pro unless he/she has references for this specific type of product.

Pastes - you need them!

• Even with pre-pasted wall coverings...The bottom line is that in most cases the wall covering can benefit from additional adhesive over and above what is on the back of the wallpaper from the manufacturer. Here's the three key reasons you want to add adhesive to the back of pre-pasted wallpaper:

1. More time to hang
2. More slip while hanging
3. More adhesion to ensure your wallpaper stays where you want it to.

• Cellulose - this is the most common adhesive you will find in a do-it yourself section of the wallpaper supplies. It is most similar to what most manufacturers apply to the back of the pre-pasted wallpapers. It is usually packaged dry and comes in a small box. It mixes with water and forms a clear, gelatinous adhesive. Follow directions carefully to properly mix cellulose powder. In short - you must mix in the powder all at once into the water as you cannot add more powder into an already mixed batch. In some cases, cellulose is packaged pre-mixed and will be sold in a one gallon tub or plastic bottle. Sometimes these products are sold as "pre-pasted activators". This adhesive is popular because it is easy to mix, easy to apply with a paint roller and dries very clear. It also has very high "slip" properties. Some "slip" is good, but too much "slip" can lead to difficulties while hanging. "Slip" will be discussed later. The disadvantage of cellulose is that it has a very high water content which leads to little "grip" on the wall. This combination of high slip and low grip can lead to wallpaper that contracts on the wall as it dries and leaves open seams even if the paper is "booked" well and butted well when hung. Stripping wallpaper hung with cellulose is usually easy because of its low grip and easy dilution with warm water and stripping solutions.
• Wheat paste is an excellent form of adhesive and can be successfully used with pre-pasted wall coverings. It is usually sold in cartons very much like paper milk cartons. Common sizes are 1 lb. and 5 lb. It is not as easy to mix to a uniform consistency as cellulose. When using with pre-pasted wall coverings it is recommended to mix much weaker than the instructions on the carton which will be for non-pasted wall coverings. A good mixture for pre-pasted wallpaper will appear like skim milk and feel a little bit thicker than whole milk. The advantage to wheat paste over cellulose is that is has higher "gripping" properties, and moderate "slip" properties. You can also mix more paste into an existing mixture unlike cellulose which must be mixed in whole batches. The biggest disadvantage to wheat based adhesive is that the availability is very limited. Don't try wheat that you buy in the grocery store as they are different. Properly hung wallpaper with wheat paste makes excellent seams. Stripping wallpaper hung with wheat is moderately easy.
• Pre-mixed vinyl adhesives are generally intended for unpasted wall coverings and commercial grade wall coverings. They are usually sold in plastic buckets of 1 gal. or 5 gal. size. In a pinch, these adhesives can be diluted significantly and used with pre-pasted wall coverings. However, these adhesives are much stronger in nature and can ruin the finish of vinyl-coated wall coverings if left on the surface for an extended period of time. Clean up is more difficult than cellulose or wheat. Use this adhesive when the manufacturer calls for it in their instructions.

Wall Preparation

• Good wall preparation ensures success like no other step. We'll talk about the most common scenarios:
• In general, the key is to have a clean, smooth and relatively non-porous surface to hang on. Wallpaper cannot hide uneven wall flaws, so anything on the surface you can feel with your hands will show through most wall coverings. Don't be fooled by a freshly hung piece of wallpaper. It will hide flaws until the adhesive loses all of its moisture. The flaws will be much more evident after the wall covering dries. If you do have minor wall damage, use a joint compound or spackle to repair. See wikiHow sections related to wall repair...
• Painted drywall - It sure is tempting to hang right over the paint, and it can be done successfully. The price will be paid however in two stages. First while hanging, due to the wall's absorption of the adhesive, you will have less time to get your wallpaper in place, and end up with less adhesive directly behind the wallpaper where you want it. Second, when it comes time to strip the wallpaper and the wallpaper adhesive has penetrated through he paint and drywall. This leads to drywall damage and a painful and tedious stripping process. All one needs to do with painted drywall is to first use a high quality primer. Apply it with a paint roller and get to at least 1/2" of edges. You can cut the primer into the edges where there is trim, etc. but it is really not completely necessary to cover every fraction of an inch in these areas. Primer does not have the same hiding properties as paint. You may be tempted to put two coats of primer on to get a more even color, but don't. Resist the temptation to "tint" the primer to your wall covering's background color especially if your wall covering is a darker background. It's almost impossible to match the color and the colorants will diminish the great qualities of the primer. Let the primer primer dry overnight. If you hang too soon, the primer may soften and release which will result in poor adhesion and uneven finished surface. The beautiful thing about high quality primer is that it will make hanging the paper easier by keeping the glue on the surface next to the paper where you want it and stripping is much easier with little or no risk of damaging the drywall.
• New drywall. Again, don't hang over new drywall without applying primer. If you do, you are virtually gluing the paper to the facing of the drywall and like a real marriage the "two will become as one". This is certain death for the chances of stripping the paper. If you are still not convinced, then know that new drywall and joint compound is extremely porous and will suck away all of your wallpaper adhesive. Your seams and edges on the drywall compound will certainly peel. "Slip" is almost impossible with new drywall without primer. You may be tempted to use old paint or builder-grade paint for primer, but don't. Most paints are more porous than primer. The few dollars saved are not worth it.
• Glazed and textured walls have become very popular over the years and are beautiful finished, but unfortunately the roughness of the walls will not lend themselves to hanging new wallpaper. If you have glazing or texturing and you really want wallpaper, you need to consult with a professional "on site" to determine the proper strategy.
• Existing wallpaper. Even though you can be successful hanging wallpaper over existing paper, it is extremely, highly, absolutely recommended to remove the existing paper first. Here are the key reasons for doing so. First, some vinyl wall coverings will not provide a good bond for the new wallpaper glue. Second, the old wall covering may release from the wall once its exposed to new wall covering adhesive resulting in bubbles that you cannot repair or will be difficult to repair once the new job is complete. Third, inevitably, the two layers will not be as smooth as one layer, especially where the seams are in the first layer. Fourth, the new wall covering may not be thick enough to hide the old pattern and colors. Even a minute amount of old showing through the new can "dull" the background color of the new wall covering. This effect is most common with white or off-white background papers. Fifth, now that you have two layers on the wall, either can fail and produce peeling. See stripping techniques to get the old wallpaper down. In general the only time you should consider wallpapering over old is when you have a well adhered vinyl-coated wallpaper over bare drywall or builder grade paint. In this instance, attempts to remove the drywall may damage the facing of the drywall and lead to a significant amount of drywall repair to get back to a smooth surface. If attempting to hang over old, here are a few steps that will help. Peel away or re-glue peeling corners. Take a straight edge razor blade and shave the seams; fill any gaps created with spackle. And the most important, prime the original wall covering with primer. The wall covering may bubble with the application of primer. If it does, then you should wait 24 hours before hanging and give the wall covering time to dry and contract back to the wall. Any bubbles that do not contract will need to be repaired before hanging the new.
• Paneling can be wallpapered. It is highly recommended to hang a liner first. Liner is a very thick felt like product that you can order at wall covering retailers. For the most part, it hangs like wallpaper, but is hung horizontally. Once the liner is hung and dry, you can prime the liner with your high quality primer and hang new wall coverings over the liner. Liner can also be used for heavily damaged drywall to provide a new smooth surface.

Patterns - The Good, Bad, and UglySome patterns are a pleasure to work with, others are your worst nightmare...We humans are very perceptive and our brain, with the help of our eyes, looks for visual clues to help orient ourselves and make sense of our surroundings. Some patterns like bold stripes, plaids, diamonds provide strong visual references and will point out imperfections in crooked and out of plumb ceilings, walls, and floors. Here's a simplified ranking for patterns that will give you heartache from easiest to hardest:

1. Solids with texture only.
2. Florals - are a piece of cake visually and good at hiding crooked walls and are kind to beginners' errors.
3. Smaller repetitive prints.
4. Wide stripes (over 1.25 inches)- tend to hide crooked verticals most of the time.
5. Narrow stripes (under 1.25 inches)- tend to highlight crooked verticals all the time.
6. Plaids and checks - both vertical and horizontal visual references. These can be very frustrating for a beginner. The larger the "blocks" the more forgiving they are.
7. Large diamond patterns - like plaids and checks but the diagonal angle can be difficult to manage in corners. Even experienced hangers are slowed down with these.

Hanging Tips

• Before you hang you first piece of wallpaper, this is a good time to discuss the difference between air bubbles and glue ridges. Air bubbles are bad and indicate a poor smoothing action. You must pull the wall covering up and away from the wall and smooth to get these air bubbles out. Resist trying to rub hard to force the bubbles to an edge. If gently rubbing gets it out, great. Glues can give you the impression that your wallpaper is not going to be smooth. Do not try to rub excess glue out from behind the paper. These imperfections ? that sometimes look like air bubbles ? will dry out and go away as the adhesive loses its moisture. If you rub and rub the wallpaper to get these glue ridges out then you are essentially removing the adhesive from where it needs to be and your paper will likely peel once its dry.

Advanced Tips

• The Double Cut - this is a technique that can be used in various ways. It is most common when you want to overlap two pieces, but don't want the obvious overlap in the paper. Usually, you align the two papers on top of each other so that you have a perfect pattern match between the two. Then you take a brand new blade - for sharpness - and you carefully cut through the "double layer" area - usually a straight line using your joint knife - insuring that you are cutting through BOTH layers. It's important to keep your razor blade at a 90 degree angle to the wall while you make your cut. If you angle the blade's edge into the two layers, you will not get an exact seam once you remove the excess. You "pull away" the excess or unwanted sections, thus giving you a custom made seam with no overlap. Executed well, this technique can save a lot of heartache and a pro can use this technique to reduce waste in tricky areas. You generally need at least 1/8 inch overlap to execute this effectively.

For example, it's pretty likely you will accidentally cut a piece that is too short from ceiling to floor and many times you won't know this until most of the sheet is on the wall already. It's a shame to waste eight feet of wallcovering over a few inches at the bottom. You can find another piece of wallpaper that has the same pattern and overlap this small piece onto the main piece and make a horizontal "double cut". If done well with a good sharp blade, this horizontal seam will barely be noticable if at all. This is most successful with light backgrounds and patterns that are not checks or stripes. Make sure you give the small piece a chance to "book" so it will have the best chance at having the same width as a normal full sheet of wallcovering. Strips that are not very "tall" tend to have the ability to stretch or expand left to right more so than a longer piece. You have to be pretty good to be successful with a double cut with wallpapers that have a dark background.

Things You'll Need

• There are all kinds of do-it yourself wallpapering tools out there. Some are rather gimmicky. Here's a list of items that are very common and will provide all that you need to complete the job:
• Pasting and cutting table - a very good and inexpensive option is a lauan door that can be purchased at home improvement centers. They are usually 24"-30" wide and 80" long. Get the 30" version if you can find it as it provides a little room for placing tools and you will need a 30" board if your wall covering is 27" wide. They are very smooth and lightweight and will last for years if you decide to go pro. Use it on a few sawhorses and you are ready to go. Don't start a wall covering project without a good pasting and cutting table, you will only add to the frustration and time it takes for the project. Of course, don't use countertops or furniture as either the moisture or razor blades will ruin the surface.
• 12" Smoothing brush Usually with 3/4 inch bristles. Avoid the smoothing brushes with 1" bristles or longer if you come across them. This will be used to smooth out the paper and remove bubbles.
• 6" Joint knife This will be used primarily to cut your wallpaper against ceilings and trim. Also, to apply spackle for wall repairs. Avoid the plastic DIY versions; they cut easily and lose a good straight cutting edge.
• 100 ct. box of single edge razor blades - absolutely the best to cut your wall covering on the table and on the wall as you hang. Get more than 5-10, you are going to use a bunch. Blade holder is optional. Avoid razor cutters designed to snap off a section to reveal a new blade. The blades are not as sharp and its far easier to toss a dull blade than to snip and break a cutter blade. Long bladed scissors are used by master hangers that have been trained using this tool; however a beginner will have greater success with razor blades. Leave the scissors to the pros.
• Tape measure - a 25 ft. tape measure works well because of the slightly wider rule helps keep it stiff as you extend it out to measure long distances.
• Plastic tarp for a work area, get one big enough for your table, room to stand on while cutting and pasting, and room for putting pasted paper until it is hung.
• Adhesive appropriate for your type of wall covering.
• 5 gallon bucket - new or used. This is what we will mix our adhesive in that we will apply to the back of the paper.
• Paint roller and frame 3/8 " nap on the roller is best, budget roller is OK. A roller with a plastic core instead of cardboard is a bonus. This will be used for applying paste to the wall covering. If you need to prime (you better), get a second higher quality roller for priming. Extension poles are highly recommended. They will keep you on the ground instead of climbing a ladder every few feet along the wall.
• Primer - apparently brand names are not allowed, but my middle name is: Shields. Ask for my middle name. It is without a doubt, the absolute best.
• Large non-abrasive sponges and small terry cloth towels. Sponges will be used to clean and wipe down freshly hung wallpaper and towels will be used to clean the pasting table. Don't use towels on most wall coverings as they are too abrasive and may damage the new wallpaper surface. Adhesives are water soluble so the towels will not be ruined.
• Ladder - For eight ft. ceilings a six ft. ladder is recommended. It is possible to hang paper with a smaller step ladder with 8 ft. ceilings, but you want to reach and cut above your head as little as possible. For ten ft ceilings an eight foot ladder is recommended.
• 4 ft. metal ruler found at most home improvement centers. This will be used to measure and to make lengthwise cuts on the table.
• 2 ft. level (a 4 ft. level can be used also). Use this to check for "plumb" while hanging.
• Pencil - for obvious reasons.
• Screwdrivers and Pliers - for removing and replacing all face plates and hardware mounted on the wall.
• Spackle or Ultralight Spackle, Ultralight spackle dries faster and sands easier. Its great for small holes and rough spots. It is not strong enough to repair large holes, for example larger than a golf ball. For large holes, use a hole repair technique that will call for joint compound which dries more slowly but is stronger.
• Sanding sponge - very handy for smoothing spackle and small bumps in painted walls.
• Portable work light, especially for small bathrooms with little or no windows. Remember, all wall mounted light fixtures will be removed.
• Trash bag clean up as you go.

• Optional -
• Chalk line and plumb bob. This is the traditional method for starting a job and establishing a truly plumb (vertical) line. Very helpful when there is a starting point of significant length - like a stairwell or vaulted ceiling.
• Bullet level - this is a small level about 6 inches long that can be handy for checking plumb between window frames and ceilings.

• What about a seam roller? Actually no. With today's wall coverings, the seam roller can do more harm than good as the pressure applied to the seam forces the adhesive away from the seam and results in a dry seam that usually opens.

• How much will these things cost? - You can easily spend $100 to $150 for a proper set of tools, primer and adhesives. Weigh this cost against hiring a pro if you have only one small room to wallpaper.

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