You have gone to all the heartache over Choosing The Right Wallpaper you have got to get going preparing a room for wallpaper. Of course you have to do preparations… THAT Painter Lady always says “Prep Is The Key To Success”.
How To Prepare A Room For Wallpaper
Paint the trim / woodwork first – You don’t have to worry about doing straight lines, because the wallpaper will be crisp against the edge of the trim.
- If you paint after the wallpaper is installed then you run the risk of getting the paint on the wallpaper.
- Be sure to pick your wallpaper color and pattern first before painting, so that you can come up with a complementary color for the trim and woodwork.
- You can choose a color that is not so prominent within the pattern of your wallpaper. When in doubt, a neutral shade is always your best choice.
Tools you will need -
1. Large Table (a few boards on top of sawhorses will do)
4. Scissors, preferably 12 – 14″ blades. Super-LONG Stainless Steel Scissors – 14″
7. Clear Strippable Wall-covering Adhesive - Yep… even if your wallpaper is pre-pasted
9. Chalk Snap Line or Auto-Leveling Laser
10. Ruler or measuring stick
11. Paint Mixer for mixing the wallpaper paste
12. More Extras You Will Need On Hand:
- stepladders,
- two pails,
- One pail is for paste, the other for cleaning water.
- Wallcovering Sponge
- plenty of clean rags,
- Sponge and rags are for cleaning up paste dripped on woodwork.
- some #0 emery cloth,
- The emery cloth keeps your roller cutter sharp.
- newspapers or a drop cloth,
- Newspapers or a drop cloth are needed to protect your floors.
- Quick-drying patching plaster if there are cracks to fill in on the walls.
Preparing The Surface -
Painted Walls
- Fix holes
- Sand walls until completely smooth
- Thoroughly clean dust from surface
- Prime the surface
Textured Surfaces
- Examples of textured surfaces – concrete, cinder block, wood paneling, textured plaster, and textured paint.
- All textured surfaces will need to be smoothed with joint compound before applying wallpaper. Then follow the steps above – sand, clean, prime. Another option for slightly textured walls is to hang a special liner paper first.
Proper surface preparation is the most important step in producing a good wallpaper job.
Tools For Stripping Wallpaper
And… if you need to strip the “Bad Wallpaper” – I found a few tools that will make the job so much easier:
Zinsser 2966 PaperTiger Scoring Tool for Wallpaper Removal Single Head
Zinsser 2466 DIF GEL Spray Ready To Use Wallpaper Stripper, 32-Ounce
