Sealing wall for papering ?

[Pford75]

Don't be tempted to start with a straight line from a corner - walls are rarely straight.

If your paper is 75cm wide, I would measure 65cm in from a corner and then drop a plumb line from there. Mark the line on the wall and align the paper to this edge. It should run just around the corner.

When trimming paper, I use a straight edge and push the paper tight into the picture rail or skirting, this makes a crease. I then peel away and cut with scissors.

If you have tricky details (such as around a ceiling rose or fireplace) then a sharp blade, changed regularly is critical.

When papering around sockets and switches, switch the power off, mark the corners of a socket and then join these with an 'X'.....the four 'triangles' can then be trimmed slightly and tucked behind the socket faceplate.

Above all, take your time. The lining paper is not super expensive, so if it does go wrong, you can simply remove the sheet and start again.

 

[AMc]

Thanks - unfortunately I'm starting on the ceiling. I'm sure it will be OK in the end.

Turning the power on and off is actually going to be a major pain...
I have to start on the ceiling which means unwiring a new mains powered smoke alarm and papering the 1st run over the wires - mark the paper where the screw holes are (I'm told to use matchsticks in the holes to find them), mark for the wire, slit the paper poke wires through making sure the whole mess will be covered by the alarm.
Then when I get to the walls I'll have to turn off the lights again to deal with the switches and the uplighter. Fiddly and faffy and no fun
It would help if there were some daylight but I've picked the wrong time of year!

 

[Moo]

I'm starting on the ceiling.

Why?

 

[Penners]

I'm a great believer in starting with the ceiling, so that you don't risk smearing paste or water on to newly papered walls.

 

[Feltwell]

Feltwell - did you paste the paper or the wall? Pasting the wall sounds like it might be simpler as I've got all these odd shapes and corners but I'm not finding a lot of guidance on how to do it.

I pasted the wall, with an ordinary paste brush - then smoothed the paper out using a paper-hangers brush. It really is very easy.

Top tips there from PFord as well. Never start from a corner, always from a proper plumb line a bit in - then go round the corner. When you get back to the corner you overlap the first bit of paper - if you were doing walls that is!

Creasing paper next to "obstacles" then cutting with scissors is a good method, although you can get battery powered gizmos for cutting paper in-situ - results aren't quite as good as with scissors but are close and it's a lot quicker.

Don't forget that with it being lining paper it is a lot more forgiving than hanging patterned paper - you can put joints where you want, you can even put filler on top of lining paper and rub it down if you are very careful. This sounds like a horrendous bodge but I had a previous home decorated by a professional, after he had done the hallway I noticed that a lump in the plaster underneath the lining paper was showing through. The decorator assured me he could smooth it in with filler so I wouldn't see it - and he was right! Next time I visited I couldn't see the fix he'd made.

Matchsticks in screw holes to poke through the paper is a good old trick, just be aware that this non-woven stuff is so strong you won't be able to just poke them through the damp paper like normal - you'll need to make a tiny slit with a sharp knife or scissors.

Don't be afraid of it, just pitch in and have a go. Worst that can happen is that you have to pull a section off whilst it's still damp and start again.

 

[AMc]

I'm starting on the ceiling.

Why?

Because everything I've read so far says that's where you start
Nice to have more tips before I get started. CityLink have just delivered the paper. I need to do some other emulsioning this afternoon and then pick up some paste tomorrow when I'm in town for other reasons.

Cheers!

 

[Moo]

In town tomorrow? Which town?

 

[divebubble]

Hello,

Been reading this thread with interest as need to start thinking of removing the wallpaper in several of the rooms in our (cross fingers) so to be new house and wondering what is the best method of removal from L&P walls so that the plaster remains intact but the wallpaper comes away from it without too much hassle - we have six rooms to start with after all. Plus, perhaps I'm being silly but what do you do after that? Can I paint directly on to the plaster or would it be better to hang lining paper first and paint onto that? What sort of paint do people use, I've heard eggshell or a breathable paint is best for the building, the kids were hoping for Dulux!!!

Cheers

Divebubble & Fish!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

DB&F - I think Joce may have done a lot of stripping from L&P (I think a ceiling if I recall)...I'm sure she'll be along presently. She's probably out singing lullabies to her chickens or re-filling their little hot-water bottles. :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Poor ickle fluff pies have all got worms.

Anyway, it's true that in the field of stripping I have diverse and experimental experience - and once did an interesting course at FYEO, but - ahem! The ceiling here, which took two years to pluck up the courage to do, is lime plaster on reed. All that worked to get off the many layers of paper and distemper was steam in great quantities, which I had been advised against as running the risk of bringing the plaster down. Fotunately it didn't (yet).

Divebubble and fish - I suggest you get once of those wallpaper steamy stripper things, a stripper's knife and plenty of old cloths. It will take ages but it's sort of fun. I'd advise you to wait until spring or summer though, you've a house that has suffered with damp (haven't they all) and it's really not a good idea to fill it with steam in winter unless you're prepared to work with open windows.

On paint - you first need to ascertain whether you have revealed lime plaster, or modern gypsum, I think. If you've revealed modern unbreathing plaster then feel free to use whatever paint you like, if the room does not suffer from damp.

If you've revealed lime plaster then in my opinion it's a pity to cover this breathable base with an unbreathing paint. Plus I think you will like the look of limewash or distemper. For areas that get a high degree of wear casein distemper is recommended, I haven't used it so can't comment. Ceilings are traditionally done with distemper.

If you uncover lime plaster, but smothered with layer on layer of modern paint, then many old building preservers like to strip that off, with Klingstrip, and repaint with limewash. This is what I'll be doing in the dining room, when I get round to it, as the room has suffered with a lot of damp.

If you uncover modern paint, on modern plaster, and the room is damp then some people choose to strip right back and start again with breathable lime plaster and limewash - it's up to you, and I suppose depends on budget, patience, degrees of damp, etc. I'm not doing that here, most of the rooms are "unbreathing" and I'm not experiencing problems - we have a lot of built in ventilation though.

And how do you know what you find? Post pics on here, send off for limewash samples from Womersley's so you know what it looks like. Broadly speaking, lime plaster is less brittle (and pink!) than gypsum. If you drive a screwdriver in it's a crumbly, dusty experience. Others who are experts on lime here will be able to give a better explanation than that.

Lime paints are similarly dusty, and crumbling, and flaking - not like modern plasticcy paint which can peel off in great sheets.

The easiest thing for you is just to post lots of questions here as you uncover things. Good luck!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Excellent Joce -now how about posting those pics of your stripping experiences??? :wink:

 

[Pford75]

Your choice of paint may also depend on the quality of the plaster underneath the lining paper.

In our house, once the lining paper was removed, it was obvious why it had been lined in the first place! Without a complete repossessing of the walls it would have looked a mess. Therefore, we decided to re-line (lots of discussion in this thread with the best lining papers) and then painted over with F&Bs estate emulsion.

Personally (and im sure plenty here will disagree), I think the wholesale use of breathable paints is overkill. We have used distemper on ceilings (mainly because they were already distempered and it's a pig to get off), but we have used Dulux and other emulsions with no hint of damp at all.

Wallpaper was widely used over the periods and this is not breathable....so I don't see the problem with using it now.

I certainly wouldn't begin stripping now and I wouldn't do anything until you've established whether your home is damp or this can be solved with a bit of heat and ventilation.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Completely agree with Pford's last paragraph and most of that excellent post.

"looks a mess" is dependent on the mood of the property and what you like in my opinion. Scruffy, paint peeling, uneven, crumbling, is very Prada dahling! Pford has a lovely posh house and has chosen what's appropriate for that, this one is definitely flaunting the pock-marked look at present.

Wallpaper is sort of breathable, more than paint. When the wall is wet the paper is wet through. You don't really get that with plastic finishes - the moisture gets trapped behind.

( but that statement is based on observation of one room here with twenty year old wallpaper and should not be read as anything more than a hunch - it's known that the pastes aren't particularly breathable)

I agree that to dismantle the whole house and remake it with lime plasters and paints is OTT and destructive in itself. I'm judging each bit in itself, and basing my decision on what I find.

No question that breathable paints are more beautiful than plastic ones though. :wink:

FW - maybe one day.

 

[AMc]

Another vote for the steam stripper - I did the ceiling manually scraping - which was a monsterous pain despite the paper lifting in the seams in several places. I did a section of wall when the steam stripper arrived in about 1/4 of the time even though the paper was better stuck.
I did manage to blow a couple of small areas where gypsm was skimmed over older lime, but the lime remains intact. I've filled and sanded those back to the same level.

Once the lining paper was off the cracks and dings made it obvious why they'd been lined despite the gypsm skim over the top. A bit of character is one thing, a surface like the moon is another.

I bought an Earlex SS125 stripper - which is basically a kettle element in a sealed bottle, a hose and a big flat plate to direct steam at the wall. Mine came from www.cpc.co.uk for £20 inc VAT along with some other wallpapering sundries and bits to get free delivery. I saw the same unit for £25 at Screwfix and £28 at B&Q.
I also bought a Harris long handled scraper with a replaceable blade (as opposed to a stripping knife) which was useful where the normal knife couldn't get under the paper.

I wouldn't worry too much about using a steam stripper at this time of year - if you open all the windows you're only putting about the same amount of water into the room as drying a couple of loads of washing - something we can do in our mostly unbreathable house without problems. Of course if you have serious damp problems then don't do it at least until the weather is dry even if it is cold.

 

[MdB]

Steam strippers are very good at getting badly stuck gypsum off the walls so go careful. We have used this to our advantage in a number of places. (It does of course remove 90% leaving 10% which is then a right pain to get off..)

 

[Penners]

Excellent Joce -now how about posting those pics of your stripping experiences???

I had a feeling that, in your previous post, you were setting yourself up to get around to that.

You're a disgrace, sir.*





*Well done.

 

[Penners]

Another vote for the steam stripper

A steam stripper will be more effective if you score the wallpaper first. One of these will do the job quickly and easily (it's not a two-part tool - the photo just shows two views of it):

 

[Moo]

Wallpaper was widely used over the periods and this is not breathable....

But the paste wasn't the same as the stuff we use nowadays. I understand that BP* they used to mix their own from flour and water.



* Before Polycell

 

[AMc]

I just scored with an (old) stanley knife blade which worked OK for my paper but that tool looks good.
See this post for a cautionary tale about scoring the paper...
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7228&p=153744#p153744

In town tomorrow? Which town?

Sorry Moo, missed your post. Was to be Norwich but in the end my taxi services weren't required so a quick nip to the local hardware store has got me a pack of extra strong Solvite mix.

Next question...

How soon after hanging lining paper is it safe to overpaint with emulsion?

 

[Moo]

When it (the paper) is dry.
How do you tell? If it looks dry and feels dry, then it is dry.

But don't be alarmed if it all bubbles when you apply the emulsion; the paper will absorb moisture from the paint, which will cause the bubbles. As it dries out, so will the paper, and it will shrink back and end up as beautifully flat as it was before you painted it.