Mending Minor Wallpaper Rips

No matter how well you have hung your house wallpaper, it is still subject to wear and tear. As wallpaper ages through time, their adhesives weaken, the edges rip, and the colors fade. There are also some areas in the house where damage is unavoidable and more likely --- kids’ rooms fall in this category. Kids wallpapers are more exposed to stains and damage.

Damage will inevitably manifest itself as tears and rips in the material. However, you can still fix some of the imperfections provided you still have extra rolls of your wallpaper and borders. For other materials such as vinyl adhesive, a trip to your local home improvement store will offer what you need.

A simple tear can be re-glued almost inconspicuously. Same goes for visible seams that are the result of house wallpaper sections that have lifted themselves from the wall. The repair process is easy -- you just need to moisten the loose paper with a damp sponge, lift the paper from the wall, spread a thin layer of adhesive to its back, press it back to the wall, and roll the area with a seam roller. Sponge off any extra adhesive. Voila! Your house wallpaper is mended and looks nearly brand new.

For other imperfections, you just need to do the following:

Air bubbles – Air bubbles occur when an amount of air or a piece of debris is trapped between the wallpaper and the wall, resulting in tiny bulges on the surface of your wallpaper and borders. They are easily fixed though: If the air bubble contains a small piece of debris, just cut a small X mark on the spot, peel back the rips, remove the rubble, apply a thin layer of vinyl adhesive on the flaps and press the paper back to the wall, then roll them flat. If the bubble contains only air, fill a glue-injecting syringe with a small amount of thinned ready-mix adhesive; make a small slit on the bubble with a razor knife and squirt the adhesive through the slit. Roll the surface flat and wipe off any adhesive excess from the house wallpaper.

Big rips and tears – this kind of damage is commonly suffered by kids wallpaper, bathroom wallpaper, and kitchen wallpaper and borders. For problems like these, you need to patch them with wallpaper that bears the same pattern. This is where extra rolls come in handy.

1. With a utility knife, cut a piece from the spare wallpaper (make sure it’s larger than the damaged area), and then place it over the torn area while trying to match the pattern of the wallpaper.

2. Once you match the design, hold the extra wallpaper in place with blue safety tapes.

3. Trace the edges of the spare wallpaper with a razor, cutting the damaged wallpaper in the process.

4. Remove the spare wallpaper and moisten the damaged area with water to loosen the adhesive.

5. Remove the damaged area. Use a putty knife for vestiges you can’t lift with your finger.

6. Clean the wall surface where the new piece of wallpaper will be pasted. Apply primer if you are down to raw wall.

7. Apply wall covering adhesive to the new wallpaper and carefully place it on the wall.

8. Wipe off any excess adhesive with a damp sponge then roll the surface flat. Wipe off any moisture.

There are certain damages, though, that are irreparable, usually seen in kids wallpaper. The only solution here would be to redo the wall with new wallpaper.