Wallpapering The Right Way - Part 5

Last time we had a look at how to mark out your wall ready for the first sheet of paper. In this article, we shall look at how to paste your paper.

Place half the length of paper on the pasting table and start applying the paste. Brush the paste outwards from the middle towards the edges in a 'herringbone' pattern. To avoid getting paste on the table, hang each edge of the paper about 20mm over the edge of the table before you paste it.

After pasting half, fold the paper over paste to paste, and complete the rest of the length. Fold to the middle in the same way. Then hang the two loops of paper over your arm and carry to the wall.

If you are using ready-pasted paper, cut it to length and loosely roll it up. Fill the trough supplied with water, place it at the foot of the wall and immerse the roll for about one minute before hanging.

Some vinyls are designed to be hung onto a pre-pasted wall. In this case, before pasting the wall put some newspaper or a polythene sheet on the floor to catch any drips.

Hanging and Trimming

To hang the paper, unfold the pasted sheet and position the top half on the wall, using the plumb line as a vertical guide. Slide it carefully against the line and upwards until you have about 50mm at the ceiling for trimming.

Now smooth the rest of the paper onto the wall. The best tool for this is a purpose-made hanging brush, but a soft cloth (or sponge on vinyl papers) will do if used with care. Start your smoothing strokes in the middle and work towards the edges to force out any air bubbles. After finishing the top half, unfold the bottom section and repeat the process. If you find that the length is misaligned, do not try to force it: peel off and start again.

To trim, force the paper well into the angle where the wall joins the ceiling and run the back of your scissors along the angle to make a crease. Gently peel the paper back off the wall and cut along the crease with scissors. In awkward corners, you may find it easier to cut the paper directly with a sharp trimming knife. Nevertheless, avoid doing so, if possible as it is easy to tear the paper.

Smooth the paper back onto the wall and repeat at the skirting. Finish by sponging any excess paste off the skirting board and ceiling before it dries.

Follow the same procedure with subsequent sheets, taking care to match any patterns. Sheets should always meet edge to edge at a butt joint unless specifically designed to take overlaps.

Allow the paper to dry for ten minutes and then run a mean roller or soft cloth down the seam to ensure good adhesion. Do not use a roller with embossed papers, as the texture will be flattened.

That's it for this article, next time in the final article of this series we'll take a look at all the tricky places you will need to paper such as around plug sockets and light switches.

Remember, measure twice, cut once.

Johan Nickson is an expert on Bosch Powertools