Eric Cartman wrote

OK, I'm really into plain interior walls, love the clean unbroken
look. Now the house I have just bought, once all the paper has been
removed will need skimming.

The cheaper alternative for me would be heavy lining paper and I would
have a go at this myself (never wallpapered before). The only thing
that puts me off is the fact that I have never seen a house that,
after a few years, has the odd place here and there where the paper
has started to come away from the wall at seam lines and the paper has
become hard and brittle.

Is there a foolproof way of getting paper on the wall, hiding the
joins *and* have it stay on the wall over time? Would be really
interested to hear if you have solved this as lining my walls may be
an option if this can be solved.

Wallpaper peels off either because:
a) the paste dried out before it was stuck properly, or
b) there is dampness behind the paper

To prevent a), make sure the wall is sealed, especially if it's new plaster.
Traditionally a glue size or diluted wallpaper paste was used for this, but
nowadays a coat of diluted PVA makes a much better job. Use a good fungicide
paste such as Solvite or Polycell and make sure there is *plenty* of paste on
the paper, particularly on the edges. After pasting the paper, fold it over
paste side to paste side to stop it drying and leave it for at least 10 minutes
before hanging to allow the paste to soak in. Try not to stretch the paper when
you're hanging it or it will tear and maybe shrink as it dries, and use a roller
on the joints. Leave it to dry thoroughly before painting, and if necessary
stick back any peeling edges or fill open joints with Polyfilla and lightly rub
down.

To prevent b), obviously make sure the wall is dry before hanging and check for
any external defects that might cause penetrating dampness, such as leaking
gutters and pipes, defective pointing or cracked and hollow rendering. If the
wall surface is cold due to poor insulation it will suffer from condensation, so
if this can be improved then do it before papering. Also seal any stains with a
solvent-based undercoat or stain block. Water vapour can penetrate through
emulsion paint and paper and condense behind it, so it's preferable to use two
coats of solvent-based oil paint rather than water-based emulsion, which will
seal it better. You can get flat oil paint, or eggshell finish is nice, but
keep a wet edge and try not to overlap the coats as it will affect the finish
and will always be visible. Alternatively you can emulsion over the oil paint
if you prefer.

HTH
Peter