Hi All

Doing some work for a guy today who asked me to replace a strip of wallpaper
in the centre of a wall. It had been mauled by their dog.

I tentatively peeled away a corner and the whole strip came off cleanly
leaving the lining paper (or backing?) on the wall.

He had a spare roll, so I cut a length, pasted it, let it soak for a bit &
hung it.

Strangely there was a gap either side of about 1/16th of an inch. I brushed
vigorously from the centre out and reduced the gap by a little, but it was
still there.

I checked the roll and it was the standard 20.5" wide. Comparing this to
the stuff on the walls the roll was actually smaller!

So does unused wallpaper shrink? Or does wall paper expand once hung?

Weird!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Doing some work for a guy today who asked me to replace a strip of wallpaper
in the centre of a wall.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Not a nice job!


I tentatively peeled away a corner and the whole strip came off cleanly
leaving the lining paper (or backing?) on the wall.

Probably backing..


He had a spare roll, so I cut a length, pasted it, let it soak for a bit &
hung it.

Strangely there was a gap either side of about 1/16th of an inch. I brushed
vigorously from the centre out and reduced the gap by a little, but it was
still there.

I checked the roll and it was the standard 20.5" wide. Comparing this to
the stuff on the walls the roll was actually smaller!

So does unused wallpaper shrink? Or does wall paper expand once hung?

The longer you soak it, within reason, the more it'll expand. Not all
rolls are exactly the same width, anyway. If you'd soaked it longer,
it *might* have fitted better - but if it's got a vinyl layer, then
probably not! When the paste dries, the paper on the wall does not
shrink by more than a few angstroms. Many people don't soak the paper
for *nearly* long enough.

A useful tip is this: if you've got small gaps, and the paper is
suitable, you can draw a fine-tipped felt pen down to disguise the
join.

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Hi All

Doing some work for a guy today who asked me to replace a strip of
wallpaper in the centre of a wall. It had been mauled by their dog.

I tentatively peeled away a corner and the whole strip came off
cleanly leaving the lining paper (or backing?) on the wall.

He had a spare roll, so I cut a length, pasted it, let it soak for a
bit & hung it.

Strangely there was a gap either side of about 1/16th of an inch. I
brushed vigorously from the centre out and reduced the gap by a
little, but it was still there.

I checked the roll and it was the standard 20.5" wide. Comparing
this to the stuff on the walls the roll was actually smaller!

So does unused wallpaper shrink? Or does wall paper expand once hung?

Weird!

What you should have done(depending how many pieces there was to the
left/right of the peeled off strip) was replaced the rest of the pieces
assuming there was enough on the roll?
This is a common problem when replacing a strip of wallpaper thats been up
sometime.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Chris Bacon wrote:

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Not a nice job!

Right! I told him it might well go pear shaped, but he wanted me to try.
Plan 'B' was to emulsion the entire wall.

Not all
rolls are exactly the same width, anyway.

I reckon that was it. It didn't seem so noticeable when it dried.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

What you should have done (depending how many pieces there was to the
left/right of the peeled off strip) was replaced the rest of the
pieces assuming there was enough on the roll?

Unfortunately the wall was about 30' long, the strip was in the middle and
the remainder of the roll was just enough for one drop.

This is a common problem when replacing a strip of wallpaper that's
been up sometime.

Never actually tried it before! Probably won't again!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 22:42:58 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Chris Bacon wrote:

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Not a nice job!

Right! I told him it might well go pear shaped, but he wanted me to try.
Plan 'B' was to emulsion the entire wall.

Not all
rolls are exactly the same width, anyway.

I reckon that was it. It didn't seem so noticeable when it dried.


But was the customer happy? More to the point did he pay and suggest
you might get repeat business?


--

..andy

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Hi All

Doing some work for a guy today who asked me to replace a strip of
wallpaper in the centre of a wall. It had been mauled by their dog.

I tentatively peeled away a corner and the whole strip came off
cleanly leaving the lining paper (or backing?) on the wall.

He had a spare roll, so I cut a length, pasted it, let it soak for a
bit & hung it.

How long was "a bit"? Working on my own, I paste at least one length
"in hand". Averaged over a room, I reckon on 3 drops per hour, so if
the original paperhanger worked as slowly as me, it could well have been
soaked for the best part of 20 minutes.


Strangely there was a gap either side of about 1/16th of an inch. I
brushed vigorously from the centre out and reduced the gap by a
little, but it was still there.

How effective this is will depend on how well the paper slips on the
wall - which is why I like to size the wall before I paper it (with
diluted paste). It also means you can peel half the width of a drop
away from the wall so you can stretch it, with your brush, as you
re-stick it.


So does unused wallpaper shrink? Or does wall paper expand once hung?

Nope. There'd be some funny effects at corners if it did.

An interesting example, though, of how a job that wouldn't be a d-i-y
problem, because you'd go and do something else while the sizing was
drying and the paper soaking, becomes a lot harder when you're working
for someone else, who may not like the notion of paying for you to watch
paste get drier or paper get wetter.


--
Kevin Poole
**Use current month and year to reply (e.g. )***
Car Transport by Tiltbed Trailer - based near Derby

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Hi All

Doing some work for a guy today who asked me to replace a strip of wallpaper
in the centre of a wall. It had been mauled by their dog.

I tentatively peeled away a corner and the whole strip came off cleanly
leaving the lining paper (or backing?) on the wall.

He had a spare roll, so I cut a length, pasted it, let it soak for a bit &
hung it.

Strangely there was a gap either side of about 1/16th of an inch. I brushed
vigorously from the centre out and reduced the gap by a little, but it was
still there.

I checked the roll and it was the standard 20.5" wide. Comparing this to
the stuff on the walls the roll was actually smaller!

So does unused wallpaper shrink? Or does wall paper expand once hung?

Weird!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On a technical note - wallpaper is usually made from waste paper with
or without the addition of bleached virgin pulp (mashed up trees).
Either way, it will contain around 5% of water. Depending upon storage
conditions, it will expand and contract according to moisture content,
even after pasting onto a wall.

BTW, those trees will have been planted specifically for making paper -
Brazillian rainforest timber is entirely unsuitable for this
purpose!!!!!

Andy Hall wrote:
But was the customer happy? More to the point did he pay and suggest
you might get repeat business?

He was fine. I pre warned him that it might not work, and if it didn't the
only option would be to strip the whole wall & emulsion it. Communication
is the key here I reckon.

--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Homer2911 wrote:
On a technical note - wallpaper is usually made from waste paper with
or without the addition of bleached virgin pulp (mashed up trees).
Either way, it will contain around 5% of water. Depending upon
storage conditions, it will expand and contract according to moisture
content, even after pasting onto a wall.

Fascinating! So if stored in warm, dry conditions it could have contracted.
Elementary my dear watson!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:58:37 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Andy Hall wrote:
But was the customer happy? More to the point did he pay and suggest
you might get repeat business?

He was fine. I pre warned him that it might not work, and if it didn't the
only option would be to strip the whole wall & emulsion it. Communication
is the key here I reckon.


Absolutely. Setting realistic expectation and exceeding it generally
results in happy punter.

It sounds as though you are starting to get a good rate of
enquiries....



--

..andy

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Homer2911 wrote:
On a technical note - wallpaper [...] Depending upon
storage conditions, it will expand and contract according to moisture
content, even after pasting onto a wall.

Fascinating! So if stored in warm, dry conditions it could have contracted.
Elementary my dear watson!

Yes, but when you paste and soak it, it expands.

Chris Bacon wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Homer2911 wrote:
On a technical note - wallpaper [...] Depending upon
storage conditions, it will expand and contract according to moisture
content, even after pasting onto a wall.

Fascinating! So if stored in warm, dry conditions it could have contracted.
Elementary my dear watson!

Yes, but when you paste and soak it, it expands.

And contracts again when the past dries - (I feel a Bernard
Cribbens-type song coming on)

In article .com
Homer2911 wrote:

Chris Bacon wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Homer2911 wrote:
On a technical note - wallpaper [...] Depending upon
storage conditions, it will expand and contract according to moisture
content, even after pasting onto a wall.

Fascinating! So if stored in warm, dry conditions it could have contracted.
Elementary my dear watson!

Yes, but when you paste and soak it, it expands.

And contracts again when the past dries - (I feel a Bernard
Cribbens-type song coming on)


But the edges dry quicker than the middle, so they stay in place.