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.

Cheers.

"Eric Cartman" wrote in message
om...
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.

Cheers.

My worry would be that if the walls are bad enough to require skimming after
the paper has been stripped, then even 1200 weight lining paper won't mask
the defects....

However, continuing on, I have used 2 techniques for unbroken joins in
lining paper.

1. hang paper leaving 3 or 4mm gap between the drops. When fully dry, go
over the gaps with a gritty filler, mixed from powder, such as tetrion or
polyfilla. Run an electric sander over the joins to make sure they are
flat.

2. overlap the drops by 1cm or so, then immediately run down the centre of
the overlap with a _very_ sharp blade, and peel off the excess. This
guarantees exact butting-up of the drops. Make sure the blade really is
sharp, and clean it off after every use, otherwise you might catch and tear
bits of the paper.

One coat of decent trade matt white emulsion as a first coat, and then 2 of
decent flat paint as a colour coat later and you'll not see the joins (this
pretty much also applies if you perfect your hanging technique so that you
don't need to do 1 or 2 above).

To avoid peeling joins, first make sure you don't have damp problems. If
you do you're onto a loser and will always get peeling joins, IME.

Secondly, make sure the wall preparation is up to scratch, and the wall is
properly sized before you start to paper.

Thirdly, make sure your paste coverage is adequate and right up to the
edges. You shouldn't paste and then hang the lining paper immediately
afterwards, but leave it to sit for 5 or so minutes so that the paper
absorbs some of the moisture. Use a paper hanging roller on the joins when
you're hanging the paper.

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

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

Sorry Richard - your message wasn't on my server when I replied

"Peter Taylor" wrote in message
...
Sorry Richard - your message wasn't on my server when I replied


:-) np

don't think we contradicted each other, and you expanded much further on the
damp walls situation than I could have done..



--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

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.

Why? Is the wall already jagged up, or is it difficult to remove
the paper without damaging the wall? There's a lot you can do
with filler and a knife to put it on!


The cheaper alternative for me would be heavy lining paper and I
would have a go at this myself (never wallpapered before).

As others have said, make sure the wall is dry.

Size the wall - *important*. Allow to dry completely.

Allow the paper to soak for a good 1/4 hr. before hanging. Fold
it (but don't crease it!) to stop it drying out during this time.

Paste the wall!

Hang the paper. Use a good quality (wooden handled, densely
bristled) brush. Make final positioning adjustments before
you brush the paper on hard. Don't distort the paper by
pushing it in one place, use the brush to gently persuade
the drop to move as a whole, grasshopper. Use a seam roller
to roll towards the seam from several inches into the drop
(horizontally). Paste should squish out all along. Wipe this
off (a good new car sponge is useful) and lightly roll the
seam up and down with the roller. You must not have air
bubbles under the paper, and they are easy to avoid. Any
thicker-than-ideal paste pockets will disappear when the
paper is dry. Make sure the paper, paste, wall and tools
are kept very clean - grit and bits of crap will show under
the paper.


J.B.

OK, thanks guys. Will keep your ideas in mind.

When I say the walls need skimming it is not because the plaster is
terrible but the house is a 1930's construction and after removing the
paper the walls have large areas of size that are firmly attached and
trying to remove them just gouges the plaster. Suppose I could try
polycell basecoat or similar rather than skimming? Just at the
investigation stage.

(Eric Cartman) wrote in message . com...
OK, thanks guys. Will keep your ideas in mind.

When I say the walls need skimming it is not because the plaster is
terrible but the house is a 1930's construction and after removing the
paper the walls have large areas of size that are firmly attached and
trying to remove them just gouges the plaster. Suppose I could try
polycell basecoat or similar rather than skimming? Just at the
investigation stage.

why not paper over the paper? If you can do that its far quicker. Have
the new joins in different place to old joins.

Folks have said pva the wall: works fine but there is a quicker
option, paint the wall with water (dont miss bits), give it 30 secs to
soak in and get straight on with it. Works nicely.


Regards, NT