Dear Tim: I was
attempting to remove some old wallpaper and found the previous owners of our
home had applied the wallpaper over the wallboard un-primed (or at least that is
how it appeared). I pulled off a great deal of wall board facing right down to
the plaster core.
Thanks to your columns on the subject of wall covering, I think I have made
the proper repairs, re-plastered, used shellac to keep plaster from soaking and
drying too quickly, used a wall covering primer to provide the correct surface
for wallpaper. I am also planning to use a sizing to help with the application
process - good idea?
My question - My days are very limited and I do not know if I have the
opportunity to apply all the wallpaper in one day? Can I set-up and apply only
4-5 pieces of wallpaper one day, and then come back days later and apply some
more, and keep this progression till I am finished? With all the discussion of
shrinkage and stretching, and the necessity to 'book' the wallpaper, I wondered
if this would effect the wallpaper. George B.
Dear George:
It sounds as if you have done all of the right things in getting the walls ready
for the next wallpapering job. As for sizing, you absolutely must do it. I use a
paint-like product that once dry appears to be a semi-gloss paint. But it is
indeed a wallpaper primer that functions as a traditional sizing compound.
The purpose of this product is to block the adhesive from making its way to a
traditional plaster surface or to the paper facing of traditional drywall. If
the tough glue does this, you know the horrible results. This paint sizing is
easy to apply and dries quickly.
As for applying wallpaper on different days, there is no problem with that at
all. You only paste up and book as many sheets of paper as you can hang in one
hour. The way I do it is that I always have one piece of cut paper pasted and
booked as I am hanging the one before it. As soon as I finish hanging a strip of
paper, I then cut a new piece from the roll, apply the paste activator, book it
and then set it aside. At this point I have two pieces of booked paper, the
first one having been set aside perhaps 15 minutes before.
The paper will expand at the same rate each day so you will not have any
matching problems whatsoever.
