Door reveal: papering around (not into)

[bruce_phipps]

I am wallpapering the kitchen and have just the external door area to finish. I do not really want to wallpaper the door reveal, as in a previous house I found that this area gets exposed to rain, draughts and sunlight as you open the door and ultimately tends to peel off. The surface is in bumpy condition, anyway. I was thinking of painting the door reveal with white emulsion. Any rain ingress can then be wiped off easily. This leaves the problem of papering neatly round the the door reveal (not *into* it). As far as I can see, it will need accurate trimming to leave a neat, straight edge. Something I am not good at!

Anyone else done this?

Bruce

[Chris Bacon]

Yes. Make sure that you leave the paper to soak for plenty of time. Make sure that side of the corner that you're papering is properly sized, it wouldn't hurt to paint it with some extra paste. Hang the paper, brush out - do not go at it like a maniac and squeeze it excessively. Leave a strip of paper poking out from the corner:

======================== paper \

-----------------. \ sand in this direction | \ | _\|

Let the paper dry thoroughly. Take a sanding block with some fine paper in it, and gently rub the protuding strip of paper off, going from the papered side towards the door, pressing gently on the corner. Don't file off the plaster!

You'll get a perfect edge for painting that won't lift.

[mrcheerful]

you could paper round the corner a little then put a cover strip over it . pretty bit of architrave. sort of thing.

[bruce_phipps]

I thought of something similar to that, initially. Putting a border strip on, perhaps. But I thought it would look too busy, a border going horizontally and vertically.

But an architrave may be more tasteful...I could paint it white to blend in.

Bruce

[Christian McArdle]

You can also line the reveal with plywood before applying the architrave. My parent's house has all the window soffits treated in this manner, along with the back door. It's done in pine, rather than hardwood ply, though.

Christian.

[bruce_phipps]

architrave. My

I've just been looking in Wickes. There are all sorts of mouldings/wood strips that I could glue to the wall which would provide a straight edge to butt the wallpaper up against.

Bruce

[Autolycus]

Almost all the reveals in my house were painted, and I've left them like that. I've kept using gloss paint, as it does stand damp and being wiped very well, and I've ensured it goes a little way round the corner onto the face of the wall. This helps to disguise any irregularities in the trimming.

Usually, I measure the width of paper I need for the strip up to the reveal, allowing for the expansion of the paper when soaked by simple proportioning from the change in width of a full piece that I've already applied. Then I trim it dry, either with a Stanley knife and straight edge or scissors, and that's it. Similarly at the top, I hold up the dry piece of paper, mark it once the pattern is lined up, and cut it square across, leaving the usual spare to trim at the ceiling or coving - which is more likely to be wavy than the window or door soffit. Course, it's easier with windows because you've often got curtains covering the edge of the reveal.