Honey I shrank the wallpaper.

[The Medway Handyman]

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!

[Chris Bacon]

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

Probably backing..

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.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

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

[The Medway Handyman]

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

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

[The Medway Handyman]

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.

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

[Andy Hall]

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

[Autolycus]

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message news:VuMGf.17649$ [e-mail]...

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.

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.

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.

[Homer2911]

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!!!!!

[The Medway Handyman]

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.

[The Medway Handyman]

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

[Andy Hall]

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....

[Chris Bacon]

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

[Homer2911]

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

[Rob Morley]

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