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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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