Different Prep & Installation Techniques

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After I finished my two-day job yesterday (which turned out very well, BTW, two tones of blue stripes on white paper in two young boys’ shared bathroom), the client made the comment that she was glad she hired me.  Here are some things she mentioned.

1. My work was beautiful.

2. The other installers she talked to had quoted higher prices.

3. The other installers stated they were not going to remove the existing wallpaper.

4. The other installers had said that there would be places were the stripes would not line up and would not match.

My thoughts:

3. I agree that it can sometimes be difficult to remove existing wallpaper, especially the very thin tight paper in this room, and that SOMEtimes it’s possible to prep the existing paper and hang new paper over it. But a paperhanger should always at least TRY to remove the paper. That eliminates worries about loose places here and there, and about the new wet paper causing bubbles in the paper surface below.  Plus, the fewer layers and the less bulk you have on the wall, the less chance of something pulling away down the road.

4. Yes, houses are never truely “square” or true to plumb, and stripes can be tricky to install. But there are many tricks of the trade, so to speak, that can actually make stripes EASIER to install, and easier to hide such flaws as this particular room had, like the mirror that was 1/2″ out of square with the wall from it’s top to bottom edges. Planning ahead to have to live with crooked lines is like giving up before you’ve started.

Instead of making excuses for inaccuracies, I say devise a way to eliminate, or at lease minimize, the chances of them occuring.

Tags: crooked, existing wallpaper, installation, installer, line up, preparation, stripes, wallpaper