Damage to Wall from Double-Cut, Pt I

while papering around a window, the previous installer used the double-cut technique, which is a fancy term for splicing two strips together. This is standard procedure, and he did a good job.

BUT … he failed to protect the wall surface beneath the splice. So his razor blade cut deep into the wall. You can see the crack in the photo.

The problem with this is that, now that the wall surface is not intact, it’s quite possible that the layers inside the wall (gypsum, paper, paint, more paint, wallpaper primer, etc.) can come apart from one another when the wallpaper paste dries and tugs at the wall surface.

In this photo, everything has stayed nice and flat. But very often, the split seam will curl back away from the wall. This looks bad and is difficult to repair.

A way to prevent this is to protect the wall before making the splice cut, by padding it with something to prevent the razor from scoring into the wall. Some people use old vinyl or scrap wallpaper. I like to use Boggess strips, which are flexible polycarbonate plastic strips that are impossible to cut through. Do a Search here to learn more about this cool invention.

Tags: boggess, curl, double cut, drywall, gypsum, intact, padding, paint, paste, primer, razor, splice, strips, wall, wallpaper