It’s Important to Wipe Dust Off Sanded Walls

This wall was originally textured , so I’ve skim-float ed it to smooth the surface. Once the smoothing compound is dry , I sand it smooth. That results in a lot of dust . Nothing sticks to dust, including primer and wallpaper . So all dust has to be removed before the paper can be install ed .
Even after vacuuming the floor and walls, as you can see to the right of this electrical outlet , dust remains on the wall. This bit you can see, but there is also a fine layer of dust left over the entire surface. You may not see it, but it will interfere with adhesion . I liken it to flouring a cake pan – the wallpaper will kinda stick – but not really stick.

Here’s some more dust , that’s accumulated on top of the vanity backsplash.

All this dust has to be removed.

My ShopVac will suck up most of the dust . But, like I said, a thin layer still clings to the wall.

The only way to completely remove it is to wipe the walls down with a damp sponge.

The sponge will collect any dust residue. In addition, it will wet the wall a little (darker areas in the photo), and that wetness will cause any still-remaining dust to bond with the smoothing compound on the wall.
You’ve got to wipe pretty much every square inch of the wall. Yes, it’s a PITA. But it’s the only way to make completely certain that there is no loose dust still hanging around.
All you lovers of your vacuum sander attachments and Festool s – trust me – they are not as thorough as the damp sponge method.

Here’s what I’m using.

This started out as a rectangular sponge. But it was large for my hand, and hard to hold on to. So I cut “thumb grips” in either side.

To get into corners, I took a scissors and cut one end into an angle .

Here’s my sponge, wetting the wall and collecting dust. My pointy angle fits nicely into the corner .

You only get so many swipes before the sponge clogs with dust and won’t collect more. So it has to be rinsed frequently . I use a 1-gallon bucket half full of warm water .

Eventually, that bucket is going to fill with dust residue. Here I’ve dumped out most of the water , leaving settled residue on the bottom of the bucket.

If you swirl the water around, the sludge will suspend in the water, and you could dump it down the sink . Be sure the water is running . Especially kitchen sinks that have garbage disposals .
But I prefer to dump it all down the toilet . One flush and GONE!
installer houston

Recessed Electrical Outlet

This recessed electrical outlet is a super cool innovation, because your plugs won’t stick out into the room behind furniture and etc.  But this outlet is high up on the wall in a powder room , so is probably to service a lighted picture or mirror or similar.  The recessed outlet will allow the fixture to sit flush with the wall .

Here it is pulled out of the box, so I can place wallpaper behind it. This pic shows some of the electrical connections.
I did some searching, but couldn’t come up with definitive information about if a special deep electrical box is required.  But my guess is that it is. 
Either way, these types of outlets are a super good idea for both items that need to sit flush with a wall (lighted mirrors, TV s) or with every day appliances like lamps and home electronics. 

Getting More Light Into A Room

This small hallway in a 1936 bungalow in the Eastwood neighborhood of Houston was very dark , with just this hanging light fixture . It’s gorgeous … Art Deco style , and probably original to the home. But just not putting off enough light for me to install wallpaper .
So here’s my easy solution . The metal fixture has an open hook type area that will hold my extension cord . But if not, I have dollar store hair bands (beauty dept) that I can rig up there to hold the cord. The plug-in socket s are available at Home Depot or the like for about two bucks. You can also plug them into a wall outlet .

Disguising an Exhaust Fan Cover

I don’t like covering switch plates or outlet covers with wallpaper, nor things like air conditioner grills. They get dirty when hands touch them, no adhesive wants to stick to them, they just look better the way God created them. So don’t tell anyone that I did this….

This exhaust fan was oddly stuck smack in the line of sight, in the wall next to the toilet. (Most are mounted inconspicuously in the ceiling.) It just kept bugging me. Since the family was out of town and I had plenty of peace and quiet and time, I decided to give ‘er a go … I plopped down on the floor and spent a good 45 minutes with a handful of new razor blades and cut out all these tiny vent slits.

It looks good.

I hope it holds up. Wallpaper adhesive is not formulated to stick to plastic. But it’s all I had with me. I did use sandpaper to scuff up the surface of the plastic vent cover, and also used a bit of adhesive caulk – one of my secrete weapons – in a few areas that were reachable (couldn’t get down into the recessed areas). So hopefully there will be some chance for the paste to grab ahold.

The end result was worth the effort. Now you barely notice the exhaust fan.

Yet More Reasons to NOT Let the Contractor / Painter “Prep for Wallpaper”

Pics of some “wallpaper-ready” walls left by the contractor.

In the last photo, note joint compound jammed into the box of an electrical outlet. This water-based material resting between the connectors on the electrical outlet, could serve as a conductor – and could have easily short-circuited the circuit … which could have blow out every light and electrical appliance on that circuit. As well as potentially started an electrical fire.

I chipped the gunk out of the outlet, and then spent about fours smoothing this mess on the walls, and then priming with a wallpaper-appropriate primer.

Tomorrow the paper will go up.