Wrong Info – Farrow & Ball

In the instruction sheet, the manufacturer addressed a number of things that can go amiss when hanging wallpaper. One of these is the potential for the white substrate to peek out from the seams, especially as the wallpaper dries and shrinks a tiny tad.

One common solution is to color the edges of the paper. This is exactly what the manufacturer is suggesting on the instruction sheet.

The only problem is, they specifically tell you to use oil pastel crayons.

THIS IS VERY BAD. There are a number of substances that will stain wallpaper – and oil is one of them. Lipstick, cooking oil, hair cream, candle wax, a potato chip, and even the oils in one’s hands will all cause a blotch on wallpaper.

So it’s very bad to use oil pastels. Yes, they may do a good job of covering over the white edge of the substrate. But, sooner or later, the oils in the pastels will leach their way into the wallpaper, creating a stain that cannot be washed off or removed.

(For the record, permanent markers (Magic Marker, Sharpie) cannot be used either, because they will also bleed into wallpaper. There are a whole lot of other substances that cause stains … but that is a topic for another blog post … )

The correct alternative is to use artists’ chalk pastels. Some friends of mine use water-based paint, and some use colored pencils.

Don’t Let Your Toddler Handle a Sharpie!

So the little girl was innocently playing with an ink Sharpie, and, well, the wall along the bottom of the stairway just happened to get marked up. (Unfortunately, my “before’ photo got lost somewhere.) This is very expensive wallpaper, and, unfortunately, was the first thing you see when you enter this West University home.

I was there to hang paper in the nearby powder room. But every time I walked past this stairwell, the ink marks just kept bothering me.

So, with the homeowners’ go-ahead, I decided to fix it.

First, we checked to be sure there was enough left-over wallpaper. Thank goodness for boxes stashed in the garage apartment!

I didn’t want to strip off the original wallpaper, for fear of scoring the wall and causing seams to lift. So the original wallpaper was left intact.

Then the ink had to be covered with a stain blocker, to prevent them from bleeding through the new wallpaper. I used oil-based KILZ Original. Two coats.

Next, because wallpaper paste will no longer stick to oil-based products, (due to EPA-required changes to the formulas), I primed the whole area with Gardz.

Because it’s not a good idea to have a seam fall on top of a seam, at this time, I placed a strip of seam tape (special stuff made by a colleague of mine) so that it bridged the gap between the two seams of the original wallpaper. The Gardz sealer / primer melded everything together.

Then I took the left-over wallpaper and found the corresponding pattern to match the pattern on the wall. I used a scissors to cut around this design. Because this repair fell on a seam, it required two strips of paper, one on either side of the seam.

Then I pasted the wallpaper patches, allowed to book and sit, then appliquéd them to the wall.

I was surprised at how stretchy and wrinkly the wet wallpaper was. I was glad that I was only doing two 18” high patches – I felt sorry for the guy who had hung a whole 2-story staircase and hallway of this stuff.

Bottom line – the finished patch looked fantastic. You could not tell that there had been any errant marks on the wall.

Here is a link to the wallpaper pattern. It is called Zumba ZigZag. https://www.fschumacher.com/item/5003300

DON’T Write in INK On the Walls!

Today I was prepping a room in a home in Kingwood (far northeast Houston) that was damaged during the flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Look at what some contractor did – he went and wrote on the wall in INK!

Most EVERY workman of any type knows that you NEVER write on walls with ink – nor crayon, Sharpie, lipstick, or other.

Reason being, that these substances will work their way through wallpaper (and paint, joint compound, and other substances, too). It may happen quickly, or it may take a few years, but these materials will show themselves eventually, as ghost-like stains on the wall.

Other things will cause staining, too, like blood, water, rust, oil, grease, food, wood sap (knot holes), and more.

Luckily, there are dependable stain blockers on the market that can be brushed on. I like oil-based KILZ Original, but shellac-based BIN is good, too. Water-based products don’t perform as well, no matter what the label or salesman says.

I like to be extra sure, so, when I can, as in this case, I will take a knife and cut around the stain, then dig into the drywall and remove the top layer, taking the ink with it. This way it is GONE, not just covered up.

Of course, the remaining exposed / torn drywall needs to be sealed, skimmed over, sanded smooth, and then prepped for paint or wallpaper.

But all that is worth it, when you can be assured that no stains will bleed through the finish coat.

Don’t Write in Ink on the Wallpaper – or the Wall!!

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The contactor added wall light sconces on either side of the sink, and he also hung the heavy mirror.  For some reason, he roughed in where these objects were to be placed by marking the walls with a Sharpie ink marker, or something similar.

Folks – NEVER write on the wall with ink.  Nor with crayon, ballpoint pen, or the like.  The substances will eventually work their way through the wallpaper (as well as paint, wall texture, or a myriad of other surfaces), and will end up looking like ghost shadows.

Pencil is OK, and so is a light snap from a chalk line.  These materials won’t bleed through the new top layer of wallpaper.

Towel Bars & Light Fixtures … Homeowner Input

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Before I start a job, I ask the homeowner if she is going to use the same towel bars, toilet paper holder, mirror, light fixtures, etc., or if she plans to replace them. Then I know if I should save the mounting hardware and replace the fixtures, or if I should remove these things and fill in the holes in the wall.

This homeowner was away from the house when I arrived, so she left good instructions as to what she wanted done. She marked the fixtures she plans to reuse, and she also marked the mirror hangers that are not to be reused. She used Sticky Notes, which will not damage the wall, and which will not cause marks that will bleed through the new wallpaper (like ink or a Sharpie will). She also arranged to have the mirror removed, because it was too heavy for me to handle. (Isn’t it nice to have a husband and a teenaged son around the house? 🙂 )

Black & White Trellis in a Heights Bungalow Kitchen

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I have not been papering many kitchens lately, so it was a treat to do this one, in a 100-year-old bungalow in the Heights (Houston). The homeowner was doing cosmetic updates, and working with the existing features, like a black & white checkered floor, black appliances, and a really cool old sink. She had a new bank of cabinets built over the stove, and added a black glossy tile backsplash around the stove, to cut down on cooking splatters that could stain the wallpaper.

The walls had seen decades of treatments, and they were kinda sketchy, so I skim-floated them to make them nice and smooth. There was nothing I could do, however, about the un-level and un-plumb walls, ceiling, and floors. With a wild floral pattern, you might not notice a crooked ceiling line. But with a rhythmic trellis, you will.

One wall was nice and straight along the ceiling line – but the other was not.

So, I had the choice of several options: I could hang the wallpaper so it would look straight across the ceiling, OR I could hang it so it looked straight against the woodwork, OR I could hang it so the pattern matched nicely in the corners.

I consulted with the homeowner, and she said, “No one will pay any attention to the ceiling line, but I would like the corners to look good.” I think she was right, that making the pattern match perfectly in the corners was the least eye-jarring, and the best way to go.

Oh, and I also called in a little help from my friend Mr. Sharpie, plus a little creative trimming and twisting and overlapping and tugging.

The wallpaper is only on a few sections of wall in this kitchen, but it makes a bold statement. And, as the homeowner said, “I love it, it fits – because I am bold, too!” (She is quite a vivacious lady!)

This is a paper wallpaper, and is not very resistant to stains. So, in the area around the dog’s food and water bowls, the homeowner will have a piece of clear Plexi-Glass cut to fit the space and then use small nails to discretely tack it to the wall. The Plexi-Glass can be easily wiped clean, and the wallpaper will be protected from stains.

This wallpaper pattern is in the Anderson Prints line by EcoChic, was nice to work with, and was bought at a discounted price from Dorota Hartwig at Southwestern Paint on Bissonnet near Kirby. (713) 520-6262 or dorotasouthwestern@hotmail.com. Discuss your project and make an appointment before heading over to see her.

Repair on a Faux Finish Wallpaper

Painters got oil-based paint on this solid vinyl wallpaper. (Photo #1)  The homeowner tried several methods, but was unable to get it all off. Initially, she wanted me to remove two full-length strips and replace them. I balked at this, because 1.) It would use every scrap of paper she had left, leaving none for future repairs. 2.) There was a chance of a color difference between the paper that had been on the wall, exposed to light for several years and the paper kept on the roll in a closet. 3.) It’s hard to strip paper without doing damage to an adjoining sheet you want to keep on the wall. 4.) It’s hard to put a new wet strip of paper next to an existing dry strip and have them work together as well as if they had been hung at the same time.

So instead I did a patch.

This solid vinyl paper is fairly thick, and a patch on top would be raised up a little bit. To minimize this, I removed the thick paper backing, by soaking the paper in water and then pulling the backing away from the vinyl surface. I used a plastic dish “scrubbie” to get the final bits of paper off the back. This left a nice, thin sheet of colored vinyl paper.

There was no pattern to match, which made the task much easier. I cut a piece large enough to cover the stain, rounding the edges to minimize the chances of any edges that might want to pull up.  (Photo #2)

Then the patch was pasted with vinyl-to-vinyl paste.  (Photo #3)This special adhesive is important because regular paste won’t stick to the slick vinyl papers. Then the patch was put in place, smoothed, and excess paste was wiped off.

Voilà! You absolutely cannot see the patch!  (Photo #4)

On another area with lesser staining (not pictured), I was able to use paints and a black Sharpie to disguise the flaws.