Preventing Stain From Ink Under Wallpaper

Just above my finger, you can see a bit of a green line.  A previous installer must have used ink to mark his plumb line .  Problem with this is, as you can see, ink will work its way through many substances, including wallpaper , and leave a stain on the surface. 
In this case, I removed the old wallpaper and then skim-floated the wall to smooth it.  As you can see, the ink, which is decades old (original wallpaper dates to the early ‘90’s ) is still active and has bled through the smoothing compound / joint compound .  If I were to prime and then hang wallpaper over this, it would work its way through both my primer and the homeowner’s new wallpaper.
So I’m sealing it off.  Above the green line you can see a strip of stain blocker brushed (actually daubed on with my finger) over the stain. 

I like to use KILZ Original oil-based stain blocker.  BIN shellac-based is another good product.  Don’t believe the claims on cans of water-based alternatives – nothing works as well to block stains as KILZ or BIN.  The fumes can be strong, and KILZ can make you high, so ventilate the room and/or wear a respirator when you apply this stuff.
Other substances / stains that can bleed through paint and wallpaper are tobacco , water , rust , marker , crayon , blood , oil , grease , food , hand prints , cosmetics , hair products , and so forth. 

A Really Nice Faux Grasscloth , Suitable for Bathrooms

The homeowner wanted the look of grasscloth, but didn’t want the stains that can happen when splashed with water or toiletries.  Another displeasing feature of real grasscloth is the very visible seams , and the likelihood of color differences between panels (called paneling or shading ).  So she opted for this textured vinyl version.  She loves the look.  It is a handsome room!

Original 1990’s paper has been stripped off, Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime wallpaper primer has been applied, and we’re now ready for paper!

This material has a pattern that matches from strip to strip, so you don’t get the eye-jarring look of broken fibers at the seams , like with real grasscloth or other natural materials. 

Here’s a close-up, detailing the texture.  About ¼ from the right is a seam – it’s barely noticeable . 

Opposite wall.  For balance, I plotted that the seams fall at the same point on each wall – 18” from the mirror frame

I’m getting ready to hang a strip that will knock against that mirror frame.  To keep paste from slopping onto the molding , I’ve applied this thin, flexible blue plastic tape along the edge.  This will keep paste off the molding while I trim that strip to fit against the molding.  Once that trimming is done, I’ll remove the blue tape and then smooth the wallpaper back into place.

Since this is a dark wallpaper, I worry about the light colored primer peeking out at the seams.  This can happen because sometimes the factory hasn’t trimmed the edges perfectly straight , or the wall may have uneven areas or bows , or some papers shrink a tad when they dry .  So here I’ve plotted where the seams will fall and have striped the area with diluted paint .

I use bottles of craft paint from the hobby store (good old Texas Art Supply !), and apply with a scrap of sponge .  And my trusty Gatorade bottle cap with water, to dip the sponge into to dilute the paint … you don’t want full strength paint under there.  Wallpaper wants to adhere to a primer made for wallpaper – not paint designed to color Christmas ornaments. 

Another and probably more important trick is to color the edges of the wallpaper.  This navy blue wallpaper was printed on a white stock / substrate , and it’s highly likely that the edges of that substrate will show at the seams .  So, again back to Texas Art Supply (or a good hobby store) for chalk or pastel , which I run lightly along the edge from the back so as not to get any color onto the surface of the wallpaper .  That little dark nub you see is my chalk… the stuff breaks easily.  It’s important that you not get oil pastels or use any kind of ink marker, as these will leech into the wallpaper and stain it, leaving you with a nasty dark line down the seam . 

I really liked this product.  It was flexible enough to wrap around a rounded / bull-nosed corner , but stiff enough to not warp .  It’s on a non-woven substrate , which contains polyester , which makes it less likely to shrink .  This stuff is also designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece with no damage to your wall when you redecorate .  Another advantage of non-wovens is that they can be pasted and hung immediately, with no booking or wait time.  Although I generally prefer to paste the paper , you also have the option to paste the wall with this material.
The non-woven backing won’t be sucking up humidity like the paper backings used years ago (or in modern lower-end products), so greatly reduced chance of seams coming loose if your teenager spends an hour steaming up the bathroom . 
The vinyl surface means that it will be resistant to stains from water , toothpaste , and little (and big!) hands . 
In addition, I liked that the material has a realistic grasscloth look, and a realistic texture , as well as a pattern that could be matched, which helps disguise the seams.  I didn’t match the pattern in the corners, though, to avoid having the horizontal bands running around every wall of the room at the same height.  Looks better to break it up a bit.  Also gave me more flexibility in placement of seams.   
The brand is A Street Prints and is in their Scott Living line  (as in the Scott Brothers of HGTV fame). 
The home is in the Champions Forest area of Houston .   
installer paperhanger

Wallpaper – Poor Adhesion Issue Due to Dusty Walls

The existing wallpaper in this sink / vanity room of a hall bathroom is unique, because instead of coming in rolls, it came in pieces of torn paper, each about the size of a paper plate, that were placed on the wall in random ways, with the pieces overlapping each other.  This was a fairly popular wallpaper option back in the ‘90’s. 
I’m to hang new wallpaper in this room, so my first step was to remove the torn paper.  

This started out seeming easy, because the paper was literally falling away from the wall – but only around the top, and only the top 5” or so.  The lower areas were stuck nice and tight to the wall. What’s going on?

The original installer hung his wallpaper directly on new drywall / Sheetrock , with no primer and no other prep.  Turns out that, under this wallpaper, there are actually several different types of wall surfaces related to the new drywall.  

The main part of drywall is grey in color .  But here you see a band of white running along the top of the wall, under the ceiling, about 5” wide.   This is where the joint compound was applied , to smooth over joints , drywall tape , and nail heads . 

But the curious thing is that the wallpaper is adhering to the drywall – but not to this white band of joint compound below the ceiling line.
The reason?  After the drywall guys sanded this area smooth, no one wiped off the dust left over from sanding .  Thus, there was  a layer of dust on the wall, between the wall and the wallpaper.  Well, the wallpaper paste wants to bite into a solid surface, and it can’t get a grip on dust.  That’s why you see this top portion pulling away from the wall. 

I have a lot more prep to do in this room.  But before moving forward, I took a sponge and bucket of water and wiped the dust off that top portion of wall.  Now I’m assured that any smoothing compound or primer or wallcovering or other that is applied, will stick . 

For reference, here’s a shot of the un-primed drywall being uncovered as I strip off wallpaper in another area.  This picture shows the sections of drywall , joint compound , and also paint (from overspraying the woodwork ).  Wallpaper adheres to all these different surfaces in different ways.  Another reason to always use a wallpaper primer – it will adhere to just about any surface, and will create a uniform coating for the wallpaper to adhere to. 
I like Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime.

Ditch the Peel & Stick! – Powder Room Re-Do

The homeowner wanted a tropical , jungle , palm , sorta wild look for her powder room .   She unfortunately had not read my link (to the right) about the perils and misleading claims re peel & stick “wallpaper.”  So she bought some and attempted to cover the walls in her powder room.
First mistake was purchasing this stuff in the first place.  Second was trying to hang over textured walls .  Third was not having a properly smoothed , sealed and cured surface.  Beyond that, just the concept of peel and stick material is a project doomed to fail.  IMO
Note wrinkles and warps in the material. Paper not adhering .

More wrinkles and warps.  Gap at seam over door .

Paper looked good when she put it up, but seam split / opened within a short time .  This is characteristic of P&S wallpaper , especially if the walls have not been prepped as spec’ed.

So now the P&S has been removed , I’ll step in and skim-float the textured wall to smooth it , prime, and then we’ll be ready for wallpaper .  REAL wallpaper !

Done.  No wrinkles , no warps , good adherence .  She found a pattern that was very similar to her original choice , but more visually pleasing , I think, because it’s less “spiky.”  A good idea of hers was to paint the sink / mirror wall , as this pattern on all four walls could have been overwhelming .
This is a traditional wallpaper , install ed by pasting the paper .   It’s good quality , seams were flat and invisible , and it was nice to work with. 

Close up.

Closer-up.

Just tossing in this photo of how I use a baby’s T-shirt to protect the toilet seat cover .
I guess I forgot to take a photo of the label, but this is made by Designer Wallpaper .  Pattern number is TA20004 .  Oddly, when I Google this, I get pattern names of Jamaica and Tortuga .  And also get the brand name Seabrook .  Wallquest took over Seabrook, but leaving the old brand name on older patterns .
My best suggestion here is, if you want this wallpaper pattern, contact Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village of Houston (713) 529-6515 .  She is the master at tracking down patterns and all things wallpaper.
The home is in the Timbergrove / Heights neighborhood of Houston .
installer

Re-Doing Accent Wall in Powder Room

The homeowner’s contractor’s guy hung this accent wall in an under the stairs powder room . He did a good enough job. But there were some bubbles / wrinkles . Depending on where you’re standing in the room, and where light is coming from, the bubbles were somewhat noticeable , even with this busy patterned wallpaper . It bugged the homeowner , and she wanted it to look better.

Dry-stripping the wallpaper resulted in this. The paper came off in an intact sheet, as the mfgr promises. But it took some of the primer along with it.
Let’s examine this. It’s a good thing, at least, that the previous installer used a primer, and hopefully one made for use under wallpaper. But, to be honest, a wallpaper primer is designed to let go of the wallpaper when you start to strip it off the wall. So maybe this is just paint, or a paint primer .
Second, I have a suspicion that, after skim-floating and then sanding the wall to smooth it, dust was left on the wall , and then trapped between the wall and the primer. That’s a likely reason why the primer / paint pulled away from the wall so easily. Nothing sticks to dust! So it’s imperative that, after vacuuming , you take a damp sponge – rinsed frequently – and wipe down the entire wall, and then let dry , before priming. The primer also has to dry completely, before wallpaper goes up.

I switched to wet-stripping the remaining wallpaper, and had less damage . But was still left with a wall with lots of irregular and un-smooth areas . So to prepare it for wallpaper , I first sealed loose or dusty areas with GARDZ , which is a penetrating and hard-drying sealer for torn drywall or other unstable surfaces . It’s pretty cool stuff.
After that dried, I applied a very thin skim coat of joint compound (which we call mud ). Once that was dry, I sanded smooth , vacuumed , wiped off residual dust with a damp sponge, let dry, and then primed with Roman Ultra Prime Pro 977 and let dry.
Here’s what it looked like when I was done with the prep .

And here it is with the new paper up.

I switched to wet-stripping the remaining wallpaper, and had less damage . But was still left with a wall with lots of irregular and un-smooth areas . So to prepare it for wallpaper , I first sealed loose or dusty areas with GARDZ , which is a penetrating and hard-drying sealer for torn drywall or other unstable surfaces . It’s pretty cool stuff.
After that dried, I applied a very thin skim coat of joint compound (which we call mud ). Once that was dry, I sanded smooth , vacuumed , wiped off residual dust with a damp sponge, let dry, and then primed with Roman Ultra Prime Pro 977 and let dry.
This single wall was a bit of a challenge, for many reasons. For one thing, we really didn’t have enough paper. Luckily, the previous guy had kept the left over scraps, and I did need to use some of those. It also was OK to mis-match the pattern when necessary, as the design is very forgiving. The rounded bull-nosed edges around and over the window are a PITA. This pattern was forgiving in that respect, too, as well as the layout of the area over the window. There were also some printing defects , which will be addressed in a future blog post .
Oh – and I, also, got bubbles ! In fact, I hung this same brand a few weeks ago and got bubbles then, too. Some I got rid of by making a tiny cut with a razor blade and then pushing the air out with my plastic smoother . But, usually, with these pre-pasted materials, once they get good and dry, small bubbles dry flat and disappear. Not sure why the other guy had problems with this. But I will say that the bubbles were larger than typically show up with these papers.

Close up.

The pattern is called Brownstoner , and is by Flavor Paper . I am not a fan of their vinyl products, and definitely not their peel & stick . But I do like their EZ Papes , which is a pre-pasted material . Not crazy about the bubbles, though.

The home is in the Eastwood neighborhood of Houston .
installer

Kill Point Over Door

If you’re hanging wallpaper around a room with four walls and four corners , virtually always when that last strip of paper meets up with the first strip you hung some hours ago, you’ll have a mis-match of the pattern . That’s why we try to tuck this in an inconspicuous place like a 1′ high corner above or behind a door.
But sometimes you don’t have a hidden corner , and all four corners are highly visible and run the full height of the wall. In these cases, it looks much better for the pattern to match floor to ceiling , as you see in this photo. But you have to put the kill point somewhere!

In these cases, a more logical and less noticeable location for the mis-match is the shorter area over the door – where nobody is going to be spending much time looking at, anyway.
My first strip is on the left, and the rest of the powder room has been papered, and I’m working my way from the right to meet up with that strip on the left.

Here it is going into place. I’ve matched the pattern on this new strip to the strip on the left . The strip is too wide, and is overlapping the strip on the right. And, as expected, the pattern doesn’t match up on the right.
As an aside, that blue plastic tape you see at the top of the strip of wallpaper is to keep paste off the ceiling. Once I’ve trimmed that excess paper off, I’ll remove the tape , and the ceiling will be nice and clean – no paste residue to wipe off or worry that it will be visible or damage the paint / cause flaking .

Here I’ve trimmed that short strip at ceiling and above the door trim. As you can see, it’s overlapping the strip on the right, leaving a bump, and plus, the pattern doesn’t match .
To be honest, with this busy pattern and this short area up over a door , this 1′ of mismatch isn’t going to be very noticeable. But I wanted to make it look better.
I’m going to splice these two strips together.
In the photo above, the left strip is overlapping the strip on the right. I don’t like the way the pattern is lining up. A splice will leave branches cut off, and will be noticeable.

So here I’ve reversed things and have overlapped the strip on the right on top of the strip on the left . Now the pattern gives a better option for a splice . I like that there is a curved vertical tree trunk that I can cut along. This will help disguise the splice.

So now to do the splice, I have push hard enough on my blade to cut through two strips of paper. But it’s important to not score the wall surface beneath. When the wallpaper paste dries and the paper shrinks a tad, it will put tension on the wall surface . If that underlying surface is not unstable or not sound, due to being cut into, or dust is another factor , that tension can cause the wall surface to pull apart , and the wallpaper can come away from the wall. Actually, it’s not the wallpaper coming away – it’s the layers of the wall pulling apart.
So I use these thin flexible polystyrene plastic strips under where the splice will be. You can’t cut through them!

Here I’ve pulled the two strips of wallpaper away from the wall and am positioning the plastic strip under where the splice will take place. Next, I’ll smooth the two wallpaper strips back into place, with the right one overlapping the one on the left.

I like to hold a single edge razor blade in my fingers , but you can use a blade holder or trim knife , too.

Here I’ve free-handed my cut , trimming along the vertical tree trunk at the top , then straight down through blank area, then through some branches, and finally at the bottom again trimming along a curved vertical tree branch. Now I’m removing the excess from the left side of the trim / splice .

Lifting the strip on the right so I can remove the excess piece that was trimmed off on the right.

Now removing the polystyrene strip.

Using my plastic smoother to gently press the two trimmed strips of wallpaper into place.

Here it is all done. Trimming along the vertical branch at the top has helped disguise the splice. The bottom area doesn’t match 100% perfectly, but I’m OK with that. I’ll work on smoothing out that teensy overlap and the seam will be nice and flat.

All done!

The wallpaper pattern is called Luminous Branches and is by York . It’s non-woven / paste the wall material , and very nice to work with, durable , stain resistant , and will strip off the wall easily and with no damage when you redecorate .
If you’re interested in the source for the splicing / double cutting strips , or the thin blue tape to keep paste off the ceiling, please email me at wallpaperlady@att.net

Painters Plastic and Air Currents

The walls in this dining room in a home in the Garden Oaks / Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston were originally textured. Texture looks bad under wallpaper , and it impedes good adhesion , because wallpaper wants to stick to a smooth , flat surface .
So I have skim-floated the walls (do a search here to see previous posts). The next step is to sand the walls smooth . Sanding creates a lot of dust . And that dust sifts over just about everything. The dust is light and gets into the air. And HVAC ( heat / air conditioning ) systems circulate air through the whole house . So the HVAC system can pull dust from the room, into the vents , and then discharge it through the whole house.
To prevent this, besides putting protective painter’s plastic over the furniture that’s been gathered into the center of the room, I put plastic across the doorways and entryways .
This picture shows just how strong those air currents can be. No problem when the A/C / heat system is not blowing. But when it comes on, here you can see air currents charging through the dining room and out into the entry hall . Here it’s pulled the plastic and tape away from the wall . As air moves past the plastic , it’s also pulling a little sanding dust with it.
In this scenario, only a little dust escaped the corralled area. I was able to clean up (most of) it.

Wallpaper in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine , May 2023 Issue

I always love to see wallpaper featured in a national publication . BH&G often does. This particular issue is also full of color and pattern – a nice shift away from the all-white or all-grey , minimalist look popular these days. Not all the articles included brand / pattern number , but similar designs can be found easily enough, especially if you visit my favorite source Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams in the Rice Village .

Delightfully bold and dark works wonderfully in a small powder room .

A little calmer .

More Bohemian / Indian / Middle East vibe.

Just please don’t get peel & stick . Ever. Read my info page link to the right.

Reminds me of postage stamps .

Beautiful Art Nouveau inspired design . Spoonflower makes lovely paper – as long as you get their pre-pasted smooth and not any other of their options. They have really innovative , fun patterns, too.
installer houston

Phillip Jeffries Flight in Blue Heron in Heights Dining Room

Before shot of dining room in a beautifully restored and enlarged 1925 bungalow in the Heights neighborhood of Houston.
Just below dead center of photo, under the stairs – my helper couldn’t be less interested!

Swooping heron , and powerful , roiling, turbulent clouds .

This is a manila hemp product , which is similar to grasscloth , and has a texture d surface . As with most natural materials , the seams are always a bit visible .

The walls in this home were smooth , so no call for skim-floating or sanding … Just a primer was needed . My favorite primer for wallpaper is Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime .

This wallpaper comes in panels , and is custom made to order . All of the panels are rolled up into one long bolt , and you have to separate them, as you see here. AND keep them in the correct order / sequence ,

I was lucky that this house had a lot of open floor space , where I could roll out the panels to verify pattern match, panel sequence , and get accurate measurements.
Note that, like many high-end brands, this wallpaper comes with an unprinted selvedge edge , that has to be trimmed off by hand . Once I get the edges trimmed off , the birds you see in the photo above will match perfectly .

I trim against this Big Blue straightedge , and hold a single edge razor blade in my hand .

Sorry, I don’t know how to flip this photo. WordPress used to be easy to work … but some years back they came up with this ” New Editor ” which is, to be honest, a nightmare, and costs me a lot of time every evening.
End of rant. Here is a mock-up provided by the manufacturer , that shows the mural as a six- panel set , including pattern layout and dimensions of each panel .

Here are my drawings from when I first consult ed with the homeowner and we plotted out how the paper was to be install ed. Phillip Jeffries is expensive stuff!
Normally, with a mural , a full-height panel is required for even the 6″ high areas over the door ways. See photo below. This means that you’re paying for a lot – a LOT – of wallpaper that gets cut off and thrown into the trash.
But, since the panels are about 2′ taller than the walls , we figured that the part cut off the bottom of each strip could be used for the areas over the doorways (see next photo) , as well as above and below the windows (see last photo).
This will take no small amount of math and engineering , and the couple will have to live with some paneling / shading , and color variations between strips . But that’s typical of grasscloth type products , anyway. Accepting a few color differences will save this couple a few – thousand – dollars. Yes, I told you that PJ was expensive stuff!
And I’m up for the challenge !

Here’s the one area I’ve done so far, using scraps discarded from the bottoms to piece in over the top of the entryway . This area is only 6″ high , so color variations won’t be very noticeable . Still, it really turned out well.

Getting a similarly pleasing look on this wall , with heights over and under the windows being much higher than 6″ , will be tomorrow’s challenge. Stay tuned!

Cool Patch to Repair Hole in Wall

The homeowner had removed a toilet paper holder that was recessed into the wall , leaving a 5″ x 5″ square hole. She said it was OK with her if I just put the wallpaper over the hole. It is a thick non-woven, and would have held up OK. Thing is, this trick works better for smaller holes, and I routinely do it with land-line phone jack holes. But this hole was larger, and you’d likely see an indented area. Also, if a seam fell on that hole, there would be no way to hold the paper together.
One of my customers a couple of weeks ago fixed holes left from moving electrical boxes for wall sconces , and used this. I happened to have purchased it at Sherwin-Williams just the day before, and it was a success.
It’s a light-weight metal mesh grid with a fiberglass mesh tape sort of “wings” on each side. The wings are self-stick, and hold to the wall.

I didn’t think to get a picture of the hole before treatment, but here it is after the patch plate is in place, and after I’ve skimmed over it with joint compound. I let that rough patch dry overnight, then did a fine-tune skim-coat the next morning, which is what you see here.

When that was dry, I sanded, wiped off the dust, and primed. I’m very impressed. No sucking in or pouching out, and it’s flat and solid. Oh, and a wallpaper seam did fall over it, so good thing I went the extra step to use this patch.
wall repair patch installer houston