McHenry County
Wallpaper installation in Crystal Lake, IL
Residential wallpaper installation starts at $800, or $1,200 when the walls need priming, and is priced by the job. Wallpaper is a specialty. Plenty of painting companies will strip it and far fewer will hang it, which is why we list installation as its own service.
Not ready for a number? Skip the estimator and schedule a call.
- Housing stock
- Everything from early lake cottages to 2000s subdivisions
- Drive from our shop
- About 15 minutes
How it goes
How the job goes, step by step
Measure and price
Measure your wall height and width and note the panel size and repeat. The estimator shows the published starting price, not an invented per-panel total.
Walkthrough
Panel count confirmed at the walkthrough. Pattern type and repeat checked before ordering.
Written scope
After the walkthrough you get a written scope with the number, the prep included and the schedule. No pressure to sign in the room.
Quote hold and deposit
The price we quote holds for 30 days. A 50% deposit books the work. We accept cash, check and card. We do not offer financing.
Your paper or ours
You can supply it, or we can order it for you. Either way we check your roll count against the pattern repeat before anything ships. Coming up one roll short of a dye lot is the worst way to learn this lesson.
Prep, size, prime
Walls get patched, sanded, sized and primed so the paper sticks now and releases cleanly in ten years.
Hang and inspect
Seams matched, outlets trimmed, edges cut tight. We walk it with you in daylight, which is when seams actually show.
Pricing
How wallpaper installation is priced
Starts at $800
Priced by the job. $1,200 when we prime the walls first. You supply the paper; we can order it for you.
Learning Center
Guides for Crystal Lake homeowners
Project profiles from Crystal Lake
Questions
Wallpaper installation questions, answered
How much wallpaper should I order?
Homeowners sometimes order wallpaper based on the square footage of the wall alone, without accounting for waste from pattern matching. A large repeat pattern can mean cutting off a third of a strip to keep the next seam aligned, so the actual paper needed is more than the wall area might suggest. We factor this in when we scope a job so you are not short a roll partway through, which can be a real problem if that dye lot is no longer available from the manufacturer.
Read more: What wallpaper installation costs, and why installers are getting hard to find
What does a bad wallpaper install look like a year later?
A rushed job does not usually fail on day one. It shows up months later. Seams start to lift or peak because the paste did not get proper contact or the paper was hung under tension. Patterns that looked close at the seam during install can visibly drift once the paper fully dries and settles.
Read more: What wallpaper installation costs, and why installers are getting hard to find
Why are wallpaper installers hard to find?
Wallpaper hanging is a slower trade to learn than painting. It takes real hours on real walls to get a feel for how a specific paper behaves, how much it stretches when wet, and how to keep a pattern matched across a corner. Fewer people are training in it because there has been less steady demand for wallpaper over the past couple decades compared to paint. A lot of the calls we get are actually repair calls, fixing an install someone else rushed.
Read more: What wallpaper installation costs, and why installers are getting hard to find
Does my wall qualify for wallpaper?
Wallpaper telegraphs whatever is underneath it. Dents, old texture, drywall seams and patch marks all show through, especially with lighter or smoother papers. A wall that is fine for paint is not automatically fine for paper. If your wall has visible texture, old damage, or was patched by a previous owner, expect us to recommend a skim coat or smoothing treatment before paper goes up.
Read more: Paint vs. wallpaper for an accent wall
What drives the price on a specific wallpaper job?
Pattern repeat is the biggest factor. A small busy print with a short repeat wastes less paper and takes less time to match than a large scale mural style pattern with a long repeat, where you might cut a strip and use only part of it to keep the pattern aligned at the next seam. Wall condition matters too. Walls with old paint, texture, or minor damage need to be prepped flat and smooth first, because wallpaper does not hide imperfections the way paint can, it highlights them under raking light.
Read more: What wallpaper installation costs, and why installers are getting hard to find
What does the job price cover?
For homes, wallpaper installation is priced by the job. That price covers hanging the paper, not just the material. It includes measuring the run, cutting for pattern match, pasting or activating pre-pasted stock, hanging each strip plumb, and trimming at the ceiling and baseboard.
Read more: What wallpaper installation costs, and why installers are getting hard to find