Category: Wallpaper

How do you paint over wallpaper? Can you paint over wallpaper? Yes, you can.

Why would you paint over wallpaper? The biggest reason is that the existing wallpaper will not come off.

Removing wallpaper is easy IF the previous wallpaper installation was done correctly. When the wallpaper will not come off the wall, then your options are limited. You can get new drywall or go over the existing wallpaper, which is what we have done here.

It won’t come off!

We tried removing the wallpaper from this small space. As you can see we were not very successful. This one wall took over 2.5 hours! So we stopped.

There are other ways to paint over wallpaper, however, this is the method that has worked best for us.

You will need the following materials before you start:

1. 220 grit sandpaper
2. Gardz wall primer
3. Paint brush
4. Paint tray
5. Drop cloths
6. Drywall repair supplies (to fix holes or dings in the wall)
7. Paint rollers
8. Paint

The first thing we do is give a quick sanding to walls. This will remove anything and makes sure it is a smooth surface.

Next, apply one coat of Gardz primer to the walls. Please, keep a window open since it does smell. One thing about putting a primer like Gardz over wallpaper is that is will reveal any problems such as loose paper- you will see bubbles, and it will adhere better than glue! Make sure you let the primer dry 2 hours, then you can fix any nicks, holes, dings etc.

Take a look at these two pictures of the primer applied and fixing some spots that look bad. After you make the repairs, you need to sand the wall again and apply one more coat of primer.

When that the primer is dry and the repairs were made, we used a tinted primer to hide the wallpaper color and pattern that was printed.

Tinted primer on the wall starting to dry.

Once the primer is dry, then start painting over wallpaper. Here, we used two coats of matte finish paint. (Sherwin Williams Cashmere Low Luster.)

Here are the walls painted!

You can see the start of the process via video. Here is another video where we installed wallpaper over wallpaper.

Finally one more video on what not to do... This house has several rooms that we did in fact remove wallpaper, but this powder room was a mess!! Someone started to remove the wallpaper, then stopped, then just painted over everything. You see old paper, the walls are rough from old paper and glue being rolled into the paint, so we have our work cut out for us to get it looking right.  

Do you have questions about removing wallpaper, how to fix a wallpaper removal gone bad or how to just paint over the wallpaper because it wont come off? Feel free to give us a call!

Does peel and stick wallpaper really work? Actually, it does.

Hello everyone, David Cook from D’franco Painting & Wallpaper, coming at you! One of the more popular things to do in homes lately is installing peel and stick wallpaper. But with these installations, we get a question that we have to answer… Does peel and stick wallpaper really work? As with our other posts, we will give you some basic information as we know it from a wallpaper installer’s perspective.

My goal today is to give some basics: What peel and stick wallpaper is, will it ruin your walls, and what tools you will need to start a peel and stick wallpaper job.

What is peel and stick wallpaper?

Traditionally, wallpaper has always needed adhesive to be applied to the wallpaper or wall before installing.  There have been improvements to the wallpaper that allow for the wallpaper adhesive to be applied directly to the wall then just putting the wallpaper direct to the wall and no pre-pasting! The latest wallpaper innovation, I say that with a wince- as this wallpaper is similar to materials used from sign companies and made into wallpaper. (don’t quote me on that as that is a very generalized statement- but gives you a better context of what we are using)

Peel and stick wallpaper is a printed paper, or vinyl product that has had adhesive applied to the back side of the wallpaper. It also has a backing which is a layer of a covering or lining that lays on the adhesive to protect the adhesive until it is time to use it. The backing in most cases, is like wax paper in that it sticks to the wallpaper adhesive kind of like a post it note would stick to your desk, but leaves no residue and does not affect the adhesive itself.

Will peel and stick wallpaper damage or ruin walls?

This is a loaded question. Why? Because there are several factors that play a role into the answer of this question:

• What condition are your walls in?
  • How old are they?
  • Are they brand new?
  • Do your walls have a lot of repairs to them?
  • When was the last time they were painted?
• What type of peel and stick wallpaper do you have?
  • There are different levels of “tac” or how sticky the adhesive is. The more tacky the adhesive the more likely the damage can happen when trying to remove the stick and peel wallpaper.
• Where was the peel and stick wallpaper purchased from?
  • Did you buy the cheapest one you could find? Then beware, because this is a case of you get what you pay for.
  • Was it purchased from China? Some of the products from there are just down right awful with no quality control.
  • Does the company you bought from install the products? They will have experience in how it works, installation tricks, advice etc. Here is a related article on buying murals (very similar to what to look for)

As with preparing walls for traditional wallpaper, this type of wallpaper needs to have their walls prepared properly also.

One new updated issue that peel and stick wallpaper has is sticking to NO VOC paint. This is also an issue with sign/automotive type graphics as well. I do not know why. I just know that if you read the instructions, many of them will have a clause about VOC paint. We avoid it by just re-priming the walls with Guardz wall sealer. This also allows us to pole sand the wall smooth for a better wallpaper surface.

What tools will you need?

These are some basic tools. The peel and stick wallpaper you choose may have their own list of tools you will need.

1. Tape Measure
2. Level or laser level
3. Smoothing tool with a soft edge cover
4. Razor blade or snap off razor blade knife
5. Scissors
6. Trim cutting guide

How does this kind of wallpaper really work?

As you have seen above, you peel the backing away from the paper and stick it to your wall. It is that simple in theory. But you can have some issues that will get you in trouble:

• If your walls have drywall repairs, the self stick will show every single mark your wall has had or has.
• As long as you are installing on one wall, you will not have to worry about how crooked your inside or outside edges are, which make wrapping wallpaper around a corner a nightmare.
• Work slow. You will be fine! Like I tell our guys, “Slow is steady and steady is fast.”
• As you apply the peel and stick, IF you have to move it, be slow and careful. If you pull too hard, you can stretch the wallpaper, making it very hard to get back to the wall properly.
• If you imagine working with thick saran wrap with glue on it, you will have an idea of what you need to get mentally prepared for… it sticks to damn near everything except where you want it to. (Not really 100% true but I thought that it was a funny way to describe it!)

Not ready to tackle this yourself?

I don’t blame you. These can be nice but they can also be a nightmare. Stay tuned for other articles on peel and stick wallpaper. I write these once a week when I am not doing estimates, training, installing or some of the other tasks as a business owner. If you need some help, let us know!

As a paint and wallpaper contractor, one thing we have to do is strip wallpaper. One call we frequently receive is “How can I remove wallpaper? Do you have any tricks?” We don’t have any tricks, just years of experience in wallpaper removal we can share with you.

Wallpaper can be removed several ways. Mechanically, chemically, physically, or with water.  You may have to use more than one of these wallpaper removal methods in order for the wallpaper to come off the wall.  For example, some wallpaper is made with two layers. The front or top of the wallpaper has the design/fabric/color on it. Then the backing of the wallpaper looks like a bleached paper bag. This means you may have remove the top layer before the backing will release from the wall.

4 Ways for Removing Wallpaper

1. Removing wallpaper mechanically

This is pure hard labor. It is very time intensive, and we really do not suggest this method. You are using your hands, or scrapers to remove the wallpaper.

There are actually tools and machines that can be placed on a wall that will perforate and then use an abrasive to take wallpaper from a wall- Paper tiger wallpaper removal tool.

The idea of this tool, is that it will make these tiny holes on the wallpaper which allow water or removal solution to penetrate through the wallpaper and allow the wallpaper removal solution to work though and under the wallpaper. We have had little use of this method, as our experience has shown that the wallpaper comes off in small bits, and the tool leaves small marks all over the wall- that you now have to fix.

2. Removing wallpaper with Chemicals 

Here is wallpaper that had the top layer removed and we have added water to remove the backing seen here

It is one of the ways we have to resort to to get stubborn wallpaper from that wall. There are several brands of wallpaper strippers at paint and home improvement stores for you to use.

• One is DIF gel- this product is sold in gallon jugs.  You simply roll it onto the wall like you would paint, and allow the chemical to work though the paper allowing the adhesive to re-wet which then releases the paper from the wall. There will be times that there are two layers of wallpaper. The top layer must be removed so you can see the wallpaper backing and get the adhesive so the chemical process of releasing the wallpaper can begin. This process can also be messy-all of that water and chemical has to go somewhere (E.g. carpet or hardwood or tile floors).
• One other thing you can use is fabric softener. This one I have not tried, but I know others that swear by it. Fabric softener somehow also penetrates the wallpaper and allows the wallpaper adhesive to release from the wall.
• My favorite product to use is a product called Safe and Simple. This product is placed into water then either sponged or sprayed onto the wall and after you wait (patience is required here) the wallpaper will relax and more times than not, pull right off the wall.
• When using chemicals there may be the need to scrape the walls. Keep reading as we will discuss this in the water method.

3.  Physical removal

All of these removal types require some physical labor. However, IF the wall was sealed properly prior to the wallpaper application process, you may be able to grab a corner of the wallpaper and simply pull the paper from the wall.  I have been able to do this several times in residential jobs, but it’s more common in commercial buildings with 54″ commercial vinyl wallcoverings.

Sometimes this process causes significant damage to the walls. Commercial wallpaper that was not applied correctly, will rip the drywall surface from the wall. Which means you are skim coating and resealing walls.

4. Water removal

Water is my go to method to remove wallcoverings. I have a few ways water will work.

• Using a 5-gallon bucket of hot water (the hotter the better from my experience) take a sponge and start wetting the wall. Again this is a method that does require patience. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then get it wet again, letting it sit for 5-10 minutes. You should see the wallpaper get darker as the water saturates the wallpaper. Test a part of the wall to see if it will come off the wall.  You may have to put more water, but this is the “greenest” method. Most of the time you will need some type of scraper to peel back the wallpaper.
  

  Here we have started to scrape the wallpaper and glue from the wall

  

  After adding more water to the walls, the paper is coming right off the wall.

• Then there is steam. This process can be dangerous as you are working with steam and you can get burned. This method can allow for several layers of wallpaper to be removed at once. It also allows for more of the glue to come off the wall as well. Here is a video of removing wallpaper with steam for you to see how easy this can be.

There are a few issues with each wallpaper removal method we presented to you.

• Wall damage will take place, some is previous damage you have to now take care of. You may have scraped the wall too hard and will now need to do some patching. You may have used too much water and paint comes off the wall.
• If you do not use patience in these methods they will not work and you will damage your walls.
• You may be allergic to the products used to remove wallcovering, the wallcovering itself, and/ or the previous adhesive used. We use rubber mechanics gloves most of the time.

Here are a few videos of how to remove wallpaper

• Wallpaper removed and needed repairs before painting
• Using DIF to remove the backing paper 
• The wallpaper song! 

Do you have a question regarding wallpaper removal we did not answer? If so, please let us know! We also have other YouTube videos that we did not list here but can be found under the D’franco Painting & Wallpaper channel that may help. We can be reached at (847) 349-4112, Ask for David!

Are you looking for a room or wall in your home to be wallpapered? Well, welcome to the joy of wallpaper and more importantly, welcome to one day wallpaper installation!

The number one call we receive in our office, aside from the free vacations, the approvals for $40,000 in loans, there is a problem with my website, or just the random hang ups are customers that are looking for the cost and availability for us to come install either an accent wall of wallpaper or a single small room wallpaper installation such as powder rooms.

What we need to know about installing accent wallpaper

A few things we need to know about before we can answer your questions about these one day wallpaper installations:

• Do you have wallpaper picked out?
• Will we need to come and measure the space you want to wallpaper?
• When are you looking to have the wallpaper installed?
• Are you having other work done in the room or on the walls you want wallpapered?

Why do we need this information?

Several reasons.

• If you have not selected the wallpaper, we cannot give an accurate estimate because we don’t know:
  • How much wallpaper you need
  • What type of adhesive we need to use
  • If the wallpaper needs a lining paper
  • The length of time each piece will need to book
  • If the pieces need to to be trimmed or if they are pre-trimmed
• Are you doing other work where you want wallpaper? Wallpaper is typically the last thing you do in a room/project. Some things to consider:
  • How long has the new drywall been in? (We need to make sure it is fully cured before we install)
  • Was it painted recently? If so that paint needs to cure before we install wallpaper over it.
  • New toilet/vanities/towel holders/ paper holders etc. all need to be done/removed before we wallpaper. Don’t take this stuff off after we have just installed your wallpaper!

Find your installer before you get your wallpaper!

EVERY DAY we are getting calls informing us that “I just received wallpaper, can you come and install it (fill in the date).” I would love nothing more than to say yes to this statement and question but we cannot. We are usually 2-3 weeks scheduled for wallpaper jobs. Some installers we know and work with are scheduled 3-6 months from today!

We did a blog post (hiring wallpaper installers) and a Podcast where we talked about Hiring a contractor for your home.

To recap those make sure:

• to have someone that has experience
• they have insurance
• to ensure they reputable
• know whether you will be having an employee or subcontractor in your home
• have it in writing

What is considered a one day wallpaper installation?

Going by the theory of there are no dumb questions, these are locations that we can start at the beginning of the day, and by the end of the day provide you with a room or wall that is completely installed for you to enjoy!

Most single accent walls can be done in one day as with most smaller rooms. Believe it or not a powder room can take as much time to wallpaper as a larger dining room because there are more obstructions to cut around!

Regardless, you can expect us to do a quick pole sand of the walls to smooth out them out, prime all the walls, provide wallpaper adhesive, and do the work needed to install the wallpaper.

So…how much are one day accent wallpaper installations?

Quick and easy… $589.00 covers all the above. We will confirm what is being done or not being done so we are all on the same page, but that is what to expect!

Is wallpaper still a thing? Do people really still want wallpaper? Yes and YES!!

You can always paint rooms in your home with different colors.  How about Using Wallpaper to accent walls in your home? Contrary to what you may hear, the use of wallpaper is one of the oldest ways to decorate homes! No scoffing allowed today. In a recent trip to Charleston, SC, we visited the Nathaniel Russel historic house. In that home was recreated wallpaper and some restored wallpaper that predated the civil war!!

Accent walls of wallpaper

You may or may not have seen posts we have made before about using wallpaper in your home. If you have, great! However if you have not, then keep reading to see if we can spark some ideas for you.

Powder Rooms

In powder rooms, single walls of accent wallpaper are gaining momentum for sure!

Bedrooms

Wallpaper as an accent behind the bed.

Dining Rooms

A accent wall of wallpaper for a dining room:

Commercial wallpaper accent walls

This is a quick and simple example of a single wall commercial wallpaper with a mural for a commercial space.

Another great example of a wallpaper mural used for an accent wall. We also did a blog post on commercial wallpaper you can read more about here: Using wallpaper murals to improve your workspace.

Yet one more example of using commercial wallpaper to accent a wall

What kind of wallpaper accent walls do you want?

There is almost no limit. Imagine the fun you can have!

• Grasscloth accent wallpaper
• A custom designed mural for your home or office
• Commercial wallpaper design for your home
• Wallpaper geometric patters
• Traditional wallpaper patterns of florals

All you have to do is find what wallpaper you want installed and leave the rest to us. We will show you how using wallpaper to accent walls in your home is a great way to bring some pop in your home!

Custom wallpaper murals!  Now that you see them, where do you buy them?

As we have been installing wallpaper murals, we share the results on our social media outlets such as LinkedIn, Google My Business (Google Maps) and Facebook. With all of these posts we also have been asked “where can I buy custom wallpaper murals?”

Well here are the top 3 that I know of.

Buying wallpaper murals

This company is based in the USA. We have done a blog post before (How to buy a custom mural) about knowing where the wallpaper is coming from or what products are used to make the wallpaper.  I would read that blog as well so you have an idea of how and the questions you need to have answers for before you buy.

The one constant question is “how big?” No matter who you call, that is the question you will be asked.  Size matters!

• The bigger the wall, the bigger the file size you’ll need
• File size refers to the image you are wanting to have a wallpaper mural made of
• The larger the file the better the quality of the wallpaper mural
• Poor images or low file size results in the mural to be very pixelated or blurry. It will look like the digi camo the military guys are wearing.

Another consideration is what kind of wallpaper? Self stick or traditional paste the paper wallpaper?

• Self stick, or peel and stick wallpaper, is where the wallpaper, usually some type of vinyl, has some type of adhesive already applied to the wallpaper. No need to apply wallpaper paste.
• Traditional paste the paper has nothing on the back of the wallpaper. You will have to have the adhesive and apply it to the wallpaper before applying it to the wall.

What is better? Self stick or paste the paper?

I can’t say one is better than the other. They are just different.  Self stick is becoming more popular for sure. We have found that self stick can be very difficult to work with. Think of it like contact paper to some extent. If it sticks to itself it may not come apart. One other factor is the thickness of the self stick. It is sold or made by the mil – that is how thick the materials are. You will also see this reference when you buy trash bags or plastic. When the mil is a higher number it means it’s a thicker material. These thicker materials are also easier to install (usually).

Pasting paper also comes in different thickness, but more times than not, we don’t know how thick it is.  Commercial wallpaper will be labeled type I, II, III, and like the vinyl, the higher the number the thicker the paper. (even though commercial wallpaper is actually vinyl! Confused? Join the club.)  The wallpaper we receive to install varies from tissue paper consistency to heavy paper the thickness of a cereal box.

As you are applying the paste to the paper you need room. We use special wallpaper pasting tables. These tables are about 3×6 feet.   These papers also need time to absorb the adhesive which is called the booking time.

Each of these materials have there benefits and their drawbacks. Either way, calling a wallpaper installer to help with more detailed answers is always a safe bet.

3 Companies that you can buy custom wallpaper murals from

Murals your way is one company that can make murals to fit the size of the mural you want.  When you call them at 888-558-0279, you get prompted to choose residential or commercial.  After that every time I have called I have  received a person to talk to. We have installed both their self stick and paste the paper products. Both have been very easy and seamless to install.  They have excellent customer service and support if something is wrong. Go to their website and sign up for their newsletter they are always helping you with ideas and will send out 30% saving codes here and there.

Magicmurals.com is another US-based company. We reached them at 877-448-7295 and we have received voicemail and a live operator.  We’re in the process of installing one of their self stick products here in a few weeks but we have not installed any of their paste the paper products.

There were a few points that had me more interested in them. They have product installers on staff that we could talk to about the tips tricks and special instructions.  The other was that they are being featured on the HGTV program Big Beach Builds. (I have never seen it or heard of it but you can look for it)

Your local sign shop!  If you are here locally in the Elgin or Fox Valley area Image 360 in South Elgin is the one we go to. You may think of them as just business cards, banners, car graphics, etc. but they can also print large images on wallpaper-type stock!  I like the local aspect myself.  Call your local shops to see what they can offer. If they can help, AWESOME!!

Did we help?

A small blog, but quick and to the point. We want to make sure we send you to people we have used, know they can get you what you want and most important what will work! If you have questions we love to hear how we can help!! Maybe we can feature someone you know who sells and produces wallpaper as well! Let us know how we can help you love the space you’re in!

Wallpaper is not just for walls!

Disclaimer- this is not something to tackle on your own!! Installing wallpaper on a ceiling will take two people. This blog details how we installed a wallpaper that is designed for a paste the wall application.

Finished dining room wallpaper ceiling

Now on to the fun- Installing wallpaper really does make a huge difference in the look and feel of your home.  Accent walls are more of what we have been installing over the past year or so.

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind before starting:

• Are you sure you want this? Wallpaper is not for everyone.
• Know your budget. Wallpaper itself can be expensive, but the cost to install is typically just as expensive or more expensive than the wallpaper itself.
• Think of how you want it to look in terms of layout- left to right, right to left, north to south, etc. The width of the ceiling and room layout can provide a few different options compared to a typical wall installation
• Lighting- are you changing out any lights? If so make sure the installer knows. Better yet just take them down and your new light fixtures can be installed right away without the worry about how large the old light fixture mounts were. (If you have a light with a round mounting bracket and you go to a square or a rectangle- you may end up seeing white walls if this is not thought out ahead of time)

Prepare the ceiling for wallpaper

Each paper has their own instructions. These instructions will typically say something about the surface, what type of primer the walls need and the type of adhesive they say to use.

For this wallpaper we used Gardz wall sealer for the primer.  As we were installing to separate areas, Daniel started in the dining room to apply primer so it could dry.

After several hours (4) he went back to the ceiling and applied a coat of wallpaper adhesive to the ceiling.  This will the help adhesion between the surface and the wallpaper itself.

Glue has been applied and allowed to dry before installation

Allow this to dry overnight

Getting ready to install the wallpaper

Proper preparation prevents poor performance. That is what my sons Scoutmaster (Hello DOUG HORTON!!) used to tell the boys before starting any project. It is no different with starting a wallpaper project.

Inspect your wallpaper. We always unroll/reroll each roll of wallpaper.  Just look to see there are no defects before you start to install. Better to know before you begin hanging the wallcovering than to find out while you’re on a ladder on the 3rd piece there is a defect and your not going to have enough wallpaper to finish!

Where will you start? you can pick the middle and go to the edge, you can start on the left or the right. But plan it out!! We will do this portion when we estimate the wallpaper. Sometimes you can use less wallcovering due to the room layout and the pattern on the wallpaper by going a vertical vs horizontal type install.

Measure the wallpaper.  How wide is it? Take that measurement to the ceiling and make a mark. If the paper is 27 inches, mark the ceiling at 26 1/2, this allows for extra room in case the wall/ceiling lines are crooked- not straight or plumb.

Daniel is measuring the width for the 1st piece of wallpaper we are installing

Now make another mark at 26 1/2 about 3 feet away. This is so you can make yourself a guideline.

After marking two locations of the width of the paper- draw a line as a guide to where the edge of the wallpaper will be installed too

Lets hang some paper!!

Quick review:

• You have enough wallpaper
• You have primed the walls for wallpaper
• You have the right wallpaper adhesive
• All of your tools are ready to be used (see our blog about wallpaper tools here)
• The wallpaper has been inspected and there are no defects
• There is a ladder for you and your helper!

This actually goes pretty fast- partially because this wallpaper we demonstrate is a type where you paste the wall.  No glue on the wallpaper makes is much easier and cleaner to install.

Apply the wallpaper adhesive to the area you are installing the first piece – 27-30 inches wide in our case.  Then apply with a brush on the edges.

Get the 2 ladders in position so one person can hold the roll of wallpaper while the 2nd person makes sure it is flat, on the line, no bubbles etc. Once you get the first portion of the wallpaper placed, all you have to do is roll it out and smooth it to the surface to get the glue on the paper – the glue and suction will do the rest.

You can see the line we use as a guide and rolling out the 1st piece

I didn’t take other pics as I went because we did a time lapse video of two people installing the wallpaper on the ceiling.

Finishing up your ceiling wallpaper install

Now that you have all the paper installed, stand back and look!!  Aside from wiping your brow of sweat, look for shiny spots – that will be adhesive that got on the wallpaper that you will need to wash off. Use clean warm water and sea sponge, it works the best!

Here is a wallpaper on a ceiling

If you have any questions on installing wallpaper on a ceiling (or you just want someone else to do it)  let us know how we can help you love the space you’re in!

If you have been to Meijer, Farm and Fleet, CVS, Walmart, or on a cruise then you have seen wallpaper murals.  Imagine what they can do for your home, home office, work space, store, hotel, health care facility and or any other public area with a wall.

We have been very blessed this year in being able to install various wallpaper murals.  So let’s see some ways on using wallpaper murals to improve your work space.

Using Wallpaper murals to improve branding

One of our customers started to use the art of wallpaper murals to print specific messaging that tie into their marketing efforts and branding.  Previously there was a lot of signs, posters, etc. installed on walls to convey different messages.

With the stores being remodeled and undergoing new branding we had the opportunity to help these locations improve the look, feel and visual affect they experience with large scale wallpaper murals.

here is a optical location

here are some graphics for a health location

How you can use wallpaper murals to tell a story

Where you work and or your business has a story.  Tell your customers about it!  We did a basic mural install for a health care facility where they used a mural made up of people, news articles, original pics etc. to show the timeline of their facility.

health care story mural

walls before a mural

You can see by these images- there is a huge difference in the look and feel of this hallway when the mural is installed. It was fun to hear people as we were installing this mural talk about the images- how they knew this person, remember that old building, or talk about family members from the past.

Wallpaper with specialty images can highlight what your business does

One of the ways you can also use wallpaper murals is to showcase what your business does- i.e. sports.  With the murals below it hits on all of the type of activities offered at this facility- so as you walk the corridors and parking lots walls, there is now doubt where you are going or what your going to do.

using images to highlight your business

Make a room a little more fun with custom wallpaper murals

Alright so this image is odd- I will give you that. But it sure is better than looing at a white wall- it brought smile to my face while I was taking care of business.

custom murals can go anywhere- as in the men’s washroom

one way to make people think about smoking….

Now what will you do with your walls? Give us a call and let’s find out how we can help you love the space you’re in!

Sometimes a subject has so many parts, a vague title is best, such as today’s blog

Where do we begin? Commercial Wallpaper Installation begins with knowing what you want. I am assuming that you already know what commercial wallpaper is. (you can read more about what commercial wallpaper is here) Commercial wallpaper can be used to serve many different sectors of public and private spaces including:

• Hotels
• Restaurants
• Convention centers
• Condominiums
• Apartment complexes
• Offices
• Medical buildings
• Shared work spaces
• Residential locations

here is commercial wallpaper and mural install

Within Commercial Wallpaper Installation,  there are also several types of applications or styles of wallcoverings such as:

• Type I,II, III non patterned commercial wallpaper
• Commercial grasscloth
• Non pattern wallcovering
• Pattern wallcovering
• Metallic textures
• Commercial wallpaper murals
• Digital graphics

commercial wallpaper for a business use

For the purpose of this blog, I just wanted to get some basics of commercial wallpaper, such as where to buy it, what your walls need to look like, how to find or hire a wallcovering installer, and what to expect to pay for it to be installed.

Where to buy Commercial Wallpaper

As we serve the greater Chicagoland area, we are very fortunate as to where we can not just purchase but where and how we can buy commercial wallpaper. You can do a quick search for places to buy in your area which will take you to places such as:

• JC licht
• Sherwin Williams
• Interior Designers
• The Merchandise Mart in Chicago
• The Arlington Design Center

In any of these locations they have sample books that you can look at to review color, styles, etc. to find what you are looking for.  Most of these locations can also order you samples of the designs you like that are delivered to your home for you to stick to your wall and how you like them.

up close it makes a difference why you want to touch it

What walls should look like before you apply wallpaper

When we are applying wallpaper to a wall we inspect those walls to make sure it is in good order. What does that mean?

• There are no nail pops in the wall
• The walls are not dirty
• Any previous wallpaper is removed and there is no wallpaper adhesive on the walls
• Make sure any cracks are filled and repaired
• If there is paint on the wall that is is solid – adhered to the walls with no bubbles or peeling areas
• The walls are flat! You can watch this video to see what the walls should look like 

The above items are not something that you can shrug off or say maybe to.  They are musts.

How to hire a Wallpaper installer

We did a few things to help you find a wallpaper installer:

• finding a wallpaper installer near me blog
• Check out our podcast. We did an episode on what to ask when hiring a wallpaper installer.

These were two ways we have tried to help. Keep in mind that right now the wallpaper trade is very short on installers and demand is very high. We tell customers a 2-3 week wait is normal.

So how much does it cost to install wallpaper?

So the first thing- you can read our blog post about this. It was done a few years ago, but still relevant.

How much does it cost to install wallpaper in the Chicagoland area?

There are many factors that go into estimating cost to install wallpaper, some of them are:

• the type of wallpaper
• how big the room is
• how much wall prep is needed
• the number of hours it will take to install it

The best thing to do is have the following information and call to ask:

• the pattern of the paper you have
• be able to text pics of the room
• if you have wall dimensions to send over

With the above information it makes it easier to get a cost to install wallpaper.

So how can we help you with your commercial wallpaper installation? Let us know how we can help you love the space you’re in!

You have wallpaper on your walls. You have decided to remove the wallpaper. Now you must wash the wallpaper adhesive from the walls.

This may sound like a simple task and thought process. I do not mean to sound harsh, but this topic is lost on many people. The importance of removing the old wallpaper past cannot be stressed enough. Now you ask the question- Why do I need to wash wallpaper glue from my walls? So, let’s get to it…

How do you remove wallpaper glue from a wall?

We should start with how it’s done. There are many methods, and all work to various degrees

• You can simply use hot water and a sponge
• Some people use fabric softener (I will say, DON’T. Have you ever tried to wash fabric softener from a surface? Try it. You will think twice about this method as it will leave residue on your wall)
• Steamers- they work great!!
• Dif- there is a gel and concentrate version- they work very well, also

We have done a few videos on wallpaper removal, which you can see here:

• Hot water to remove wallpaper 
• Wallpaper stripping with steam

Why you need to remove all of the adhesive from wallpaper.

When you remove the wallpaper from the walls, there is always sticky residue. The walls are usually rough. There are also places where a heavy wallpaper adhesive residue remains on the wall.

If you plan on painting your walls, ALL of the wallpaper adhesive and its residue must be removed from the wall before you paint. Failure to remove the wallpaper adhesive will result in the paint :

• Not sticking to the wall
• Make your walls look like crackle finish

However, if you are planning on putting up new wallpaper, you have a whole new reason—product failure.

Now we get into the real technical… why you must remove old wallpaper adhesive.

When the wallpaper adhesive remains on the wall, any primer you apply cannot adhere to the wall- it will adhere to the old wallpaper paste! You may be saying, “So what!” So here we go…

• As the wallpaper primer is applied to the wall with old glue, the old glue is re-wetted.
• The re-wetted old glue now has a primer and, to some extent, will absorb the primer.
• Since the glue has been primed, the primer cannot penetrate, bond, or stick to the wall surface- it can’t- it is stuck to the old glue!
• You apply new wallpaper with new adhesive to the walls
• When the new wallpaper is applied, the wet adhesive will re-wet the old adhesive and then adhere to the old adhesive. Do you see where this is going?
• All the new wallpaper has been applied to glue- not the wall. As the adhesive dries, it will crack, peel, and start to pull away from the wall- causing the wallpaper to bubble, peel, curl, or worse- fall off the wall.
• In places where the wallpaper has not fallen off the wall, you will see a very rough surface. The wallpaper will look like a concrete or blacktop surface instead of a smooth wall.

Take a look at some problem walls we have had to fix!

Here are some pictures of an installation failure because of not removing wallpaper adhesive and priming over old wallpaper glue

Walls coming apart from improper prep work

Wallpaper primer sticking to old glue not the wall

Here is wallpaper that is peeling from the wall because it has nothing to stick to because of improper wall prep

In doing this, you will void all warranties the wallpaper manufacturer, the wallpaper adhesive manufacturer, and the wallpaper primer manufacturer had. You can read some information about this problem from one of the leading wallpaper primer manufacturers here.

Keys to successful wallpaper installation

To make sure you have no failure in your wallpaper installations, make sure you do the following:

• Read the instructions on the primer, adhesive, and wallpaper you are using
• Follow those instructions
• Make sure the walls are clean and smooth
• Use the right primer for the walls
• Use the proper adhesive
• Have the right tools to smooth the wallpaper and clean all excess adhesive from the wallpaper and between the wallpaper and the wall
• Use sharp razor blades!

How can we help you with your wallpaper installation?

We are here to help, let us know if you have questions, or better yet give us call and let us know about your upcoming wallpaper project! We love to find the best way to help you love the space you’re in.