Renovation of residential premises rarely takes place without the use of wallpaper. This finishing material is used both in budget works and in the process of creating elite interiors. The roll materials are easy enough to use for any homeowner who wants to change the interior of their home.
If you have not done DIY repairs before, the upcoming events may seem complicated to you. However, in reality, everything is extremely simple. To learn how to glue wallpaper in a joint and avoid possible difficulties, read our article.
Features of the work
A wide variety of wallpaper products is presented on the modern market. The easiest option is paper canvases. They are easy to work with without anyone's help, the wallpaper is quite light and fixed with any kind of glue. If your budget is too tight, use this finish, as it is compatible even with regular homemade water and flour paste.
If you decide to use non-wovenproducts, then the question of how to glue wallpaper butt-to-butt is the most relevant for you. This is due to the fact that such products are subject to soaking and stretching. After the glue dries, the canvases "run" again, as a result of which divergences of the seams are formed. Similar processes are observed in vinyl varieties, which greatly complicates the work of beginners.
How to prepare walls for wallpapering?
It is possible to glue wallpaper so that joints and bumps are not visible only on perfectly flat surfaces. When using thin canvases, special attention is paid to the quality of the base. Thicker varieties may hide minor imperfections, but they are more likely to show up later.
To prepare surfaces for work, remove the old coating. If wallpaper has been used before, dampen it with water and clean the walls with a metal spatula.
After the work done, evaluate the condition of the surface. If there are no large cracks and irregularities on it, smooth the base with a finishing putty. It is able to cover defects up to 5 mm deep into the wall.
If the walls are too crooked, level them with plaster over the lighthouses. The material can be applied in layers up to 15 cm, which allows you to completely eliminate all flaws.
Preparation for work
If you are going to glue the wallpaper butt-to-butt (as with entering the previous strip), treat the walls with a deep penetration primer. It will provide good adhesion to the surface andwill remove the dust that appeared in the process of sanding the walls.
Next, you can start working on wallpapering. Prepare the following set of materials and tools in advance:
- wallpaper glue;
- measuring tool (long ruler or tape measure);
- pencil for marking walls and canvases;
- stationery knife;
- paint brush of small width;
- glue roller;
- wallpaper roller with rubberized roller;
- stepladder or sturdy and stable stool.
Wallpaper glue, choose depending on the type of roll products. To glue the joints of non-woven wallpaper (as well as their vinyl counterparts), special compounds are purchased, on which there is a corresponding mark.
Starting to cut the rolls
To quickly and efficiently wallpaper the walls, immediately divide the roll into several strips of the length you need. To do this, measure the height of the walls, add 5 cm to the resulting parameter and make the first cut.
Unwind the roll further, attach the previous strip to it and bend the fabric in the opposite direction at the cut point. So mark the whole skein. Using a clerical knife, carefully cut the canvas at its fold.
If you use products with a pattern selection, then the joints of the canvases should be invisible. How to glue wallpaper without seams and joints? Use the following method:
- Unroll the roll to the length you need, cut the first strip.
- Flip the first segment patternup, turn the roll next to it.
- Arrange the second strip so that the pattern between adjacent canvases matches.
- Cut off the second strip, and just cut off the excess part of the wallpaper that remains on top.
This way cut all the purchased rolls. Please note that from one package of wallpaper, 4 pieces of wallpaper are obtained without selection. If the pattern needs to be matched, there will be 3 whole canvases from each roll.
How to glue wallpaper in a joint: technology
The main rule that should be followed in the process of arranging the strips in a butt joint is that the work is done so that there are no voids between the canvases.
Wall pasting starts from the window, along the first straight surface. To do this, cover the back of the canvas with wallpaper paste and fold in half. After that, take a plumb line and draw a straight line on the wall (from ceiling to floor). Now unfold the canvas, bring it to the wall, press its upper part against the wall. In this case, align the edge of the strip along the intended line.
The pasted strip must be smoothed out with a special spatula or roller. After that, you can fix the second strip. To make the seams invisible, glue the next canvas flush with the previous one, avoiding the edges overlapping each other.
Understanding the question of how to properly glue the joints of non-woven wallpaper (and paper sheets), you should pay attention to a special tool - a seam roller. They need to go through all the joints, which will securely fix the material in this area. After the glue and cloths have dried, such a seam will become invisible.
How to seam the outer corners of a room?
In the inner and outer corners, the wallpaper is glued in a special way. If you need to decorate the outer corner, then you can glue the wallpaper without joints. As in the technology described above, first cover the canvas with glue, place half of it on one edge of the corner, and wrap the other half on its second edge. So you get a flat surface without a cut.
Use this method only on perfectly even corners. If the surface is curved, the second edge of the canvas will lie unevenly, wrinkles will form. In such situations, it is better to make a seam.
While fixing the canvas on one side of the corner, bend its edge onto the second wall. Then glue the second strip, but position the edge of the canvas clearly in the corner. Such a seam will not disperse over time, it will look neat and beautiful.
Finishing the inner corners
Since every room has interior corners, every novice master should know how to properly glue wallpaper joints in such places. Since these surfaces are rarely even, making a beautiful seam from two canvases is quite problematic. To make the canvases lay down beautifully, do the work as follows:
- On one wall of the corner, arrange the strip so that one of its edges extends a few centimeters onto the other wall.
- Fix the second canvas in the same way: so that its edge slightly covers the adjacent strip.
- Take the long rule orruler, attach it to the corner and use a clerical knife to make a cut from ceiling to floor. In doing so, you must cut through 2 layers of wallpaper.
- Remove the rule and remove the extra parts of the canvas.
This method allows you to shape the corner so that the junction of the two strips is completely covered with trim and there is no divergence of the seam.
How to make a straight seam if the edges of the roll are slightly frayed?
It often happens that as a result of damage to the packaging or due to improper storage, the wallpaper can be disheveled on one or both sides of the roll. What if you come across just such a product? How to glue the joints of vinyl wallpaper (or other varieties) so that they remain invisible?
In such situations, the first strip is glued by the standard method, and the second - with the call to the first canvas. To do this, on a strip that has a curve and a disheveled edge, you need to draw a straight line (departing 1-2 cm).
The second strip must be placed exactly along the applied markings. Now, with the help of a ruler and a knife, the excess part is carefully removed from the upper and lower layers. Thus, a smooth and invisible seam is obtained. Additionally, it should be rolled with a roller.
If bubbles appear
If in some places the wallpaper has moved away from the walls or the seams have become visible, the canvases can be re-glued. But the situation with bubbles on the walls is already more unpleasant. Creases and air bubbles always appear immediately after wallpapering. However, the next day the canvases shouldflatten and smooth out.
If air remains in some places, the wallpaper can be carefully pierced with a needle and the empty space filled with glue from a syringe. A large number of defects cannot be removed by this method; in such situations, the canvases will have to be completely re-glued.
To prevent bubbles from appearing, you should follow the technology of gluing the roll finish. Make sure that there is no draft in the room. At the same time, the air temperature should not fall below the mark of 20 degrees. Windows and doors can only be opened on the 2nd day.
Which glue to use for arranging the seams on the wallpaper?
A wide variety of adhesive products are presented on the construction markets, which are designed for different types of canvases. Separately, you can purchase glue for fixing the wallpaper in the seam area. Such varieties are distinguished by the presence of a polyvinyl acetate emulsion in the composition, which makes the adhesive more dense and durable.
Such compositions should be purchased for heavy canvases, since conventional glue cannot always securely fix such seams. In all other situations, you can use the standard composition, designed to work with all types of cloths.
In order for the adhesive composition not to leave stains on the front side of the wallpaper, in the process of gluing the seams, its excess must be immediately removed. On some varieties of canvases, dark stripes may appear at the seams. They are wiped with a slightly damp sponge afterfinal drying of the glue.
Summing up
If you have not done repairs before and have no idea how to glue wallpaper joints (paper, vinyl or non-woven), read the manufacturer's instructions for the product you have chosen. For the first time, you should not choose expensive canvases. Experts recommend practicing on simpler varieties, which will help you evaluate your own strengths and the complexity of the upcoming work.
In general, this process is not particularly complicated. With proper preparation of surfaces and the right choice of glue, wallpaper joints can be made smooth and almost invisible. Particular attention will require difficult areas in the form of corners and boxes, but the rules listed above will help you cope with them.
