Wall decoration in residential premises is most often carried out using wallpaper. Rolled products are quite simple to use, allow you to completely transform the interior in a short time. To perform such work, it is not necessary to hire craftsmen, since any housewife will cope with this task. However, before proceeding with the repair, you should read the instructions on how to stick wallpaper alone, and what you need for this.
Where to start?
Any repair work begins with the calculation of the required amount of material and its acquisition. To determine how much wallpaper you need, measure the width of the walls in the room. The height of the ceilings in the apartment is also important. Knowing these parameters, you will be able to understand how many rolls you need.
Please note that modern canvases may have different widths. If the old-style rolls had parameters of 70 cm, then the standard indicatorsmodern products - 53 cm. Also on sale are products with a width of 106 cm. The length of each roll is 10 meters.
To understand how much material you need, conditionally divide the wall into strips. Knowing the height of the ceilings in the apartment, you can count how many strips you get from 1 roll. With a standard indicator of 2.5 meters, you will get 4 strips from one roll.
If the pattern on the wallpaper involves matching, the number of stripes per roll will be reduced to 3 pieces. Divide the figure you need (the number of strips in the whole room) by 4 (or 3) and you will know how many rolls you need to purchase.
How to choose wallpaper?
When a hostess needs to paste wallpaper alone (both narrow and wide), plain canvases will be the best choice. They are the easiest to work with, since you do not need to select an ornament. However, such options are only suitable in cases where a strict and discreet design is created.
Wallpaper with patterns looks much more interesting, but working with them is much more complicated. During the installation process, you will have to carefully join the strips so that the pattern does not diverge and the walls look presentable.
When choosing a finish with patterns, pay attention to the fact that the type of pattern should be selected according to the parameters of the room. If we are talking about a small space, it is better to give preference to products with small patterns. Wallpaper with a large pattern visually fills the space, so they are best used in spacious rooms.
Recommendations from experts on selectionwallpapers
Experienced craftsmen say that the basis of the wallpaper is very important. For example, paper products tend to soak quickly, but they are cheaper and more suitable for first-timers.
Non-woven and vinyl varieties are much more difficult to glue. First, when glue is applied, they stretch and become heavy. Sticking wallpaper alone, as you might guess, will be very difficult.
Secondly, after drying, the canvas shrinks again, which affects the appearance of the walls in different ways. Often there is a divergence of the seams, often the pattern moves out. For this reason, experts do not recommend choosing expensive options for self-pasting walls, as there is a high probability of defects.
Which glue to choose?
A wide variety of adhesives are presented on the construction market, but they are all made on the basis of one main component - starch. Based on this, it makes no sense to purchase expensive options, since they practically do not differ from the simplest analogues.
Pay attention to the information icons of the wallpaper manufacturer. On each roll there is data on the footage of the product, the preferred conditions for its use and recommendations for choosing an adhesive. Pick up any composition you like, study its consumption per m2 and purchase the amount you need (based on the area of \u200b\u200bthe walls of your room).
How to stick wallpaper alone: surface preparation for work
Beforeto start gluing wallpaper, you should prepare the walls. First, the old coating is removed. To do this, you will need a small spatula. Pry the strip in a place convenient for you and tear it off the wall. If the wallpaper is too firmly attached to the base, wet the old canvases. Wet paper is easier to remove from the surface, and work is completed faster.
If the walls were previously painted, they must be cleaned of the old finish. Water-based paint can simply be washed off with water, and oil-based formulations are well cleaned with special washes.
Before you glue the wallpaper yourself, evaluate the condition of the base. If there are weakly fixed areas of plaster and sagging on the wall, the surface must be completely cleaned of defects. Please note that small debris and minor irregularities will definitely be visible through the wallpaper. Therefore, the walls under the wallpaper should be aligned.
Wall preparation methods
If the differences on the surface of the walls are insignificant, you can smooth the base with a finishing putty. Dilute the selected composition and apply to the walls with a wide spatula. This method can be used in cases where the depth of irregularities does not exceed 5 mm.
If the wall is characterized by numerous and deep defects, you will not be able to quickly paste the wallpaper (both on your own and with the help of specialists). In such situations, alignment is carried out using plaster on beacons. The composition applied to the wallsmust dry well (from 2 to 7 days), after which it will be possible to prime the walls.
Porous surfaces are primed 2-3 times. If you are dealing with a concrete wall, a single treatment will be sufficient.
How to quickly glue wallpaper: the rules for mixing glue
The process of transforming a room should begin with the preparation of glue. Study the manufacturer's recommendations for the amount of water and dry mix, and then get to work. Instructions for kneading the glue are as follows:
- Pour the right amount of water into the prepared container. To make dry powder dissolve faster, use warm liquid.
- Take a brush with a long handle (or a regular stick) and start stirring the water in a circle until a funnel forms in the center.
- Continuing to stir, pour wallpaper paste around the edge of the funnel.
- Let the mixture brew (the required time is indicated on the packaging of the composition). Stir again.
When mixing glue, pour the dry mixture into water, in no case not vice versa! Don't use too hot water as it kills all the anti-fungal additives found in current formulations and promotes clumps.
If you chose heavy varieties of canvases, add a little PVA to the finished glue. This will make the fixation more secure.
Preparing and cutting wallpaper
Before starting work, close all windows and doors in the room. The presence of the slightest draft will lead tothat the canvases will swell and fall off. Then thoroughly wash the floor in the room. On it you will cut the canvas, so the surface must be absolutely clean.
Print out a roll, put a strip of old wallpaper or paper on the floor. Position the canvas on the base and measure the length of the required size. Cut off the wallpaper not strictly according to the height of the ceiling, but make a margin of a couple of centimeters.
If you glue wallpaper without selection, you can immediately cut the rolls into pieces of the desired length. Wallpaper with a large pattern, requiring the joining of the stripes, so it will not be possible to cut it. First measure one strip, turn it right side up, place the second strip next to it and move it until the pattern matches. Cut off the excess parts.
Where to apply glue?
When using the simplest paper sheets, glue was always applied to the wrong side of the wallpaper. However, in recent years, applying wallpaper paste to the wall has been practiced. This is due to the fact that many varieties of canvases have appeared, which, when wet, lose their density and original dimensions. They are more convenient to use when dry.
In addition, when applying glue to the surface, you save yourself from smudges on the floor and clothes. The work goes faster and the process is cleaner.
Use a paint roller to cover the surface with adhesive. In hard-to-reach places and corners, it is better to use a wide brush for this purpose. The wall is smeared to the width of one strip with a small margin. The rest of the surface is treatedimmediately before gluing the web.
Which section of the wall should I start working on?
The question of where to start gluing wallpaper does not have a definite answer. Some masters recommend first of all pasting over even walls that do not cause difficulties, while others recommend starting work from the corner.
Since most apartments have uneven corners, it's best to start with them. At the same time, you can start from absolutely any angle. The process is as follows:
- Step back from the corner a distance equal to the width of your roll. Use a plumb line to draw a vertical line on the wall.
- Place the first strip parallel to the markup. In this case, the edge of the canvas should slightly go into the corner. With further gluing, you will cover it with a whole strip, which will allow you to carefully draw up the problem area.
- First attach the top edge of the canvas to the wall, align the strip along the line and press the entire piece of wallpaper to the base. The upper border of the canvas should be adjacent to the ceiling.
- When the canvas is already fixed on the wall, squeeze out air bubbles from under it. To do this, you can use a clean sponge or a special wallpaper roller with a rubberized surface.
Paste all the walls this way. Align subsequent strips no longer along the line, but along the previous canvas. First, press only the top edge, align the entire strip and fix it to the wall.
Average drying time for canvases and glue is 24-72 hours (depending on the type of wallpaper). During the specified period, windows and doors in the room cannot be opened.
How to draw seams correctly?
If you have a question about how to properly glue the wallpaper: end-to-end or overlap, then choose the option of even joining adjacent strips. However, there are times when the edges of the roll are not cut evenly enough, which makes a beautiful docking simply impossible.
In this case, you will have to overlap the wallpaper. To prevent compacted stripes from appearing on the walls, the edges of the canvases should be cut with a clerical knife. This work requires special care, a margin of time and a sharp enough knife.
To make the seam beautiful, position the edge of the new strip so that it overlaps the previous canvas by a few millimeters. Fix the strip on the wall, squeeze out excess air from under it and proceed to trim the excess. Take a long rule or ruler, attach it to the canvas and cut through two layers of wallpaper. After removing the trimmed strip, you will have an even and smooth seam. Go over it several times with a wallpaper roller.
Designing difficult areas
Because the wallpapering job is considered quite wet, electrical outlets and switches should be de-energized. In order not to suffer with cutting holes for these elements, first remove their plastic parts from the walls. In the process of work, simply glue the strip evenly, and after it dries, cut a hole for the exit of electrical wires. Then replace the switches andsockets, hiding the edges of the wallpaper under them.
When you need to paste the wallpaper behind the battery, it is better to remove it. If this is not possible, cut out the required number of holes for pipes in the canvas and fix the wallpaper behind the radiator.
Door and window openings are made according to a similar principle. If your wallpaper is purchased with a margin, use the whole strip. Glue it to the edge of the wall, and cut off the excess part above the opening with a knife. So you get the most even cut.
If the amount of wallpaper does not allow the work to be done in this way, you will have to transfer the opening parameters to the wrong side of the canvas and cut the segment taking into account all the wall irregularities.
Do not try to decorate the corners with one strip, as folds and air bubbles are sure to form in these places. The ideal option is when two canvases are joined in the corner, while one of them goes behind the other.
Summing up
Everyone will be able to glue the wallpaper on their own. The result of the work done will depend on compliance with the above recommendations. Particular attention is paid to the seams. If you join the canvases, then there is no difference where to start gluing the wallpaper. When working with an overlap, it is better to start from the window. This will make the seams less visible.
