Paying ceiling wallpaper is one of the most difficult stages of repair in any room. This will require special preparation, effort and material. After all, ordinary wallpaper for the ceiling will not work. They will simply peel off. But the process of applying ceiling wallpaper itself has many features that need to be analyzed in more detail. Read all the nuances in our today's article.
When should you not apply ceiling wallpaper?
It is better to refrain from this operation if you live in an old house. Indeed, in Soviet times, ceilings were laid out from slabs, respectively, every one and a half meters the surface will have a joint that cannot be blocked. In addition, the plates often lie at different angles and have unequal heights. This can only be seen after removing the previous coating. If you are familiar with this situation, it will be much safer and more thoughtful to install stretch ceilings that will effectively hide these shortcomings.
Also do not use wallpaper on the ceiling in the kitchen and bathroom. Indeed, in these rooms, hot steam rises, and due to humidity, the material begins to peel off. Thus, the wallpaper on the ceiling in these rooms will not last long. They will most likely peel off after a few weeks of use. Maximum - in a month.
Which wallpaper is suitable for the ceiling?
Don't take wide rolls, because they are not easy to work with. No need to try to look for ceiling wallpapers from foreign manufacturers. Basically, they are produced only by domestic ones.
It is not recommended to purchase wallpaper with too bright colors. They look out of place in any design. The best option is considered to be white or any approximate pastel colors, depending on the design idea of a particular room or apartment as a whole. You can also not choose too thick wallpaper. After all, they are very heavy for the ceiling. Only specialized materials designed for this particular surface are needed.
In small rooms, you should refrain from wallpapering with large patterns. After all, it will visually reduce the space. If you choose the right ceiling wallpaper, on the contrary, it will create a feeling of comfort and expand the room.
What are the difficulties when sticking on the ceiling?
Do not forget that the wallpaper on the ceiling will always be lit, and you will not be able, if necessary, to mask the flaws with a piece of furniture or, for example, a picture. Here, every nuance will be immediately noticeable.
Need to remember aboutthat the ceiling is the warmest place in the room. Therefore, the glue there will dry many times faster. This gives a very limited time to correct any errors in the process of working with the material.
Also keep in mind that you can't avoid seams on the wallpaper. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with a way to mask the joints of the seams or make them as less noticeable as possible.
Types of wallpapers
There are several types that differ in their purpose and appearance. Among them:
- Paper wallpapers. This is the cheapest category. However, the price justifies the quality here. Paper wallpapers will not last long, so you will have to re-repair soon.
- Non-woven. They are considered ceiling wallpaper and are ideal for painting. Thus, they can act as an independent material. Water resistant which is a big plus.
- Vinyl wallpaper. They can not lose their original color for a long time, allow wet cleaning, and are also unpretentious in operation. This view can simulate a variety of surface structures.
- Fiberglass. They are mildew resistant, abrasion resistant and non-flammable.
- Liquid wallpaper. This is an alternative to plaster. They are evenly applied to the entire ceiling surface with a spatula.
Can ceiling wallpaper be glued onto previous wallpaper?
This question belongs to the category of "it is possible, but not necessary." Ceiling wallpaper can be applied to the previous ones. However, this is mostly a waste of time.
The fact is that new wallpaper must be attached to something, and most often glue is used for this purpose. However, it is absorbed into the previous layer, leaving traces on it. Also, in order for the glue to harden, oxygen is needed. Because of this, bubbles appear on the coating, or the surface even leaves in some places.
This is because the number of layers causes too much load due to the massiveness. Consequently, the wallpaper is too heavy for the ceiling and begins to peel away.
You can aggravate the situation if you try to color the resulting composition. The color of the wallpaper will blend with the shade of paint. Both layers will be saturated with moisture, and, most likely, the entire structure will fall down. However, this is only the best case. At worst, it will take a long time and hard to tear them off in layers. And this activity is not pleasant and requires great patience.
Additional preparation steps
First of all, you need to make sure that there are no several layers of whitewash on the ceiling. If they are, it is desirable to get rid of them. After all, it is not known how they can behave under glue or under wallpaper in general.
Also, we must not forget that to cover the ceiling it will be necessary to turn off the electricity. Accordingly, it is best to start wallpapering in the morning in order to have time to complete all the work before dark.
How to glue ceiling wallpaper? When performing this operation, you need to remember that it requires specialized glue,preferably high quality. You don't have to save on it. It is from this composition that the entire success of the work done will depend.
Step 1. Ceiling surface preparation
The first step is the most important, because the whole future of wallpapering depends on it:
- First you need to make sure that the ceiling is absolutely clean, does not contain excess paint or whitewash. Some paint coatings may well be left, but they need to be checked first. It is enough just to stick the adhesive tape, and then tear it off with force. If the tape remains clean, this coating can be left and not worry about the wallpaper.
- We must not forget that you need to carefully putty all the cracks and potholes. Otherwise, they will be visible on your wallpaper. Before puttying, it is necessary to clean the ceiling well. Then close up all the flaws and only after that putty everything on top.
- If any paint or other coating remains on the surface of the ceiling, it must be thoroughly washed with soap and water, wait until it dries completely, and only after that you can start wallpapering. The reason is that because of the glue, any imperfections in the surface will show up on the wallpaper.
Cutting
How to deal with visible seams? Before gluing ceiling wallpaper, you need to cut the material. It all depends on the number of windows in the room and their placement. How to glue wallpaper on the ceiling? Ceiling wallpaper should always be applied towards the window.
If there is more than one window in one room, it is recommended to cutmaterial along the length of the walls. This will help to avoid a large number of seams and joints. In the process of cutting wallpaper for the ceiling, the elements should not strictly correspond to the measurements. Make them a little longer. A margin of three centimeters on each side will be enough for the wallpaper to slightly go onto the wall. If this size is too much, it can be cut off at any time.
If you chose wallpaper with a pattern, you must first measure the length of the first strip, and cut all subsequent strips exactly in the same place. In this way, a successful pattern or texture match can be achieved. It's a good practice to not only apply glue to the wallpaper, but also to glue the ceiling.
How to cover the wallpaper with glue?
To do this, it will be necessary to turn a piece of material over so that the front side is at the bottom. The strip must be placed on a flat and clean surface.
Next, you need to dip the brush in the glue and gently go over the entire surface of the material with it. If you decide to treat the ceiling with glue, you need to cover it strictly with an area equal to one strip of wallpaper.
Stages of gluing the first strip:
- Kneading glue. The composition should be made as thick as possible, depending on the length of the wallpaper. While it swells, move on to the next step.
- It is necessary to mark the middle of the ceiling from two different parts of the room. To do this, you can use a coated cord, you will need to pull it and click it on the ceiling. This way you get a straight linewhich can be used later.
- The light from the window should go along the joints if you were in doubt about how to glue the ceiling wallpaper correctly. In this case, the defects will be less noticeable. As mentioned earlier, the wallpaper must be glued along the length of the room in the direction of the windows.
- In the process of wallpapering, turning off the electricity with just a switch is not enough. It must be turned off on the shield or the plugs must be unscrewed. Only in this way can you be sure that the wiring will not short out and you will be safe.
- To learn how to glue ceiling wallpaper, or rather, how to spread the first strip, just use the instructions from the manufacturer. Do not forget that the instructions differ depending on the type of material and the manufacturer. General advice can only lead to wasted linen.
The next steps of wallpapering
For effective work, it is best if at least 2 people work on gluing. In this case, one can stand on a stepladder under the ceiling, and the second one can serve wallpaper to him, holding them as high as possible to the ceiling for convenience. This will greatly speed up and facilitate the workflow.
Don't forget about the stock on each side of the wallpaper. Three centimeters will be enough, but you can take up to five. If the canvas is too long, it must be cut. To avoid negligence and stick ceiling wallpaper as in the photo, you need to use a spatula to carefully remove excess. For these purposes, scissors or even a sharp knife are not suitable. After all, they canleave torn edges.
To organize a continuous gluing process, it would be nice to have a third partner who could prepare the next piece of canvas. The process must be done as quickly as possible, because then the wallpaper will dry evenly and there will be no unnecessary difficulties.
If small air bubbles begin to form when joining a piece of ceiling wallpaper, you must immediately level them with a spatula. Later, this error can no longer be corrected. This procedure must be repeated with each piece of wallpaper. All following (after the first) strip must be glued end-to-end.
As for how to properly glue the ceiling wallpaper so that the seams are not visible, you need to slowly pull one strip to the other with your hands. This is done in such a way that eventually these strips are in contact with each other.
Tip
It should be remembered that all excess glue must be removed immediately. For these purposes, white rags are better suited. It is advisable to stock up on a large number of them. It is important that the cloth is dry and clean. Then it will not be imprinted on the new ceiling wallpaper and will help to carefully remove the remnants of the previously applied glue. The strips that are glued last or applied along the edges of the room must be cut from the bottom. Thus, it will be possible to save both effort and time spent on installation.
General conclusions
There are an infinite number of ways to glue ceiling wallpapers. HoweverThe above tips are the most effective and common. They will help even a beginner to cope with this difficult task. True, to simplify the work, it will still require the help of one or two friends.
