How to hang it
Every wallcovering we sell is non-woven, which means the paste goes on the wall and the paper goes up dry. It is the most forgiving method there is, and it puts a first-time job within reach. Read the whole guide before you open the paste.
Before you start
- Paste and bucket
- Paste roller
- Smoothing brush
- Seam roller
- Snap-off knife
- Broad blade
- Spirit level
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Sponge and clean water
- Step ladder
- Drop cloth
Skipping this tab is the reason most jobs go wrong. Paper does not hide a bad wall, it reveals it.
Fill, sand and prime
Fill cracks and holes, sand the repairs flush, and prime the wall so it takes paste evenly. Wash off any grease. Strip old vinyl paper completely, and let fresh plaster or paint cure before you start.
A wall that is patchy in absorbency will show as patchy in finish.Lay everything out
Once the paste is on the wall you are on a clock. Have the tools, a bucket of clean water, a sponge and a drop cloth ready before you open anything.
Set the room up
Work at normal room temperature. Close the windows and switch off fans, air conditioning and heaters. Moving air dries the paste too fast at the edges and lifts the seams.
No draft, no heater, no fan. Not while you hang, and not while it dries.For standard rolls, paste-the-wall. Allow the paste ten minutes to grab before you start smoothing.
Draw a plumb line
Measure one roll width out from the corner, minus half an inch, and draw a vertical line with a level. Corners are never truly straight, so the first drop follows your pencil line rather than the wall.
Every drop after this one inherits the accuracy of the first.Paste the wall
Roll paste onto an area slightly wider than one drop, working right up to the ceiling and the baseboard. Keep the coat even. Do not paste the paper.
Hang the first drop
Cut the drop with a few inches spare at both ends. Bring it to the wall from the top, align the edge to your pencil line and let it fall. Slide it into position while the paste is wet.
Smooth out the air
Work from the center of the drop outwards and top to bottom with the smoothing brush, pushing air toward the edges. Do not press so hard that paste squeezes out at the seams.
Butt the next drop
Bring the next drop up so the edges meet exactly, with the pattern matched. Non-woven paper is butted edge to edge, never overlapped. Run a seam roller down the join, lightly.
An overlapped seam will show as a ridge forever.Trim top and bottom
Press a broad blade into the join at the ceiling and run a sharp knife along it. Snap off a fresh blade section every few cuts. A dull blade tears wet paper instead of cutting it.
Cut around outlets and switches
Turn the power off at the breaker. Hang the paper straight over the outlet, cut from corner to corner across it, fold the flaps back and trim to the box. Refit the cover once the paper is dry.
Power off at the breaker before the knife comes anywhere near an outlet.Turn the corner
Do not wrap a full drop around an internal corner. Carry it about half an inch onto the next wall, then start a fresh drop on a new plumb line, overlapping that small return.
Let it dry
Wipe any paste off the surface with a damp sponge as you go, never after it dries. Leave the room closed and undisturbed. Small bubbles that worry you on day one usually disappear as the paper contracts.
A mural is one image split across numbered panels, and it is far less forgiving of a poor wall than a patterned paper. There is no second chance at the first panel, so take your time with it.
Prepare the surface, and mean it
Fill any cracks and holes, sand the repairs flush, and prime the wall so it takes paste evenly. A mural is one large flat image, and it shows every bump underneath it far more than a patterned wallpaper would. A ridge you can barely see on a bare wall becomes a line across the sky of a landscape.
Let fresh plaster or new paint cure fully before the mural goes up.Lay out the panels first
Open every panel and lay them in order on a clean floor. Check the numbering against the image and confirm you have the full set before a drop of paste is mixed.
Report a damaged or missing panel before you start, not halfway up the wall.Center the image, then draw the line
Work out where the mural sits horizontally before anything goes up. Measure the total width, center it on the wall, and draw the plumb line at the edge of panel one. Most murals are centered rather than started from a corner.
Hang panel one
Everything else lines up against this panel, so take as long as it needs. Align it to the plumb line, check it top and bottom, and smooth it flat before you touch panel two.
There is no second chance at the first panel.Match panel to panel
Bring each panel up against the last so the image continues exactly. Match the artwork at eye level first, then work the rest of the seam into line. Butt the edges, do not overlap.
Trim the margin
The extra material at the ceiling, baseboard and both ends is there so you can cut clean against real, uneven surfaces. Trim it only once every panel is up and aligned.
If something goes wrong
There is a bubble under the paper
While the paste is wet, brush it toward the nearest edge. Once it has dried, pierce the bubble with a fine pin, press the air out and roll it flat. Many small bubbles vanish on their own as non-woven paper contracts while drying, so give it twenty four hours before you do anything.
A seam has opened up
This is almost always the paste drying too fast, from a draft, a heater or too thin a coat. Lift the edge gently, apply a little paste with a fine brush, press it back and roll the seam lightly. If it keeps happening across the wall, the room is too warm or too dry.
The pattern is drifting out of line down the wall
The first drop was not truly plumb, and every drop after it multiplies the error. There is no fix except to take down the drops that are off and re-hang from a fresh plumb line. Catch this at drop two or three, not at drop eight.
Paste got onto the face of the paper
Wipe it immediately with a clean damp sponge and rinse the sponge often. Dried paste on the surface leaves a shine that cannot be removed, particularly on matt and metallic finishes. Keep a bucket of clean water beside you the whole time.
A ridge or bump is showing through the mural
It was in the wall before the mural went on, and a large flat image has nowhere to hide it. If the panel is still wet you can lift it, fill and sand the spot, and re-hang. Once it has dried, the panel will not come off cleanly. This is why the prep step matters more on a mural than on any patterned paper.
I ran out of paper before the wall was finished
Contact us before ordering more. A roll from a different batch will differ slightly in color, and on a large wall that difference is visible. We will check whether we still hold stock from your dye lot.
Rather have it done for you? We install with our own crew, across Puerto Rico, and we will quote it alongside your order. We also hang wallcoverings you bought elsewhere, so ask us either way.
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