Wallpapering

Both. Paste-the-wall vinyls and traditional paste-the-paper designs need different handling and different adhesives, and the technique follows the specific product rather than one method being used on everything.

Because wallpaper only ever looks as flat as the wall behind it. Older plaster is rarely truly flat, and a thin or shiny paper hung straight onto it picks up every dip and hollow in side light. Lining paper evens the surface out and gives the finish paper a consistent, absorbent base to grip. On period walls it is a normal step, not an upsell.

It is planned before anything is cut. The repeat, the drop length and where the runs land in each corner are worked out first, so a large or busy pattern lines through cleanly instead of being fudged at the awkward corner. Rooms are rarely square, so deciding where the inevitable break goes is part of the job.

More than the figure on the box suggests if the paper has a long repeat, because each drop has to be cut to land the pattern in the right place and the offcuts add up. Quantities are calculated from your actual wall measurements and the repeat as part of the quote, so you are not two rolls short on the last wall with a discontinued batch.

Yes. Hanging new paper over old is how bubbles, lifting seams and telegraphed joins start, because the new adhesive re-wets what is underneath. Old paper comes off, the wall is made good, and it starts from a proper surface.

It has to be fully dry first, then sized. Sizing seals the porous surface so the paper slides into position for trimming instead of grabbing the moment it touches the wall, and so it can be repositioned to line the pattern up.

No. Paper will not hold on a damp wall, and the adhesive stays soft behind it. The cause has to be found and fixed first, otherwise the paper lifts, the seams open and the money is wasted.

Not where the wall was prepared and lined properly and the adhesive suited the paper. Lifting seams almost always trace back to one of three things: paper hung over old paper, a wall that was not sized, or a general-purpose paste used on a product that needed something else.

Yes, that is a common request. It is quoted the same way as a full room, based on the wall area, the condition of the wall and how much planning the pattern needs.

Yes. Murals and panel sets are numbered and have to go up in sequence with the wall set out beforehand, since there is no second chance to shuffle a panel along once it is on.

Yes, and it is worth knowing before you buy. Heavily embossed papers and some very lightweight ones stretch as they are pasted and hung, and once a length has stretched, that seam will always show slightly. Thin papers also let any dark patch on the wall behind read through.

Yes, and most people do. Send the product details before ordering and you will get the roll quantity and any handling notes for that specific paper, so the order is right first time.

Longer than painting the same room, generally. Stripping, making good, lining and letting the lining dry all come before a single length of finish paper goes up, and a long repeat adds cutting and planning time on top.

Yes. Where paper is going up alongside painted woodwork or a painted ceiling, the sequence is planned so wet edges and freshly hung paper are never fighting each other, and the room is finished as one piece of work.