How to Check to Make Sure Your Wallpaper is Installed Properly?
Find the Right Person for the Job
With wallcovering becoming more and more intricate, and thus more and more expensive, ensuring that it is installed correctly is incredibly important.
Hiring a contractor to install your beautiful new wallpaper is obviously the most important step in the process. With wallpaper costing so much money these days, you definitely cannot try to cut corners by hiring the cheapest installer. Make sure you do a lot of research on the contractor you are considering hiring. Ask to see examples of their work – photos of their installations of other high-end wallpapers.
A Few Simple Steps to Perfection Wallpaper Installation
Once you have hired your installer, don’t think your quality assurance oversight ends there. It is just beginning.
The first step is for you to read the manufacturer’s instructions that came with your wallcovering. Of course, your contractor most definitely needs to read the instructions too, but some installers think they know everything about hanging wallpaper and they don’t need to read the instructions.
They are wrong!
At Hester Painting & Decorating, even though most of our paper hangers have well over a decade of experience, it is a requirement that they always read the instructions no matter how many times they have hung that kind of paper.
Wallcovering is continuing to change and the instructions also change. There could be a specific wall primer that is required, or a special paste needs to be used. If you read the instructions, you can make sure they read them and make sure they are following them.
One of the key steps that some contractors skip is hanging liner paper. If the instructions call for it, make sure they definitely hang it (and make sure they hang it correctly). If the liner paper is not installed, the installation will look perfectly fine for a short time, but as the paste starts to dry, if there isn’t properly installed liner paper, the seams will start to pull apart. The contractor will be long gone, and you will have already paid the contractor before the issue starts appearing.
Make sure you see them install it. It is an extra cost for the liner paper to be installed because it is an entirely different step in the process, but it is most definitely needed. However, if they are a reputable contractor, they will have already reviewed the instructions (if the paper is available at the time they are bidding on the work), and they will add it to their proposal pricing before the job starts.
You should also ask your installer to hang a few pieces and then show you the results. You don’t want to wait until the end of the job to figure out that there is an issue with the color of the paper or any other issues. If they hang a few sheets, any adjustments or issues can be resolved when you are still early enough in the project.
Another important fact to understand before choosing your wallpaper installer, in order to get the best installation for the high-end, hand-painted wallcoverings, you need to have an installer who has someone on staff who can do artistic touch-ups to the wallcovering after it is installed. Because of the nature of the hand-painted wallcoverings, sometimes the art at the seams doesn’t line up. At Hester Painting & Decorating we have artists on staff who can hand paint any missing items from the paper or add something to make all of the shapes on the paper line up better.
Once the paper has been installed, your final step in making sure the wallpaper was installed properly is to walk the area and make sure the seams are all lined up properly.
In addition, check to make sure there isn’t any paste left on the surface of the paper or on the trim or ceiling. If the paste is not removed quickly, it can stain the wallcovering. The chemicals in the paste can ruin the finish on the paint on the ceiling or trim next to the paper. Although your installer should check for paste long before you do, make sure you still look for anything left behind.
If you take the extra time to do these few steps in the hiring process and the actual installation process, you can make sure your wallpaper is properly installed and you will have a beautiful room to enjoy for years to come.
Consider Hester Painting & Decorating
At Hester Painting & Decorating, we have been installing the highest-end wallcoverings for over 50 years. You can rest assured that if you hire Hester, the installation will be done 100% properly.
Feel free to contact Hester Painting & Decorating for any pricing for installing your beautiful exclusive wallcoverings. With over 50 years of experience, we are the only resource you need in order to ensure the proper preparation and subsequent installation of your wallcovering.
