For some reason, many people believe that you can quickly paste wallpapers on your own and without much effort. To some extent they are right, but only partially. Because a fairly large number of home craftsmen still live by the old ideas about this procedure, when the finishing material itself and the gluing technology were almost antediluvian.
What did it look like before? People bought cheap paper wallpapers in the store (others were simply not sold then and weren’t produced), quickly pasted them on top of the existing ones, not particularly puzzled by the preliminary preparation, after which they could only rejoice at the results of the “repair”. Today, things are somewhat different. A huge number of all kinds of this finishing material is presented on the market, and wallpapers are no longer on paper, although there are vinyl, fabric, non-woven, bamboo, etc. All of them are made from modern materials and based on innovative technologies. and therefore the pasting process requires a competent approach. Moreover, wallpapers today are available in various widths - from 53 cm to one meter of six centimeters. And just like that, from a snap, not possessing at least the minimum skills and enough fundamental knowledge, you can’t glue them.
No, of course, any trellis can be stuck to the wall, but the result will not always please. This is especially true for wide wallpapers, or, as they are also called, meter. Not only is it difficult to work with them due to their large size, they are also extremely moody in terms of their exactingness on the surface to be glued. And therefore, everyone who thinks about how to glue meter-long wallpapers should carefully study all available information about him before proceeding directly to the process itself. Which, in fact, we intend to present below. And let's start with the basics.
What are meter wallpapers
The most important thing that a beginner should know is that such wallpapers can only be of two types. Either vinyl on a non-woven basis, or purely non-woven. The latter, as a rule, go under painting.
Flizelin is, in essence, a non-woven material created on the basis of cellulose fibers that are bonded with a special polymer. It is much thinner than a traditional paper wallpaper base, but at the same time, and much stronger. This particular feature should be known to every master who is looking for an answer to the question of how to glue wallpaper on a non-woven basis (meter or standard width, because there are such ones - it does not matter). Because, having a lot of advantages, this finishing material has one significant drawback - it is extremely demanding on the surface being trimmed. And even despite the fact that non-woven wallpaper is quite able to hide minor defects and irregularities, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work before the gluing process itself. And sometimes quite large-scale. About it - further.
About the need to prepare the base surface
In the question “How to glue non-woven meter wallpaper correctly?”, The key word is “non-woven”, and not “meter”. Of course, it’s quite difficult to adhere without a skill a beautiful and exactly so voluminous and heavy piece of wallpaper, the area of ​​which is more than two and a half square meters. However, this is not the main thing. If the finishing material is quite thin (and such wallpapers are very thick and almost transparent to light) or have a light shade, then if there is a surface that is heterogeneous in color, all this “geography” will be visible under the new coating. In other words: if the wall is dark, plus there are also patches covered with putty on it, then all this beauty will simply be visible under the non-woven. Therefore, rule number one: you can only glue wallpaper on a uniformly colored surface. Desirable white.
Since the manufacturer offers gluing meter-long wallpapers without spreading the finishing material (that is, only the wall is treated with glue), the base surface should be clean, dry and not absorbing glue at the speed of sound. This is the second rule.
And the third. Since gluing meter-long wallpapers relies strictly butt-to-butt (there can be no talk of any overlap), it is necessary that the base base is smooth. The presence of all kinds of pebbles and irregularities on it will not allow you to make the perfect seam.
It is with these rules in mind that preliminary work is required.
Wall preparation
First of all, you need to completely remove the old wallpaper (whitewash, paint) from the wall. Then it is necessary to repair all cracks and other possible defects. Further, of course, there are several training options, but all of them, each in its own way, are not entirely suitable. Ideally, the wall should be puttied and primed. It’s not as thorough as painting, as minor defects will hide under the wallpaper, but still you need to go through the wall with putty at least once. As a result, you get a white, smooth, surface that adheres well to the finishing material. That is, what is required by non-woven wallpaper.
If for some reason this cannot be done, then it is advisable to carry out at least several types of work. First of all, you need to treat the walls with a deep penetration primer. After this wall I will not “drink” the glue. And then, since gluing meter-long wallpapers is strongly recommended only on a uniform color surface, it is necessary to once again treat the base with soil. Only this time tinted. Thanks to him, the walls will turn white.
About glue
Remember: no universal formulations should be purchased. Buy glue intended exclusively for non-woven fabric. Since you need to glue vinyl meter wallpaper, covering only the walls, the composition for the work should be designed specifically for this type of work. That is, on the box with glue there should be an inscription: "For non-woven wallpaper." As for the method of preparing the composition, the whole process is usually detailed on the packaging.
Wall marking
After the surface is prepared, you need to start marking. By and large, wide wallpapers are glued in the same way as narrow ones. The only difference is that, in the case of a large number of doors (for example, in the hallway), it may be difficult to trim. Yet the canvas is quite wide. Well, of course, without skills, it will be quite difficult to deal with such a heavy and wide piece alone. Therefore, the work must be carried out together. So, correctly draw the walls. That is, figure out which side is better to start, so that in the end a pasted piece of a few centimeters does not appear in a visible place. Sometimes it is advisable to start pasting from the door, and not from the window. Or even from the middle of the room. Once you have decided on the starting place, draw a vertical line on the wall using a plumb line or level.
Wallpaper Preparation
Cut the wallpaper further. It is not recommended to cut all the rolls immediately if the wallpaper is with a pattern. Do this gradually, as needed. If the finishing material is without a pattern, then you can cut all the wallpaper, adding five to six centimeters to allowances in length.
Sticking
Since gluing vinyl meter wallpaper on non-woven fabric is recommended only by applying glue to the wall, then this is the first thing to do. Carefully coat the pasted area with a roller or brush. After that, standing on the table (a stepladder in this case will not work because of the width of the wallpaper), attach the first canvas to the wall, focusing on the outlined line. Leave a small margin at the top. Then, with a rubber roller, begin to smooth the canvas from top to bottom, while carefully watching that there are no bubbles. After that, remove any remaining glue with a rag and cut the top and bottom. The next sheet is glued in exactly the same way, but strictly butt to butt. And so to the corner.
How to glue meter wallpaper in the corners
If you are sure that the corners in the room are completely flat, feel free to wrap the wallpaper on the next wall and continue gluing on. Just glue a little more with the corner itself. If there is no such certainty, the canvas will have to be cut. To do this, wrap it on the wall, carefully walk the edge of the spatula along the corner, and then cut the wallpaper, stepping back from the intended line by half a centimeter. Stick the overlapped piece to the lap in the corner, and then dance from its edge. In the event that you start to glue from the corner, run the edge of the first canvas at an angle of a centimeter. Stick the second one on it, too, with an overlap under the control of the level, so that all subsequent strips lie flat.
How to glue meter-high wallpaper on the ceiling
This procedure has some of its features. As for the preparation, there is only one option: the ceiling needs to be cleaned from whitewash, putty and primed. It should be white, smooth and even. Then you need to take care of the preparation of the “forests”. That is, arrange several tables so that you can move freely around them. Then we stir the glue, draw a straight line on the ceiling (we start the markup from the window), measure the length of the first canvas (the distance from wall to wall with a margin of 10 centimeters). Gluing is recommended in length, not in width. After that, cut off the desired piece of wallpaper and turn it into a roll, but with the front side inward. We apply glue to the ceiling and begin to glue the wallpaper, gradually unwinding the roll and smoothing the surface of the finishing material with a roller. The procedure should be carried out only by two (one glues and smoothes, the second unwinds and adjusts). We cut off the excess, remove the remaining glue, glue the next strip in the same way and butt to butt.
Conclusion
We tried to tell in detail how to glue meter wallpaper. As you can see, the procedure is not much different from that of working with ordinary materials, except that you only need to coat the wall. But in order to have such an opportunity and get a good result in the end, this very wall must be properly prepared. Which is perhaps the most important nuance of this kind of finishing work.