Sizing Walls

[Tom d'Angler]

I just wanted to check as tomorrow will be the first time I have hung wallpaper on newly plastered (well, five or six weeks agao) walls...

I gather I need to size the walls first using fairly runny paste. Do I allow the size to dry before hanging the paper or hang while it is still damp? I've only got one wall to do, approx 6ft high by 8ft long.

What's the best practice?

Many thanks in advance,


Tom

[stupidstu]

size it have a coffee then paper

[Tom d'Angler]

size it have a coffee then paper

Sounds like an excellent plan!

[royaloakcarpentry]

Size it and cut drops while you have a coffee.......multi-task and you get home earlier lol.

[Tom d'Angler]

multi-task and you get home earlier lol.

Blimey, I don't know if I can do that... I'm the wrong sex for multi-tasking!

[Deccy]

Proper way to do it is to size the night before really but if that's not possible at least wait until it fully dries.

[Tom d'Angler]

Now I'm confused...

Wait until it is fully dry?

Or wait until it has dried a bit?

[Jaeger_S2k]

Should really be dry, fully dry.

[royaloakcarpentry]

Depending on absorption rate and room temp, should still get the whole lot done in a day.

[Tom d'Angler]

Thanks for the advice.

The day didn't start well... I opened the back of my van to find the bucket of paste left over from last week's job had fallen over and the bin liner it was in had split and paste was all over the floor of the van! Luckily, yesterday my customer told me to leave all my gear in their house to make it easier for me to get started today.

I made up some more paste and sloshed it on the wall making a right mess of the newly (yesterday) painted skirting! However, a damp cloth took care of that and then all I had to do was sit back and wait for the size to dry... it took TWO hours! I couldn't do anything else as this is the last piece of the job and it wasn't worth going home as this was one of my rare very-long-distance jobs (well, 11 miles from home!). Never mind, the customer kept me entertained with her stories of the good old days interspersed with plenty of cups of tea!

I knew I should have done it yesterday before I left, but back then I didn't know if that would be ok as I hadn't yet started this thread

Hahaha! You live and learn!

[royaloakcarpentry]

Surprised you are shocked at waiting two hours.......well, I did tell you to multi-task pmsl

[Tom d'Angler]

Surprised you are shocked at waiting two hours.......well, I did tell you to multi-task pmsl

Does drinking tea count as multi-tasking?

I was and wasn't surprised at the two hour wait, after all paste seems to dry on the back of the paper within 10 minutes or so! After reading the advice on this thread I realised I should have just gone ahead and sized the wall yesterday and thenm if neccessary, I could have done it again this morning if you are supposed to hang the paper while the size is still wet.

[royaloakcarpentry]

Aaaaah, with you, now.

[paintycait]

Tom there are a number of reasons why you size any wall and I would size a painted wall, or old plaster that hadn't been sized previously.

Firstly you size the walls to seal the walls and give an even level of porosity on the surface...this means you won't get one bit where the paste sucks straight in and the rest staying workable, it will all stretch and shrink at the same rate, there won't be any odd seams opening up or lifting.

Secondly you size the wall the give you a bit of slide.

Thirdly you size the walls to do yourself a favour in the future. When it comes to stripping the walls and repapering in the future the stripping will be a doddle. We always work on the assumption that we are so good the client will never want another decorator to work for them But even if it's not us who returns to strip the walls it is a politeness to the decorator that follows you to size. There has been many a wall I've picked off lining paper in penny sized pieces only to find the last guy had the GALLLL to sign the wall (and I put his/her name down in a little black book and come the revolution.......................)


For all this to work to best effect....let the size dry thoroughly. I would also maybe have sized my walls before painting my woodwork, but TBH it shouldn't have made that much mess unless you overthinned. If you ever get caught having to roller walls over finished woodwork and don't have time to mask (or don't have any to hand), wet the top edge of the skirt before you roll...just run a damp sponge over it. That little amount of water will make wiping off roller spray much easier.

[bronz]

Anyone else use pva to size? Goes on like water when it's thinned a bit (with, erm, water), dries fast and seals the surface pretty darn good. In fact I've spent all of today rolling pva onto new plaster ready for papering soon.