Do I need to hang lining paper before I put up wallpaper

Is it necessary to put up lining paper prior to wallpapering? in most cases the answer would be no. If your walls are old and have been filled many times or there are lots of imperfections then you may consider lining the walls before wallpapering. Putting lining paper up before wallpapering doesn’t mean you don’t have prepare the walls first, because you do. Preparation is always the most important part of decorating.

Another reason for lining the walls prior to wallpapering would be if the wallpaper is thin, or if it is a foil paper and you need a good sound surface to wallpaper onto. Some manufacturers say on their wallpaper, “We recommend you line the walls first”, in which case it is best to take their advice.

You may also have different finishes on a wall such as gloss where shelves used to be or maybe different strong dark colours that may show through, in this case you could simply use matt emulsion to obliterate the colour and have the same finish over the entire room, or you may decide to use lining paper.

Lining paper shouldn’t be required for heavy textured papers, Anaglypta wallpapers, of woodchip as these are designed to hide imperfections on walls. If you line the walls unnecessarily you are just wasting your time and money.

What grade of lining paper

In most cases 1200 to 1400 gauge lining paper will be sufficient to apply to the wall before wallpapering. However if your walls are in a really bad condition you could use a 2000 gauge lining paper. You can also buy specialist papers such as thermal liners, sound proofing liners and damp proof liners, but typically standard lining paper will suffice.

How do I measure for lining or wallpaper

Before you buy lining paper or order wallpaper you need to know how much to buy. I have written an article on how to measure a room for wallpaper that explains how you need to do it. I have also written a wallpaper calculator so you can work out how many rolls of wallpaper you need to buy.

Things you should know about lining paper

Before you rush out and buy lining paper and hang it there are a few things you should know first, lining paper can shrink when it dries, this isn’t too much of a problem if you are wallpapering over it as long as the gaps are small.

You may also consider hanging the lining paper horizontally, or cross lining as it’s known. This will prevent any joints of the wallpaper laying on top of the lining paper which may lift the lining paper when it dries.

If you use lining paper before you wallpaper, ensure it is well stuck , you don’t want the lining paper lifting once your expensive wallpaper is on the top of it, ensure you soak the lining paper well enough, so it is supple before hanging, ensure plenty of good quality paste is used. Once the lining paper is hung and dry you can go over it with paste to help seal the lining paper and give the wallpaper a little bit of extra stick when you hang it.

How to remove Rawl plugs

Before you decorate you may wish to remove old Rawl plugs. You may think they are hard to remove because of what they are designed for, making a secure fixing for a screw to go into, however when done correctly they are not that hard to remove. It is always best to remove them rather than filler over them leaving unsightly lumps on the wall that show once you have decorated. If you try to remove the Rawl plug and it simply will not budge, you can either make sure the plug is sunk below the surface of the wall or cut the flange off of the plug if it is proud of the wall and then fill the hole, as I mention in this post about Rawl plugs.

Removing Rawl plug video

Below is a quick video of me removing a Rawl plug from a wall using a screw and claw hammer. If you want to protect your walls whilst removing the plug, use a piece of wood to lever the claw hammer off of, rather than the wall, by doing this you put pressure on the wood and will not dent your wall with the hammer.

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How to remove artex

Artex is a decorative finish, you may have it on your ceilings and maybe your walls. There are several popular finishes such as swirl, stipple, broken leather, scroll, circle and bark for the walls. Artex was very popular until the 1990’s were it became less popular in favour of smooth plastered ceilings and walls.

Before the mid-1980’s Artex contained white asbestos to strengthen it. Depending on when your house was build or when Artex was applied in your house will depend if it contains asbestos.

Artex and health issues

If you are unsure if your Artex contains white asbestos or not it is best to get a local firm to test it first, for advice, contact the Environment Agency or your local environmental health department or look at www.asbestoswatchdog.co.uk.

If the Artex is untouched and has been sealed with paint, or the Artex was produced after the mid-1980’s then there shouldn’t be any health risks, but if unsure always get it checked first.

For more information of Artex you can read more about Artex on Wikipeadia.

How to remove Artex from ceiling and walls

First be sure that your Artex doesn’t contain harmful white asbestos, if you are unsure get it checked before doing any removal or disturbing the Artex, or call a local firm to remove it for you.

Once you are sure the Artex doesn’t contain white asbestos you have a couple of options to get rid of it.

You can skim over it with plaster, making it smooth and ready to paint or wallpaper once dry. This option is a quicker and far less messy option, although it may require some scrapping to remove high spots before plastering.

The other option is to completely remove it, this can be done with a scrapper. Make sure you wear protective clothing, goggles and a mask and cover the floor with dust sheets. Use a scrapper to scrape the Artex off, this could take some time, once the worst is off you could use a wallpaper steamer to remove the rest. This will obviously make a fair bit of mess, especially if your removing Artex of the ceiling.

Once you have removed all the Artex you can then plaster or if the ceiling or walls are is in good enough condition paper over them, you may have to fill holes, joins and scrapper marks before this is possible.

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