Indy Total Construction

Torn wallpaper in the home can usually be patched fairly simply. With other wall coverings like hessian, vinyl or grass cloths you should match the pattern with care. Placing a spare piece over the tear and checking the design.

Cut a piece slightly largely than the damaged area, and then place it over the hole, again making sure that the pattern matches. Cut through both layers with a sharp knife to a square or oblong shape (unless there is a definite motif in the pattern, in which case you should follow the shape of this). Peel away the old wall covering, and using a suitable adhesive stick the new piece carefully in place. Roll the patch lightly with a steam roller and leave it to dry.

Many vinyl wall coverings have a paper backing. You should not leave the backing of the old wall covering in place; cut right through it and strip it back to the wall surface before fixing the new piece.

If your walls are coming apart at the seams this sometimes happens because of condensation. Or it may be that the wall coverings have been overlapped instead of butt-joined you can easily stick them back down again. It the wall covering is vinyl you will have to use a latex adhesive to secure it.

Blisters sometimes occur if wallpaper is incorrectly pasted or if heavy paper is hung too soon, before it has absorbed enough paste; they can also be caused by a poor wall surface of condensation. One method of dealing with this is to half-fill a syringe with a suitable paste and injects the paste into the centre of the blister.

Allow the paste to penetrate the back of the paper (it should take about five minutes) and then flatten the blister firmly with your fingers. Wipe away any surplus paste and then go over the area lightly with a roller until the paper lies completely flat. If you cannot get hold of a syringe, make a cross-shaped cut and peel back the tongues before using an artist’s brush to push paste underneath them.

Blisters, or cracks and chips in paintwork can be repaired. Knots in wood can sometimes cause very bad discoloration on woodwork, appearing as a brown stain under the paint film. You can sand or scrape away the paint, seal the knot with proprietary knotting and allow it to dry before you prime, sand, fill as necessary and repaint.

You can remove and replace a damaged wall tile. If you don’t have a spare tile and cannot obtain one, you could either replace a panel of tiles with new ones so as to create a definite design, or replace just a few tiles with random patterned ones. It’s also possible to tile on top of cracked or crazed tiles, using new slim universal.

Skirting boards are generally the widest and longest moldings around the house. They’re fixed, of course, along the bottom of walls, where they prevent damage to wall coverings and make a neat join with the floor.

Sometimes plain square-edged timber – say 150x25mm (6xl in) planed – forms a skirting, but molded pieces arc more usual. Nowadays ‘torus’, ‘ovolo’, ‘ogee’ and the plain chamfered and rounded types are by far the commonest. Plastic skirting boards are another modern development.

A gap between the skirting and the floor surface can easily be hidden with a quadrant molding – nailed to the skirting. not the floor, so any shrinkage or swelling in the floor won’t open up cracks visible from above.

If a skirting board has simply come loose, use a torch to look behind it for any wooden battens or plugs into which the original fixings may go. Then nail through into these. If the plaster continues to the floor, nail through it into the masonry behind. But if there’s bare brickwork without such battens or plugs – or if your nailing loosens previously sound fixings – you’ll have to use countersunk screws and wallplugs, inserted into holes made with a masonry drill.

If, however, actual damage or rot demands the removal of one or more whole sections, a bolster chisel makes a good lever for prising boards off. The best place to begin removal is at an external corner; otherwise take the overlapping board at an internal corner, or start at the point where the skirting meets the doorway.

Usually skirting boards are nailed in place, but you must be alert for screws (their heads may be covered with filler or even wooden plugs). Unscrew them. first, or, if that’s impossible, cut away a little plaster above the skirting board and slip a cold chisel behind the skirting to chop through them before you finish prising the board off.

Not too long ago, the only wall covering available was wallpaper. Today wall coverings are made of many materials other than paper. Fabric and vinyl are good examples. Some types are prepasted or have adhesive on the back. No matter which type you use, the basic procedures are the same. You will have to:

Measure

Prepare the wall surface

Prepare and hang wall covering

To find out how much wall area must be covered, measure each wall and multiply its width by its height. Adding the answers will give you the total area of the wall surface. Next measure the doors and windows. Find their total area by multiplying each one’s height by width and adding them together. Now subtract the total area of the openings from the total area of the wall surface. The answer is the wall area to be covered. Since one roll of wallcovering contains about 30 square feet, divide this number by 30. The answer is the number of rolls you will need.

Many do-it-yourself wallpapering kits contain all the tools you will need.

Before you begin, the wall surface should be clean and free from loose plaster and paper. Surfaces painted with enamel should be sanded to remove the gloss and assure good adhesion. Remove any old wallpaper. Use a steamer or wallpaper remover to lift the paper, and then strip it off.
New walls must be primed before covering.

The most difficult job is hanging the wall covering just right. Begin by attaching a plumb bob to the end of a chalk line. Measure the width of one roll (usually 231/2 inches) from the starting point and hang the plumb bob. Snap the chalk line on the wall. This line will serve as a guide for hanging the first piece.

Cover your table or work surface with several layers of newspaper and unroll the first strip of wall covering. Cut the first piece, allowing two inches of overlap at the ceiling and two inches at the floor. Unroll the next piece and place it alongside the first to match the pattern. Cut enough strips to cover one wall and number them on the back.

Spread paste on the back of the first strip. Be sure to leave no dry spots and pay special attention to the edges. Loosely fold up the bottom half, printed side out, for ease in carrying. Position the strip at the ceiling and smooth it with a brush, working from the center out to the edges. Unfold the bottom section and continue smoothing down.

If the old wallpaper is loose, if you are going to hang vinyl wall covering, or if there are several layers of wallpaper on your wall already, it is best to remove all the old paper before you hang the new paper. This can be done most easily by renting a steamer.

Be sure to work out all of the air bubbles. After about 15 minutes the top and bottom overlap can be trimmed with a sharp blade. To prevent getting paste on the next strip, remove the top layer of newspaper from the table before you apply paste to the next strip.

Other types of wall coverings may need to be soaked in water or the paste may have to be applied directly to the wall. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions or ask the person who sells the wall covering.

Two types of seams can be used to join wall coverings. The overlap joint is one in which the sheets actually overlap each other. When using overlapped joints, begin alongside a window and work away from it. This will make the joints less conspicuous. Butt joints are preferred by professionals.

The edge of each strip runs along the edge of the previous strip without overlapping. When using butt joints, begin hanging paper on the longest wall space without windows or doors and work around the room. For either type of seam, wait about 15 minutes for the paste to set and then press down with a seam roller. Carefully trim around electrical boxes.

Much valuable information is often printed in the margins of the wall covering, including trim marks, marks to help you match the pattern, mill run number and manufacturer. Be sure to buy enough wall covering at the start because you may have difficulty matching colors or patterns later.

Apply paste to the bottom two- thirds of the sheet and fold up carefully. Do not crease. Finish applying the paste and carry the folded sheet to the wall.

Brush wallpaper from the center out to the edges. Smooth out all air bubbles.

Trim overlap with a straight, even line. Wall covering joints are either overlapped or butt joints. Professionals prefer butt joints.

Walls are the first thing anyone entering your home will see. They should be kept clean and in good repair.

There are many ways to finish walls. Probably the most common is painting. Paint preserves and beautifies many objects. It protects metal from rust, wood from mildew and plastics from sun damage. Paint also makes them easier to clean.

There are many types of wall coverings. Paper, plastics, and fabrics are some. Wall coverings can be prepasted and pretrimmed. Some are washable; and some are even treated for easy removal at a later date.

Paneling is easy to care for, and there are many different types to choose from.

Whatever type of wall finish you use, the job should be clean and neat. You should also know some of the chemistry of the materials and surfaces you are working with—what will mix and what may explode.

Painters will always have work. Even if the perfect paint—one that never wears out—is discovered, there will always be someone who doesn’t like the color!

Drywall is soft. It is best held in place with large headed drywall nails, screws or staples.

To prevent nails and seams from showing, nails are dented into the walls. The dents are then filled with drywall cement. Then you cover the seams with drywall tape and plaster over with drywall cement.

Finishing drywall seams. Apply compound over the seams and nail impressions. Work the tape into this compound. Smooth over, allow to dry, and sand.

In many modern houses, interiors are finished with drywall. Drywall normally comes in sheets, 4′ x 8′, 4′ x 10′, or 4′ x 12′. It is usually 5/16, 3/8, 1/2 or 5/8 inch thick. The most common size is 3/8 inch thick 4′ x 8′.

Drywall sheets are nailed to the house joists with large headed nails, screws, or staples. Nails are driven so that a small dent is made in the drywall. This depression is then filled with a type of cement and covered over with tape

There are three basic ways to finish drywall:

• Painting

• Wallpapering

• Paneling

You may apply paint directly to drywall. New drywall usually takes two coats: one to seal it and one to present an even, finished surface.

Wallpaper is becoming popular again. It comes in rolls and is applied directly to the drywall. Before it will stick, the drywall must be prepared with a glue-like coating of sizing. The trick in applying wallpaper is to avoid bubbles and match the edges and the pattern precisely.

Paneling is glued or nailed directly onto the drywall. Panels may be veneer, wallboard, imitation masonry, or some other material.

Moldings and baseboards finish off walls and ceilings. In older homes they are always made of wood. Most new molding and baseboard is made of synthetic materials which are more flexible and less likely to crack when nailed into place.