Hang wallpaper on a flat wall — HomeGraft

Strip old paper, prepare the wall, then paste and hang new wallpaper neatly from ceiling to skirting.

WP-01Clear the room and protect surfacesMove furniture to the middle of the room or into another room. Lay dust sheets over the floor and any furniture left in place. Take down curtains, blinds and wall art, and unscrew any curtain poles or brackets in the way.

2 each · Dust sheets

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WP-02Work out what your wall is made ofThis changes how you strip and prepare it. Tap the wall: a dull, solid knock is brick or block; a hollow drum sound is plasterboard on a stud frame. On a stud wall, run a magnet or stud detector across it — a line of screw heads roughly every 400-600mm confirms studs, and a hollow sound between them confirms plasterboard. If you're unsure whether studs are timber or metal, a small pin-prick test on an inconspicuous spot near a stud tells you: timber dust means wood, fine grey swarf means metal (common in flats, new builds and refits since the 1990s). Also check for dot-and-dab (plasterboard glued straight to brick with no cavity sound behind it) and lath and plaster (an older, slightly springy wall behind a skim coat, usually pre-1930s).

WP-03Strip the old wallpaperOn solid brick or block and on sound timber or metal stud plasterboard with a painted skim, score the paper lightly with a scoring tool, then soak with warm water and washing-up liquid, or use a steam stripper, and scrape off with a wallpaper scraper. On dot-and-dab plasterboard and on lath and plaster, do not soak or steam heavily — water can loosen the dab adhesive or soften old lime plaster and cause it to blow off the laths. Instead, use light scoring and gentle scraping, working in small sections, and stop if the wall feels soft or moves under the scraper. If the old paper is vinyl, you can often just peel the top layer off dry and treat the backing paper as a liner — leave it in place if it's stuck fast.

1 each · Wallpaper scoring tool

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1 each · Wallpaper scraper

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1 each · Steam wallpaper stripper (hire or buy)

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WP-04Repair and smooth the wallFill any holes, cracks and gouges with a general-purpose filler, let it dry, then sand flush. On dot-and-dab, don't dig or sand hard over a dab pad — you risk breaking the bond behind it. On lath and plaster, cracks are often movement cracks in an old skim; fill with a flexible filler and, if a crack is wide or the plaster feels loose, ask a plasterer rather than papering over it. Wipe the whole wall down with a damp sponge to remove dust before you go any further.

1 tub · General-purpose filler

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1 each · Sanding sponge

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WP-05Size the wallApply a coat of wallpaper size, or paste mixed thinner than usual, over the whole wall and let it dry fully before hanging paper. This seals the surface and stops the wall drinking the paste too fast, which causes poor adhesion and slow slippage of the paper. Bare or freshly filled plaster, and old lath and plaster skim, are more absorbent and need a proper coat of size; a previously painted or lined wall on timber or metal stud plasterboard usually needs less.

1 packet · Wallpaper size or paste

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WP-06Measure and cut your lengthsMeasure the wall height and add 100mm for trimming top and bottom. Unroll the wallpaper and cut lengths to this size, numbering the back of each piece in order. If the paper has a pattern, dry-lay the first two lengths side by side to check the repeat and adjust your cutting so patterns match at the seams.

5 roll · Wallpaper rolls

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1 each · Long straight edge / metal ruler

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1 each · Sharp scissors

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WP-07Mix or prepare your pasteCheck whether your paper is traditional (paste the paper, fold and rest) or paste-the-wall (paste goes straight onto the wall, paper hangs dry). Mix ready-mixed or powder paste to the packet instructions — thicker for heavier papers, thinner for lightweight ones. Set up a pasting table if you're pasting the paper.

1 packet · Wallpaper paste

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1 each · Pasting table (optional)

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1 each · Paste brush or roller

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WP-08Hang the first lengthMark a plumb vertical line near a corner or a focal point, using your spirit level, and hang the first length to this line, not to the corner — corners are rarely dead straight. Smooth the paper onto the wall from the middle outwards with a paperhanging brush, working out air bubbles, then trim the excess at the ceiling and skirting with scissors or a trimming knife against a straight edge.

1 each · Paperhanging smoothing brush

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1 each · Trimming knife

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WP-09Hang the remaining lengthsButt each new length up to the previous one, matching the pattern, and smooth out from the seam outwards. Run a seam roller lightly along each joint once the paste has gone off slightly, so seams sit flat without squeezing paste out. Keep checking verticals with your spirit level every few lengths, since walls drift out of true over a run.

1 each · Seam roller

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WP-10Paper around sockets and switches safelyTurn off the power at the consumer unit before you loosen any socket or switch faceplate — never work with a blade near a live faceplate. With the power off, undo the two fixing screws, ease the faceplate forward a little (don't disconnect wiring), paper over the recess, then pierce the paper over the screw holes and trim around the opening with small scissors. Refit the faceplate over the trimmed paper, tighten the screws, and leave the power off until you're completely finished at that socket.

1 each · Small pointed scissors

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WP-11Handle cornersNever wrap a full length around an internal or external corner in one piece — walls are rarely square and the paper will hang crooked. Cut the length so a small overlap turns the corner, smooth it in, then hang the next length plumb on the new wall, overlapping the corner piece by no more than 10-15mm.

WP-12Finish and clean seamsWipe off any paste on the surface of the paper and on skirting or ceiling lines with a clean, damp sponge before it dries. Check all seams are flat and stuck down, and re-roll any that are lifting.

1 each · Clean sponge

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WP-13Let it dry and tidy upLeave windows slightly open or the room gently ventilated so the paper dries naturally over 24-48 hours — don't blast it with a heater or direct sunlight, as fast drying can shrink seams apart. Clean your tools, fold and bin offcuts and used dust sheets, and restore power at the consumer unit once every faceplate is securely refitted.

1 roll · Bin bags

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