FQA
How long will my wallpaper last?
The longevity of your wallpaper covering will depend on a few different factors. Cheaper wallpapers are likely to tear and damage easily, especially in areas of high traffic in homes or commercial spaces. Higher quality wallpaper will ensure you will get years of durability.
A good quality Wallpaper is likely to last up to 15 years and beyond, which makes it a fabulously cost-effective, durable way to decorate your room.
When you choose a wallpaper expert with many years experience to ensure the paper is skilfully hung, it’s likely to last at least three times longer than paint. This is one of the main benefits of using wallpaper to decorate parts of your home and work spaces that experience high traffic.
Many modern wallpapers are also easy to clean and are washable, which also helps to prolong its beauty and increase its longevity. Making them easy to clean and maintain over time. Of course, do keep in mind that washable translates as a lightweight activity, rather than simply drenching your investment in water!
Sometimes wallpaper can lift a little throughout the years of its hard working life. If this does happen, it can be fixed, make sure you ask advice from a specialist wallpaper hanger in order to prolong the life of your wall covering.
It is also highly recommended that the walls are prepared properly prior to installation and the environment is a favorable one for the livelihood of the wallpaper. This is because a properly prepared wall will ensure that the wallpaper stays fittingly in place. On the other hand humidity is not a wallpapers best friend, so a not so humid environment will fit in more perfectly for the durabilty of the wallpaper.
Resources:
How Long Does Wallpaper Last? How Many Years, and Why, a Guide
The information label on your wallpaper roll will tell you which adhesive is required in terms of the type of wallpaper as well as characteristics like material, weight and adhesive requirements. For wallpapers that are impermeable to water vapour, like vinyl or metallic foil wallpapers, the adhesive has to contain dispersion or plastic dispersion glue. Alternatively, pure dispersion glue has to be used in order to achieve the necessary adhesion strength.
When it come to wallpaper adhesive, quality is key, so don't be a penny-pincher. High-quality types of adhesive consist of natural, non-toxic starch and methyl cellulose. Special additives, in particular synthetic resins, are added for increased durability and easier application. In high-quality adhesives, the proportion of methyl cellulose is equal to or higher to that of starch, which provides excellent adhesive strength.
Commercially available adhesives according to wallpaper types
Please find below an overview of common adhesives used according to wallpaper types:
- Standard adhesive consists of cellulose ether and starch - the right choice for light to heavy paper-based wallpapers.
- Special adhesive contains synthetic resin in order to increase the adhesive strength - perfect for heavy wallpapers like wood-chip, vinyl, anaglypta or textured wallpapers. Depending on the exact composition and the manufacturer, it is also suitable for textile, silk, grass or cork wallpapers.
- Textile adhesive contains the basic components as well as added plastic dispersion glue and other additives, all of which help to increase adhesion. This type of adhesive can be used alone or added to other glues for textile, metal, foil and industrial wallpapers.
- Adhesive for non-woven wallpapers is designed specifically for non-woven varieties. When using non-woven types, the adhesive is applied directly to the wall (rather than the wallpaper); this means that the glue needs to have good initial adhesion to ensure the dry strip of wallpaper sticks to the wall. Furthermore, the consistency of the glue is almost splatter-free. To make it easy to identify which parts of the wall glue has already been applied to, non-woven adhesive can contain so-called colour markers. However, they are completely transparent once dried.
- Machine adhesive/adhesive for wallpapering devices - as the name indicates, this specific glue is meant for wallpapering machines. It's of a thin consistency and contains synthetic resins for better adhesion.
- Dispersion adhesives are ready-to-use plastic- or synthetic resin-based glues. Their consistency and colour is distinctly different from the usual commercially available glue types. Dispersion adhesive can be purchased in containers of various sizes (depending on the surface area it is to be applied to). It can be added to glue in order to give it a great deal more adhesive strength, or used on its own. This type of adhesive is suitable for heavy and water-proof wallpapers like glass-fibre, vinyl and textured wallpapers, which all require great adhesive strength.
Dispersion adhesive is also used as border glue for glueing borders on wallpapers (e.g. vinyl borders on vinyl wallpapers). Handy tubes are available for this purpose and for delicate wallpaper repair jobs.
Which adhesive for which surface?
Generally speaking, the commercially available adhesive types listed above are suitable for concrete, cement, gypsum/plaster and plasterboard. For all types, the surfaces need to be prepared thoroughly.
As a general rule: It is less about the type of surface and more about its quality/consistency. Furthermore, material and water vapour permeability play an important role. The rule of thumb is: The surface needs to be dry, clean, even, stable, adhesive and absorbent.
Resources:
Which wallpaper paste to use for specific wallpapers and surfaces
How do I measure my walls?
Single Wall Measuring Instructions
Using a tape measure, write down the widest width and the highest height of the wall. We only need the wall measurement, don’t include any baseboards or crown molding.
See the instructions below for specific wall measuring scenarios.
We know walls come in all shapes and sizes, it’s one of the reasons we love them! For tips on measuring different wall types, scroll through the instructions below.
Obstacles in the way
When there is a door, window or other obstacle on your wall, only measure the total width and height of the wall, as the obstacle will simply be cut away during hanging.
Standard Wall
Simply measure the full height and width of the wall. We need your exact wall size, so don’t forget to double check the measurements before sending on to us. We only need the dimensions of the surface you wish to cover, excluding any skirting boards or coving
Slanted Walls
When you have a sloped ceiling or wall, measure the longest and widest parts only, ignoring any slopes. We provide the mural as a whole rectangle or square, and the slope is cut away during installation
Vaulted Wall
If your wall has two slants, simply identify and measure the longest part of the wall in both the width and the height. Again, we will produce your mural as a square or rectangle, with the cutaways taking place during installation.
Multi-Wall Measuring Instructions:
1. Using a tape measure, write down the widest width and the highest height of the wall. We only need the wall measurement, don’t include any baseboards or crown molding.
2. Measure every wall that you plan to cover. Regarding windows and doors, just pretend they don’t exist and just measure the widest portions of the wall. This guarantees full seam-to-seam coverage.
3. Input your wall measurements into the wall size calculator and we'll print what you need.
*Note - Because every wallpaper order is custom printed we cannot guarantee color accuracy for separately placed orders. If ordering by the roll we highly recommend ordering approximately 15% more than you calculated. This ensures that you have enough to cover the job. Feel free to contact us for assistance with your order.
Multiple walls:
If you’re looking to wrap a wallpaper around multiple walls, simply combine the widths of each wall and submit one measurement when ordering. You may want to add an extra few inches in width for flexibility if you are installing around corners. There’s no need to order the mural as two separate pieces.
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