Can I Install Wallpaper on Popcorn Walls? Wallpaper can make a big difference in a room. Wallpaper is a wonderful way to freshen up your area, with a range of styles, designs, and colors to select from. What if you want to join the wallpaper craze but your walls are textured? It is not suggested to hang wallpaper over uneven surfaces or rough walls, yet it is not impossible.
Continue reading to learn – Can I Install Wallpaper on Popcorn Walls?
Table of Contents
Hanging Wallpaper on Uneven Walls Pose a Challenge. Whenever it is about hanging wallpaper on popcorn walls, several issues occur because it adheres best to an even and smooth surface. Murals and wallpaper that are applied directly to uneven walls have a hard time adhering. Within days or even hours of installation, panels may begin to pull away from the wall or form bubbles.
Wallpaper bubbles can be simply eliminated with a few simple techniques.
Line-up mural panels are tough, and flawless transitions are practically impossible, because of all the flaws prevalent in textured walls, such as ridges, bumps, and grooves. The underlying wall texture may be visible through the wallpaper, depending on the thickness of the paper.
Despite this, there are a few options for smoothing the surface of your wall. Here are some ideas for how to prepare a textured wall for wallpaper, whether you have textured, rough, or uneven walls.
So, what are the finest mural materials for softly textured walls? Products with poly-cotton woven osnaburg backing are recommended. The grid-structured osnaburg backing holds paste better than smooth fabric backings, allowing the mural material to adhere to mildly textured surfaces.
Vinyl HD – Texture is one of the materials with an osnaburg backing. Again, you should test your walls with a little sample of the material you want to use to see how it holds up before investing in a whole mural.
Peel-and-stick wallpaper isn’t suggested for textured walls in general. The roughness of the wall might show through the wallpaper, and the adhesive often has trouble adhering to the wall properly (resulting in a fallen heap on the floor).
If you’re set on using removable wallpaper on a textured wall, test your walls and the peel-and-stick wallpaper before committing to a full installation. Allow it to attach to your walls for a few days before purchasing to see how it holds up.
Skimming your wall with a joint compound is the finest approach to smooth it out. If done correctly, this step will fill in all of the wall’s unevenness, leaving a perfectly flat surface for your wallpaper to stick to.
Skimming can be done in a variety of ways, such as rolling on a compound that has been diluted to the consistency of pancake batter and then leveling it out with a trowel. You can also use a trowel to apply the compound directly to the wall. Take your time, whichever method you select, to ensure that your wall is as smooth as possible.
Once your new wallpaper is hung, any imperfections in your walls will show through.
You may wish to prepare the wall before skimming it, depending on its condition. To make the skimming process easier, scrape out nail pops and other protrusions with a putty knife. Some individuals advise using a sealant on the wall as well, to help the joint compound adhere better.
After you have skimmed the walls and allowed them to dry completely, prime/seal them before hanging your wallpaper. If you don’t want to skim your walls for whatever reason, you can use lining paper as an alternative.
Skimming walls can be done using a variety of techniques and methodologies. A bucket of all-purpose joint compound, a mud pan, a putty knife, and sandpaper are required for a relatively straightforward approach.
Lining paper is pasted to the wall in a manner similar to wallpaper installation. The liner, however, is draped horizontally rather than vertically. Before installing the liner paper, be sure to size or prime/seal your walls.
Because the adhesive used with liner is similar to that used with wallpaper, it will react similarly to an unprimed wall, potentially harming the wall and making paper removal much more difficult. You’ll also need a brush, squeegee, straight edge or putty knife, razor, adhesive (if needed), and water, as well as the equipment you’ll need to hang your wallpaper.
To avoid a ridge from overlap, hang your paper with a 1mm spacing between sheets. You’ll also want to clip the overlap off once you’ve attached the paper to the walls by scoring and cutting it out a little longer than the wall width. After you’ve hung all of your liners and given them time to dry.
Whether you choose to skim your walls or use liner paper, making sure they’re completely smooth is critical for a professional-looking finished wallpaper installation.
Lining paper is installed similarly to wallpaper, however, it is placed horizontally using a technique known as “cross-linking.” This prevents the wallpaper from lifting off the wall by ensuring that the seams between the wallpaper and lining paper do not meet on the same line.
If you have textured walls throughout your home that you’d like to cover with wallpaper, you may be hesitant to do so. Textured walls and wallpaper aren’t exactly a match made in heaven. While you should never wallpaper over a textured wall that isn’t totally smooth, there are a few things you can do to make your textured wall smooth. Applying direct wallpaper over popcorn walls will provide a rough, unappealing finish.