Wallpapering can be a very daunting process, especially if you don’t have walls that are ideal for it. Textured walls are the bane of many decorator and homeowner’s lives. It makes wallpapering near impossible, because it just never turns out well - does it? You might have had a bad experience, but does that mean that wallpapering is impossible if you have textured walls? Absolutely not.
If you have textured walls but want to put wallpaper on them, you’re not alone. It’s a dream of many people, and while it isn’t super easy, it can be done. If you want to find out a little more about wallpapering textured walls, just keep reading.
Can You Wallpaper on Textured Walls?
So, it is possible to wallpaper your textured walls. However, the process isn’t the easiest. If you don’t take your time with the process and do it right, you’ll just end up with a messy wall. If you want your end result to be a great-looking wall, check out the steps below.
The Rules You Should Follow
There are some important rules to follow when it comes to wallpapering textured walls. We will take a look at both of them below so that you know where to start on your wallpapering journey.
- Don’t use peel and stick wallpaper - The first thing you need to know about wallpapering textured walls is that you should not use peel and stick wallpaper. This type of wallpaper makes it super easy for the texture to be seen through the paper. Not only that, but the adhesive also usually has problems sticking to the wall because of the texture. What does this result in? The wallpaper peeling off the wall and ending up on the floor. That means that all your hard work would be wasted, and nobody wants to waste their time with that.
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Use Wallpaper With a Woven Poly-Cotton Osnaburg Backing - The best type of wallpaper you could use is a wallpaper that has a woven poly-cotton osnaburg backing. If you didn’t know, this type of wallpaper has a grid-textured backing, which results in the paste being held better. Smooth backed wallpapers are notorious for slipping off, which is why this type of wallpaper is so amazing for textured walls. However, with that being said, this doesn’t work for all textured walls. In fact, this type of backing will only get the job done with mildly textured walls. If you have walls that are severely textures, or very noticeable, you shouldn’t try this option. Instead, you should aim to even out the wall before trying to apply wallpaper.
How You Can Help Smooth Your Walls Out
Below are two methods you can use to help smooth your textured walls. Both of these work well, but can take some time. Of course, there are other methods you may want to try, but these are good starting points. It’s important to note that not all textured walls are textured on purpose. Some walls may have become textured over time or accidentally. In some cases, you may need to sandpaper the walls to get the smooth and ready for wallpapering. This, however, is something that you will have to judge for yourself based on why the wall is textured.
SKIM THE WALLS
The first method you can try is known as skimming. To do this, you will need to create the skim component and place it on the walls where there is unevenness. Once the product is dry, the area can be sanded to make the skim smooth and blend in. We will take a look at how you can do this below:
- Get a mud pan, joint compound, and putty knife.
- Using the putty knife, smear the compound over the textured areas of the wall.
- Using both up and down and side to side motions, smooth the compound over the areas, gradually covering the whole wall.
- Give the compound time to try thoroughly before moving onto the next step. This may take up to two days.
- When the walls are fully dried, get some fine grit sandpaper. Carefully start to sand over the rough areas until they are nice and smooth.
- Next, use a soft, clean cloth to wipe off the dust on the wall.
- You can now add the primer and seal the walls to put up your wallpaper.
USE WALL LINER
The other option you have is to use wall liner. Wall liner, or lining paper, is a pretty easy and quick way to achieve a smooth wall surface. All you need to do for this is get your wall liner and stick it to the walls just like you would regular wallpaper. The only difference is that you will be applying your wall liner horizontally instead of vertically.
This helps ensure that the wallpaper will not peel off if it gets stuck to the same line of wall liner. You will use the “cross-lining” method to apply your wall liner, which prevents the lining paper and wallpaper from meeting on the same line. This method is much easier to do than the plastering and sanding outlined in the above option. Not only that, but with this, you can get it done yourself, and in record time. The end result looks incredibly professional, and also helps the wallpaper’s durability when it goes up. You can use this wall lining technique on a number of surfaces, including brick and block walls, wood paneling, and all kinds of other texture surfaces.
Final Thoughts
While it is entirely possible to wallpaper a textured wall, it might not always be in your best interest. Instead of jumping in the deep end and crying about your wallpaper being in a heap the next day, take your time and do it right. If your walls are too textured for your wallpaper to handle it, take the extra step and smooth them out.
Both methods mentioned in this article result in great looking, smooth walls that are ready for wallpapering. As long as you get your base right, the finished result will be beautiful, and a whole lot easier to put on. Good luck!
