Lining paper

Before getting started on lining paper, I refresh my wallpaper knowledge by watching some Youtube videos on how to hang lining paper. For this round I got a higher quality lining paper that is acid-free and a little bit wider than the previous paper I used in the bathroom. I also attempt to hang the paper horizontally because it eliminates the problem of seams overlapping between the lining paper and wallpaper. But before we start hanging the lining paper, I start with sizing the plaster. I use wheat paste and then dilute it with adding 50% more water to the 1:1 mixture. For example, I have 1 quart of water used for the normal mix and then poured 16 ounces in to dilute things. I apply the size to the plaster and let that dry. I also have a drywall soffit I need to prime. For new sheetrock, it’s recommended to start with Guardz which I have, but then a coat of Shieldz, which I do not own. The big box stores don’t carry Shieldz so I’ll need to finish the sizing of the soffit next weekend after I get Shieldz.

Mixing up the paste.

Pasting up a 11’ sheet!

With the sizing done, next up is planning out the lining paper. We measure out the length of 1 wall and cut a sheet. It’s about 11’ long which is significantly longer than the half wall height papering we were doing in the bathroom. When I try to hang the 11’ sheet horizontally I quickly realize I’m in over my head with the paper flopping around, tearing and creasing. It turns into a disaster trying to wrangle the paper especially with the horizontal orientation because in this case gravity is not your friend. The Youtube videos make everything look so easy and clean but in reality we’re dealing with paste getting on your hands and fighting with paper. We decide to go for just vertical hanging and risk seam overlaps. Karen marks out the potential seams and we figure out the safest places to start the lining paper to avoid overlaps. We start making our way around the walls and deal with the obstacles such as windows, doors and soffits.

Marking a line on the wall to put up the first sheet of lining paper. For this we switched to vertical hanging after the horizontal hanging was a failure.

Nothing terrible happens during the vertical hanging although it is time consuming. It takes about 45 minutes per sheet between measuring, cutting, pasting, and then hanging. We could get things going faster if we cut beforehand and pasted up a few sheets in a batch, but I’m not confident enough to hang the paper quickly enough to beat the paste from drying. In fact we experience some tearing from just pasting up 1 sheet at a time as we unfold it because the paper is sitting too long as we’re futzing with getting the paper on the wall.

Cutting out around a window frame.

Cutting around baseboards.

Cutting at the ceiling.

We get about 50% of the lining paper up so will need to wait till next week to finish the rest. In tandem with the lining paper, I give 1 more coat of stain to the baseboards to keep working on evening out any blotches.

Another coat of stain.

Another coat of stain. The dark area is a shadow and not extra stain!

The other woodwork that gets some attention is the doors. The main door is all finished with shellac so I rub down the door with paste wax and #0000 steel wool. It’s still pretty glossy which didn’t give the matte finish I was hoping for. I may try another polish with a slightly courser steel wool to see if that gives a better matte look. The closet door was rubbed out with sandpaper so it now needs a reapplication of shellac using the padding approach. I get a few passes of that and it starts working the haze out from the sandpaper rubbing out.

Waxing the door.

Stained woodwork and lining paper installed.