Wallpapering advice

[jackpot]

Preparing to wallpaper the living room. At the moment we have painted walls. Walls are in reasonable condition with a few knocks and lumps and bumps. Worst issue is an area around the room where an old dado has been.
I will fill that in and then line the walls.
My main question is sizing them. Should i size the walls. If so is this done before the lining paper or after the lining paper.


Thanks

 

[TheDec]

I think you need to pop up a pic, this will allow us to see what we are dealing with.

Dec

 

[emilybronte]

Sand the walls until they are as smooth as you can get them, then size them. Leave to dry, then line them. You don't need to size the lining paper.

 

[TheDec]

Are we to take it that you have viewed these walls to ascertain how much prep is required and what grade of lining paper the op should consider.?

Dec

 

[emilybronte]

Are we to take it that you have viewed these walls to ascertain how much prep is required and what grade of lining paper the op should consider.?

Dec

There is no need for sarcasm. A photograph would not reveal much either, in this case, although I agree they can be useful for some questions.

As to grade, presumably OP has that in hand. All s/he wanted to know was whether to size before or after lining.

 

[emilybronte]

Are we to take it that you have viewed these walls to ascertain how much prep is required and what grade of lining paper the op should consider.?

Dec

There is no need for sarcasm! I offered an alternative response, that's all. A photograph would not reveal much either, in this case, although I agree they can be useful for some questions. I thought OP's description was adequate - I can visualise this wall from it.

As to grade, presumably OP has that in hand. All s/he wanted to know was whether to size before or after lining:

My main question is sizing them. Should i size the walls. If so is this done before the lining paper or after the lining paper.


Thanks

Apologies if you found my answer unacceptable.

 

[TheDec]

It was not that, this is the finishing trade, and all things need to be digested in order that the correct advice can be offered.

Dec

 

[emilybronte]

It was not that, this is the finishing trade, and all things need to be digested in order that the correct advice can be offered.

Dec

I agree, but with all due respect I consider that I had digested the salient point here. Perhaps we'll have to agree to differ on this one.

Does anyone know how to delete a post completely, please? I've tried the Edit function, but can't see a Delete option anywhere.

 

[TheDec]

You cannot without further investigation digest something of which you cannot see.

Dec

 

[emilybronte]

You cannot without further investigation digest something of which you cannot see.

Dec

Would you like a 5 minute argument or a 10 minute one?!

Perhaps I have a more powerful visual imagination than you! I could see it in my mind's eye.

In any case, OP's description of what he had done so far was more in the way of general context than crucial to his main question - a basic one concerning the order in which one should approach the lining of a wall - i.e., to size before or after the lining paper is applied? Please explain how a photograph of OP's particular wall(s) would make any difference to the answer to that generic question.

 

[TheDec]

Is that a fact.

Dec

 

[emilybronte]

Is that a fact.

Dec

Is WHAT a fact, please?

(Apologies for the capitals, but the italics won't work for me!)

If you mean, is the following statement a fact:'Perhaps I have a more powerful visual imagination than you! I could see it in my mind's eye', then we are into the realms of Philosophy. Excellent. I love a good philosophical debate. Is anyone's perception of anything 'a fact'? Has anyone ever satisfactorily defined reality? Can we ever know that we know something? I suspect however that OP would not expect us to trawl the depths of Locke and Hobbes for him - he simply asked:

My main question is sizing them. Should i size the walls. If so is this done before the lining paper or after the lining paper.

and in the context of this forum you need look no further than #1 to establish that that at least, is a fact.

Best wishes and have a good day to all, including those who disagree with me.

 

[dcdec]

Emilybronte, if you had been on this forum for a bit longer or took the time to read through some of Decs posts you would realise that he takes a very studied approach to the answers he gives as he does not want to give bad advice. This sometimes means that some more information is required.

My view is that there is absolutely no need to size previously painted walls as the paint will have taken care of the porousity of the plaster. It will be necessary to spot prime any filler though because it will absorb paste and could cause an adhesion problem. Lining paper also does not need any type of priming prior to painting or papering

 

[emilybronte]

Good evening, dcdec. Thank your for your interest, but please do not misinterpret my posts. I applaud 'The Dec's approach and would employ it myself if the question required it. In this case, however, (as your own answer demonstrates) it is perfectly possible to answer it without a detailed investigation or photographic evidence of the wall in question.

Furthermore, I only took issue with 'The Dec' when he rubbished my response. Surely the whole idea of a forum is that there is room for more than one answer, or style of answer. Then the OP can choose which answer(s) he finds most helpful and reject those which he does not feel address his question. If someone posts something which is 'bad advice' or factually inaccurate, there will always be someone else ready to correct them - and hopefully, explain why.

BTW, I have in fact been contributing to this forum for some time - I have however had to change my username recently as my previous name was too similar to my business name and I was getting unwanted emails.

My view is that there is absolutely no need to size previously painted walls as the paint will have taken care of the porosity of the plaster.

You may well be right, especially if the old paint is itself non-porous or minimally porous (e.g. silk finishes). But walls covered in old, porous matt emulsion can benefit from sizing before lining, I believe.

Lining paper ... does not need any type of priming prior to painting or papering

I agree.

 

[dcdec]

Fair enough just wanted to point out how Dec operates, to avoid further argument as it gets tiresome seeing fellow pro's arguing publicly and sets a poor tone particularly for the person asking the question.

Agree that there's often more than one way of answering a question, but that can become confusing for the person asking the question and they may not be informed enough to make a choice, although it could be said that that is the very nature of a forum and we can only help people to a point.

I hope your not that fella that was on here before that upset everyone and have cunningly given yourself a girls name!!