The walls of your home serve as much more than just boundaries and storage spaces for your belongings. Every day, you and your family interact with your walls. They affect how you feel and the furniture you choose. With such a large selection, there’s no reason why every home can’t have its unique wall treatment. Whether you select the class of mahogany or walnut paneling, the durability, and versatility of ceramic tile, the sophistication of leather, or the ease of paint, you won’t have any trouble putting it up.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a popular choice for house decorators every year because of its wide range of styles, colors, and ease of installation. Many pre-trimmed washable papers provide a clean look and a durable surface. Fabric-supported wallpaper for the ceiling creates a beautiful aesthetic effect and conceals slight flaws in the top when the home settles.
A long table for pasting can be made quickly by placing a sheet of plywood over an existing table or between two sawhorses. A seam roller, scissors, sponge, razor, and handle are also required. The stepladder should be 6 feet in height. A steel straightedge is a beneficial instrument. The best tool for the job is a plasterer’s mitering rod, but you can manufacture your own out of 14-gauge steel if necessary.
It measures around four by 10 inches and has one beveled or mitered edge. Sharpening the long edge ensures a secure grip on the cut paper and a far more precise result.
Make sure the surface is dry, smooth, and level when hanging wallpaper. If the wall was previously papered, remove all peeling paper and edges, then sand along seams to smooth out any bumps that may appear later. Strip the lapped seams with a razor and then sand them down. Walls made of plaster should be inspected thoroughly for damage and repaired accordingly; wallpaper size should be applied to any freshly patched areas of application and any unpainted, dry, porous plaster. Walls enameled or painted with a glossy finish should be roughened with sandpaper before being papered.
If your paper is not already reduced to size, lightly pencil in guidelines on both ends to help you cut it down to size. Next, remove the excess material by cutting it with a straightedge and a razor or scissors. To ensure your wallpaper is the right size, measure the distance from the ceiling to the baseboard molding and add three to four inches. You can lift and toss if a wallpaper section doesn’t quite reach the top. After a few hours, the paste is still malleable and not dried.
If you have any leftover wallpaper, save it to cover your wall outlets and switches. You only need ten minutes, a screwdriver, scissors, rubber cement, and other odds and ends. Before doing anything else, remove the fuse from the electrical panel that serves the light switch box. The plate is held in place by two tiny screws, which you must remove. Align the wallpaper over the exposed switch box, ensuring the pattern matches perfectly. Cut out the wallpaper to be 1 inch bigger on all sides than the opening. Spraying non-washable paper with transparent plastic will make future fingerprints easy to wipe away.
Lay this paper, design side down, on a sheet of rubber cement. The plate should now be inverted over the back of the form. Make a slit for the switch toggle using a razor or sharp knife. Make holes for the screws that will secure the plate to the wall using an ice pick or knife point. If you want a clean look when you press the 1/2″ wallpaper fold over the back of the plate, trim the corners diagonally. The side parts need a lot of rubber cement to stay put. You may replace the plate safely now that it has been coated.
Wrapping walls in plastic
Wall coverings made of vinyl plastic are among the most available options because of their extreme resistance to common home stains, especially oils, and greases. A vinyl plastic wall requires very little maintenance. Created in the form of yard goods, tiles, faux stone or brick, and other designs, it is adept at covering up flaws in the wall.
The walls must be “pearlash” or wiped down with a potash solution if they were formerly oil painted or enameled. The compound can be purchased from a store that sells wallpaper or paint. A wire brush and powerful detergent should be used to scrub walls that have been water painted, calcimined, or whitewashed. This will ensure that the new cover adheres well. Remove dirt and grease from previously unpainted walls by scraping with a wire brush and washing with a powerful detergent. Please ensure there are no frayed edges or peeling paper on once-papered walls, and apply a coat of glue size to the walls, letting it dry completely before putting the vinyl.
Wallcoverings Made of Fabric
Fabric wall coverings can be used to hide imperfections such as cracks in the plaster, uneven ceiling lines, and gaps in the corners caused by the walls settling. It strengthens the bond between the plaster layers below. The only modification you’ll need to make is the final length, as it comes in precut 24″ widths. Instead of overlapping the strips, as is done with regular stock, the straight edge makes it easier to accomplish a particular butting job. Fabric wall coverings are installed in the same manner as conventional wallpaper.
Trim for Walls
Vertical boards of knotty pine, golden oak, or redwood provide an impression that is difficult to achieve with most other building materials. Don’t settle for anything less than No. 3 joint boards from the lumber yard. The panels will be unusable if they fall short of the required quality, as they will have loose knots, splits along the grain, and destructive ends. Warping can be severe in lower grades as well. When choosing knotty pine, ensure the knots are minor and do not protrude from the board on either side. Do not use planks that have had long knots cut out of them. If panels are piled correctly in the yard, they won’t be warped or twisted.
Lumber should be stored inside at the future room temperature after delivery. Start this process at least a week before you plan to hang them. When stacking, you should look at both sides and decide which one you want to be the top. After the wall is up, paint the back with a colorless wood preservative to prevent moisture from seeping through the unfinished side. The lumber should be stacked with little blocks every four feet. This allows for ventilation on both sides.
Construct the walls while waiting for the lumber to cure. Furring is required for the vertical erection of the wall. If you plan to install the boards horizontally, no furring is necessary, but you should still identify the wall studs to know where to nail them. Furring is needed to anchor plywood panels and prefabricated board wall pieces securely.
Start at one of the corners. The first board should be nailed with the tongue edge away from the corner. Nail 1″ out from the corner edge into the furring using a face-nailing technique (into the face of the board). Finishing nails (8d or l0d) should be driven at an angle through the tongue at the board joints and into the furring. Drive the nails just below the wood’s surface with a nail set. To prevent hammer marks, a block of wood is held against the tongue as a pad, the second board is positioned against the first, and the groove is squeezed over the first language. The same method of nailing up the tongue. There is no longer any need to assault someone verbally.
To prevent the boards from bowing in the middle and pulling away if they swell due to moisture, cut them at least 1/4″ shorter than the height between the floors and ceilings. When building an adjacent wall, the first board is positioned in the corner, with its groove end butting up against the first board that has been affixed to the wall using face nails. Board walls typically require additional trim work around doors and windows because their installation increases the surface over its original boundaries. Remove the old casings and replace them with 2-by-2s made from the same material as the wall, making sure to install them so that they are flush with the inside of the window or door frame. When the final wall boards are butted against the 2-by-2 strips, the combined effect of these and the furring will be a smooth, even surface. After the 2-by-2s are installed, new casings can be cut and installed using the same material. The spaces above doors and windows should be given the same attention.
Wood panel walls can have their tops and bottoms finished in various ways. There must be some form of trimming. One example is a horizontal 3–4 inch broad baseboard. The board can be hidden with a minimum of 1″ quarter-round. A thin crown molding (2 to 5/2″) or a 1″ quarter-round to match a similar base could work well at the ceiling line. You can use an l by two strips when no rounded edges are acceptable.
Hardboards with a plastic coating make for a sleek, low-maintenance wall covering. They have a tempered hardboard base with a hard, semi-gloss plastic surface. They never need to be decorated, and a simple wet cloth is required to keep them clean. Install as shown in the photos on the following page.
Peg-Board
Peg-Board, or perforated hardboard, can be purchased in pre-cut panels or trimmed to size with a hand or table saw. Homeowners short on storage space will appreciate this item because it comes with various metal hangers that can hold anything from lawnmowers to hats. An entire room wall, a closet, or a spare corner can be used as a showcase or storage area. Brush or roller, any paint will adhere to the perforated hardboard, whether finished on one side or both. Most projects only need a 1/8″ thick piece of pegboard. Using a framing or furring strips wide enough to allow appropriate hanger clearance behind the board is the sole precaution you must take in its installation. To hang a 1/8″ Peg-Board, you’ll need a space of 3/8″. Nails, countersunk holes, and putty can be used to secure the board to studs or walls, or screws can be inserted into preexisting holes.
Ceramic Tiles
There are two ways to install ceramic tile on a wall:
First, combine one part ordinary cement (ideally white Portland cement) with two to five parts clean fine sand and water to create a thick paste. Soak both the wall and the tile’s backing in water. Next, install the tile using the paste.
Second, you may try a plastic adhesive. While the white isn’t watertight, the black is. The neighborhood hardware store stocks both varieties. However, before applying the glue, ensure the wall and tile are arid.
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