A relic of the past: many people still make this mistake when pasting wallpaper
In my practice, I have pasted more than one hundred rolls of wallpaper. It often happens like this: I come to the customers to glue the wallpaper, I start to remove the old ones, under them there is a layer of one more, and under them another. A grandma enters the room and persuades them to leave everything as it is: "Don't touch them, don't suffer, glue new ones on top and that's it." At first glance, it seems that this can save time. But the savings can end up being too expensive.
Why can't you do this
- Repairs may end before they can begin. Modern wallpapers are denser and heavier than old ones. In the process of work, the old wallpaper gets wet and under the weight of the new one can simply peel off from the base. What we get in the end is that we bought a reliable glue, took expensive wallpaper, after gluing they hold in places, and hang out in places. Money down the drain.
- "Spotty" walls are obtained. Even if the old wallpaper continues to stick to the walls, getting wet from the glue, in some places it will move away from the base. At the same time, bubbles form on the surface. Who needs a void under the wallpaper?
- Memories of the old finish remain. Sometimes people save to the last. They choose cheap paper wallpapers, and the old ones are removed only where they themselves have moved away from the wall. The relief appears on the surface, and the repair is extremely conditional.
When you can still glue on old wallpaper
"Wait, like so, - someone from the older generation will think, - after all, new wallpapers were glued on top of old ones before ". Even newspapers were specially pasted over the base under the wallpaper. Yes, they did so, let's figure out why and why.
Houses in the Soviet Union were built for speed. There was no time to perfectly align the walls, and there was nothing, the materials were different. Then they took thin paper wallpaper and glued it. Any unevenness is a verdict for wallpaper. Bulges on the wall, curved corners led to breaks. When pasting new wallpaper, the old ones served as a kind of backing and prevented tears. Then people just got used to doing this and did not even think why.
Let's go back to our time. Modern plasters and putties, even in inept hands, make the surface relatively even. The wallpaper has become denser and stronger. Even the cheapest paper ones do not compare with those that were before.
My position in this situation is unambiguous - the old wallpaper must be removed. In any circumstance. Don't look for a magic pill, it's not there! I wrote this article, of course, not for masters. They already know it. Dear customers, do not leave old wallpaper on the walls before gluing new ones and do not ask the finishers about it. They know what they are doing and give a guarantee for their work. Success to everyone!
The author of the article, master finisher - Elena Chakhlova.
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