How can I fix my Decorating Disasters?
There are many reasons why wallpapering or painting can go
wrong! From buying the wrong products, to amateur mistakes, wallpapering and
painting isn’t always as easy as it looks!
However, thankfully there are many ways to fix these
decorating disasters too!
From removing it all and starting again to handy tips
& tricks on how to quickly fix minor issues, you can quite easily turn your
decorating disasters into decorating dreams!
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| Decorating Centre Online- Prowling Leopard Print Wallpaper Silver £9.99 |
Wallpaper peeling is a very common problem whether it is as
a result of the original adhesion to the wall being poor, or just general wear
and tear, peeling wallpaper occurs quite often!
It is often quite difficult to properly secure your
wallpaper to the wall if you are an amateur (and sometimes even if you’re a
professional too!) which almost always leads to peeling wallpaper.
However, if you find your wallpaper coming away from your
wall for the many various reasons- and many more- listed above, if you follow
the easy step-by-step guide below, you can easily fix the problem in no time!
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What you will need:
·
Paintbrush- Harris Platinum 3 Brush Pack: 1x1", 1x1.5", 1x2" £3.99
·
Wallpaper Repair Glue
·
Clean rags
·
Decorator’s Sponge
·
Wallpaper Seam roller
·
Decorator’s tape- Professional Decorating Low Tac Masking Tape Gold 24mm x 50m £3.99
·
Wallpaper Adhesive Syringe
·
Utility Knife- Soft Grip Stripping Knife 50mm £3.50 OR PaperWiz 3-in-1 Multi Tool £4.72
·
Wallpapering Brush
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Step 1: Find out what has gone wrong with your Wallpapering
This wallpaper peeling often occurs in the corners,
or even just at the seams of your wallpaper which breaks up the pattern and
causes the entire wall to look scruffy too.
Before you even begin to fix your peeling wallpaper, you
must ensure that you assess the rest of the room for any peeling.
Even if you spot tiny areas of the wallpaper peeling away
from the wall, ensure that you take not of where it is peeling away so that you
can fix it while you are fixing the larger peeling problem.
This is because if you decide to leave the smaller peeling
problems, it will eventually peel in larger quantities, which means that you
will have to fix it anyway!
You might as well cover all your wallpapering bases
at once and fix all if the issues whether they are larger or small!
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| Decorating Centre Online- Lemur Jungle Metallic Wallpaper Rose Gold £12.99 |
Step 2: Peel back the
edges of the Wallpaper
Now, this may seem like an obvious step, however it is
essential that you follow it step-by-step.
Firstly, you must peel back the wallpaper further than the
peeling is occurring. Although this may seem like you are making the already
complicated issue worse, it will help adhere the wallpaper to the wall much
quicker and easier too.
Make sure you only pull the wallpaper until you reach the
point where the wallpaper has come off the wall to ensure that you don’t rip or
tear it.
If the rest is securely attached, make sure that you just leave it firmly
adhered to the wall.
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Step 3: Delicately Glue
the edges of the Peeling Wallpaper
Using a small paintbrush- try not to use larger ones as this
will risk spreading the glue over the front of the wallpaper- spread wallpaper
repair glue over the back of the wallpaper roll.
Although this won’t be
obviously visible- as the glue will dry clear- it
will shine against any light which hits it which will make the glue visible.
This means that it is essential that you try and keep the
glue confined to the back of the wallpaper rather than allowing it to blend onto
the front area.
However, applying too much glue can also be an issue- which
is why smaller paintbrushes are much better- as applying too much glue to the back
of the wallpaper can result in the formation of air bubbles which will
obviously change the smoothness and consistency of your wallpaper adhesion.
Once the glue has completely covered the back of your
peeling wallpaper, make sure that you firmly press the loose piece of paper
back onto the wall.
I would recommend holding it on the wall for at least a few
seconds so that you can make sure that the wallpaper will be completely adhered
to your wall.
Make sure that you also wipe away any excess glue if you
have accidentally added too much etc. in order to decrease the chances of it drying
and showing on your wallpaper.
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Step 4: Smooth down
the Wallpaper and Tighten the Seal of the Wallpaper to the Wall
After you have reattached the loose wallpaper, it is
essential that you smooth it down so that your wallpaper will look as
gorgeously smooth as when it was first applied.
For this step, you can use either a wallpapering brush which
may be easier to smooth down your wallpaper if it is a larger peel, however
if the peel is smaller, you can use a damp sponge.
It is essential that the sponge is only damp, and certainly
not wet, as- depending on the wallpaper you have chosen- this could damage,
tear or even completely ruin your wallpaper.
For this step- whichever utensil you are using to smooth it down- make sure that you get rid of any air bubbles from the middle of the
wallpaper going towards the outside.
If air bubbles are still a problem in your wallpaper, run a
seam roller over the wallpaper in an up and down motion until all the air
bubbles have been released from the underside of the wallpaper.
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| Decorating Centre Online- Pulse Star Geo Wallpaper £11.99 |
Step 5: Place decorator’s
tape on the edges to Secure them while the Wallpaper is Drying
In order to prevent the wallpaper from peeling again, make
sure to place decorator’s tape along the edges of the wallpaper which peeled
previously.
Not only will decorator’s tape keep the wallpaper fully
adhered to the wall throughout the drying process, but it will also ensure that
your wallpaper will not tear or come apart which many other tapes will do if
placed on wallpaper.
This is because decorator’s tape is much more delicate than other
types of tape- even masking tape- and is specifically designed not to pull away
paint or other decorating products.
There are even ‘delicate’ types of decorator’s
tape if you are nervous about the tape ripping your wallpaper.
Leave this tape to sit for at least 24 hours before removing
it to allow for an optimum amount of drying time.
If any other peeling occurs on your walls, follow the 5
steps above carefully.
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| Decorating Centre Online- Stag Wood Panel Wallpaper Rose Gold £9.99 |
Step 6: If you still
have any Bubble Issues with your Wallpaper, Add Adhesive to Flatten them
If there are quite a few bubbles in your wallpaper, it might
be best to strip it all completely and start all over again. However, if there
are only a few bubbles underneath your wallpaper, you can use adhesive to stick
them back down.
If the bubbles in the wallpaper are as a result of debris,
this method will not work.
However, if it is as a result of air bubbles, you
can use a wallpaper adhesive syringe to inject some glue into it and smooth it
down with either your hands, a decorating sponge, rag or even a wallpaper seam
roller.
Make sure to wipe away any glue from the top of the
wallpaper in order to avoid the glue from drying on top of the wallpaper.
However, this step can be slightly different if you are
trying to remove bubbles from vinyl wallpaper, this is because vinyl wallpaper is
slightly thicker than other regular wallpaper.
Firstly, you will have to use a utility knife to cut into
the bubble with a very small ‘X’ pattern. Then, much like the steps detailed
above, apply the new adhesive underneath the pattern with a small paintbrush.
Smooth over with a damp sponge and wipe away any excess adhesive.
If the bubbles underneath your wallpaper are as a result of
debris, you will have to cut it out. Using the method above, add the step of scraping
or wiping out the debris before gluing the ‘X’ shape cut back down again.
Finished!
Check out the video below for some great tips & tricks:
How do I fix bubbles
and/or blisters in my painted wall?
You’ve gone through the long and laborious process of
picking the colour of your paint, prepping your wall, potentially priming it,
sanding it, choosing your finish, making sure you have the correct tools,
prepping your room and many other preparatory steps, only to find out that your
beautiful wall has bubbled and/or blistered!
There are many reasons why your paint can bubble, such as:
·
Not Using
a Primer: For some surfaces, using a primer before painting is an essential
step in order to reduce any bubbling which may occur. This is because primer
works to ready a surface for painting which will ensure that the paint will
stick and bond to the surface. The primer can prevent any bubbles from occurring
as if the paint and the surface are not compatible, the primer will stop this incompatibility.
·
Excessive
heat or Temperature Fluctuations: During the painting process, excessive
temperature changes can affect how the paint dries and therefore form bubbles,
blebs or blistering as a result. This means that covering up any windows which
shine excessive sun into the room can be a way of preventing the formation of
these bubbles.
·
Moisture
on the Walls Prior to Painting them: This can be from either damp, a leak
or any other moisture which is behind the paint on the wall before being
painted. This can be reversed by following the appropriate steps depending on
how wet he wall is.
·
Oil/dirt/
any other debris on the surface of the wall: In the presence of any objects
other than the wall, paint can bubble up as a result of the debris preventing
the paint from adhering to the surface which can create bubbles in the surface
of the paint on the wall.
Whatever the reason why there are bubbles on the surface of
your painted wall, there is a very easy way to remove them from your walls!
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| Decorating Centre Online- Colour Match Paint from £13.99 |
What you will need:
·
Paint
Scraper Knife-
·
Sanding
paper- Mirka Aluminium Oxide Sanding Paper 60 Grade £1.95
·
Clean rag/cloth
·
Decorator’s
sponge
·
Filler- Mangers All Purpose Filler 500g £1.50
·
Filler
knife-
·
More
paint-
·
Sugar
soap- Sugar Soap Ready to Use 500mls £1.99
Step 1: Scrape the
Paint off the Wall
Although you are probably wishing that there is an easy way
to remove the bubbles from your paint (perhaps something like removing bubbles from
your wallpaper listed above), you will have to scrape off the damaged paint
from the walls.
The best way to do this is to use a larger paint scraper in
order to remove as much of the paint as possible from the affected site.
Make sure that you remove as much of the paint as you
possibly can during this step as it will make the second step below much easier
to complete.
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| Decorating Centre Online- Colour Match Paint from £13.99 |
Step 2: Sand down the
area of the Wall which has been scraped until Smooth
Using a combination
of rough as well as smooth sanding paper, make sure that you sand down the wall
as much as you can until the surface is as smooth as you can possibly get it.
During this step, you can use either a mechanical sander or –
if you are wanting to do it by hand- you can simply wrap a piece of sanding
paper around a solid block to make it easier for you to sand down the entire
wall.
You will know that this step is finished when the area is
completely smooth as well as the division between the paint and the wall is
completely seamless.
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| Decorating Centre Online- Zinsser Peel Stop Bonding Primer £10.29 |
Step 3: Clean the
Area of the Wall
During this step, you can use either a damp cloth or rag or
even a decorator’s sponge, or you can use sugar soap if removing some grease or
dirt is proving to be difficult with just water.
Make sure that all dirt/grease/debris is removed from the
sanding process above as well as any other grease of dirt which may have
created the bubbles in the first place.
This step is essential for making a smooth paint finish as
it could result in more bubbles if it is not carried out both thoroughly and
effectively too.
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Step 4: Fill in any Holes
or any Imperfections in the Wall
If there are any minor imperfections o your walls, it might be
best to fill them before you attempt to paint it again.
This is because- much like the point detailed above- it will
help prevent any further bubbles form occurring on your new paint job.
This can be done with any filler and by following the manufacturer’s
instructions on the back of the pack.
Sand the area after you have filled it and clean it by
following the instructions in step 3.
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| Decorating Centre Online- Leyland Trade Acrylic Primer Undercoat Brilliant White 750ml £8.99 |
Step 5: Prime the
area which you are wanting to re-Paint
Depending on the surface you intend to paint, as well as the
paint which was previously underneath different primers should be used for
different purposes.
If you need any more information on which primer to use,
check out Our Other Blog post ‘Which Primer Should I use?’ for more information
bout primers and how to use them effectively.
A primed surface does not always require two coats- although
it may in certain cases- however any streaks or lack of consistency in the
coating of primer should not be worried about.
Rather, primer will not look like a finished coat of paint
as it is only to create a friction surface for the actual coat of paint to adhere
to.
Wait for the primer to dry and add a second coat if it is
necessary- check the manufacturers instructions and follow any instructions on
how to prime the surface which you are re-painting.
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Step 6: Paint the
Surface Again
Once the primer layer- or layers- are perfectly dry
(according to manufacturer’s instructions as well as to touch) you are now able
to repaint your area using either a paintbrush or a roller.
For any more information regarding painting walls, please
check out our Other Blog Post ‘How to Paint your walls’ for a handy little
step-by-step guide.
And Done!
Check out the video below for a visual guide on how to get rid of bubbles in your painted walls:
For more information, check out our other BLOG POSTS for trends, DIY, how to’s and other handy guides!
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