How easy is it to hang lining paper?

[Riverland]

Need to redo a bedroom which has relatively low ceilings and is relatively small.. The walls are very very very bumpy but not on the budget for aplasterer, so...lining paper was suggested.

I've never hung any, never done any papering.

What do you think? How hard is it?!

I have no experience in this what so ever but just from reading this DIY board for a while I've picked up people saying things like, get good quality paper as cheap stuff shrinks and leaves gaps. And some people say something about putting it up horizontally, it's horizontal in my house from the previous people.

I'm sure someone with more accurate info will be along soon though.

We had a house with old bumpy walls, we hung 1200 gauge (thickest) lining paper and painted over in Farrow & Ball - vast improvement.

Wallpapering is not that hard, you need the equipment which is a few pounds and it's worth finding a video/instructions to get started.

Helps to have a friend/partner. If your relationship survives wallpapering it will probably survive anything.

You would only hang lining paper horizontally if you were going to put another wallpaper on top of it.

It's easy to hang as there is no pattern matching, but if your walls are very bumpy they will still look pretty bumpy with wallpaper on top. It's better than wood hip though. But YY to good quality paper.

If you use cheap thin lining paper the paste makes it very fragile and you can put your fingers through it. I tried lining paper on bumpy walls and they still looked bumpy, but it was a nice stable surface to paint.

if it's a small room I would check the price to skim the plaster. I have been pleasantly surprised at how cheap it is and you will have a lovely surface to paint for years to come.

Also, if you would need to buy a pasting table, plumb line, brushes etc before you start papering take that into account vs. a plasterer.

(it's not a big outlay but I would regret not re plastering my room sooner! )

Putting lining paper up horizontally is a nightmare but essential if you are wallpapering over the top

If you are going to paint over it then it goes up vertically and is pretty easy but personally I think it doesn't really improve the surface that much

Check out the price to skim -it's generally cheaper than you think

Actually a previous poster saying 1200 is the thickest is wrong - it can go upto 2000 (Wickes sell 1700, 2000 etc). The advice I've found online that 1400 is the optimum lining paper to use - it gives a much better finish than 1000 / 1200 but it is still manageable to work with - once you get up to say 1600 / 1700, the paper is so thick that for the average DIYer, its very hard to put up.

But I agree that if you have bumpy walls, they will still look bumpy with lining paper. We used the 1400 in one of the children's bedrooms and =it looks good, but the walls were in a pretty decent condition, we spent at least a day prepping the walls - sanding them down, filling in cracks / smoothing out. Skimming isn't too expensive but if it is out of your budget, get the walls as good as they can be then hang 1400 paper.

Good luck

Horrendous ime. The lining paper makes the bumps underneath stand out even more.

Getting a professional in to replastering or skim the walls might not be as expensive as you think.

It's pretty easy to hang but I'm used to matching the most sadistic of patterns. I'm sure designers chuckle to themselves sometimes at the thought of someone trying to hang their work.

You need to leave a tiny gap in between each strip if you're painting though.

My plasterer told me that he has put lining paper on top of all his newly plastered walls as he says it looks better.

Doesn't really fill you with confidence that does it?

I swear by wall doctor lining paper. Available from b and q etc. A bit pricier but so worth it. You paste the wall not the paper and it was way way easier. I had never done it before and I managed it so you can too.