What to do if the wallpaper starts to come off the wall?

Why does wallpaper peel off?

There may be several reasons why wallpaper peels off. The main ones are:

1. Poor preparation of walls for wallpapering. If the remnants of old coverings (wallpaper, paper, lime or whitewash) are not removed from the walls, new stripes will most likely peel off.
2. Working on a wet base. Plaster, putty, primer must dry completely – haste will lead to peeling.
3. Unsuitable wallpaper glue. In hardware stores, you can find special glue – for paper, vinyl, non-woven fabric. If you are wallpapering several rooms at once, using different wallpapers, take a composition marked “for all types of wallpaper”.
4. Incorrect microclimate. Everyone knows that until the wallpaper is completely dry, there should be no drafts in the room. In addition, avoid sudden changes in temperature and excessively high humidity. By the way, excessively dry air or accelerating drying with a heat gun, hair dryer, or radiator will also have a negative effect on the quality of the finish.
5. Lack of glue. You chose glue for gluing, diluted it according to all the rules, but regretted it when applying? Expect the wallpaper to peel off the wall.

The reason may be an emergency in the form of a freezing wall or flooding from neighbors above – from excess moisture, yellow spots will appear on the surface, the canvases will come off. In this case, simply gluing it is not enough – you will have to change it.

To improve adhesion, you should:

• completely remove the old finish;
• wait until the preparatory compounds are completely dry;
• select the appropriate wallpaper glue (with a working shelf life), dilute it correctly;
• close the windows and doors;
• apply enough glue, remove excess.

Professional painters do not recommend carrying out restoration or finishing during the heating season – it is better to do this in dry, warm summer weather. The room temperature is ~20 degrees, humidity is no more than 60%.

How to glue the joints?

Most often, wallpaper peels off at the joints – these areas are the most vulnerable, it is not so easy to glue the wallpaper here.

1. Prepare a narrow spatula, brush, primer or glue, joint glue (sold ready-made in convenient tubes), a roller with a rubber roller.
2. Carefully bend the edges, clean the area of the wall underneath them as much as possible from dust and putty.
3. Apply primer or a thin layer of glue, wait until it dries completely.
4. Smear with joint glue, apply them to each other, roll with force with a rubber roller.
5. Remove excess glue with a clean cloth – This should be done immediately, dried paste is almost impossible to remove from the outside.

Important! Even if the wallpaper has simply peeled off at the joint, there was little work to do; windows and doors should be kept closed until the areas are completely dry.

If the joint is located at a corner or in a hard-to-reach place, wallpapering is no different – the only thing is that you will have to apply the glue either with a thin curved brush or a syringe with a needle.

Re-gluing a large area

To re-glue wallpaper in a room that has peeled off in a whole strip or part of it, the mechanism will be slightly different. Before gluing the wallpaper, prepare the necessary tools:

• High-quality special glue for your type of material. PVA glue is not suitable in this case – it can leave marks on the surface after drying.
• A clean, dry brush. The size should correspond to the dimensions of the area where the wallpaper has peeled off.
• A plastic spatula. Special wallpaper, can be replaced with a roller with a rubber roller or a towel.
• Rags. Remove excess adhesive with a clean rag. Choose non-staining, light, highly absorbent materials.

If you need to glue wallpaper under the ceiling, first install a high chair or stepladder.

Instructions on how to properly glue wallpaper:

1. Fold back the part of the wallpaper that came off. Clean the wall with a strip from stuck debris, putty, dust. Use a brush, rag, paintbrush, spatula or vacuum cleaner. Professionals do not recommend washing the coverings: but if you can’t do without water, you should dry everything thoroughly after washing.
2. Apply the diluted glue to the wall and the canvas, wait 5 minutes so that it has time to soak in, softening the paper a little.
3. Apply the strip to the wall (if both surfaces are dry, apply glue again), adjust according to the pattern, join with adjacent canvases.
4. Carefully press, smooth with a wallpaper spatula, removing creases and bubbles. If glue leaks out, remove it with a rag.

Advice! If you find a bubble on an already glued area, use a syringe with a needle – with its help, glue is supplied to the place where the wallpaper is peeling off, it becomes possible to correct the defect.

Recommendations by types

The best way to glue wallpaper at home that has peeled off depends not only on the size of the problem area, but also the type of finishing materials.

Non-woven

The most popular type. It is good because the glue is applied only to the wall. This is relevant both for the initial gluing and in the case when you need to glue back the wallpaper that has come off. However, if the canvas is unyielding, you can also coat it with glue – it will become softer and stick better.

Important! We recommend avoiding glue getting on the outer coating. Otherwise, wipe off the product very carefully so as not to damage or erase the pattern.

Vinyl

They come with a paper or non-woven base, but they all have the same coating – polyvinyl chloride (foamed or hot stamped).

Depending on the base, the glue is applied either to the canvas itself (paper) or to the wall (non-woven). The second option is more modern and convenient to work with. If you are not sure which type you got, apply the adhesive to both surfaces, this will not harm either the paper or the non-woven fabric.

Important! A special strong glue is especially important for vinyl. If you don’t have any in stock, buy a box marked “for vinyl wallpaper”.

Paper

The most inexpensive, environmentally friendly, but at the same time minimally practical finishing material. The problem with paper is the difficulty of working with it – after spreading the glue on the strip, it should be left for 5-10 minutes until it swells, then glued to the wall. Because of this feature, the canvases are quite delicate and difficult to smooth out.

If the joints have come apart, do not use a spatula to smooth them out with force – gently press the edges together, using a clean soft cloth.

Regardless of what wallpaper has come off the wall, before putting it back in place, check the surface for cracks and tears. If any are found, you should first restore them, let the putty dry, and only then proceed to the points in the previous section.

What if the wallpaper is old?

Unfortunately, wallpaper comes off not only after a month-old renovation, but also when it is quite old: how can you put back 2-3 year-old wallpaper if the next renovation is not yet planned?

• First, you should understand the main thing: the wallpaper is peeling off for a reason, most likely there is a certain problem on the wall. For example, a crack has appeared or it has gotten wet. Therefore, the first thing you should do is examine the wall for defects and fix them.
• Second, pay attention to the peeling material itself: most likely, it is dried out and will not lie on the wall as it should in its original form. You shouldn’t wet it with water, it’s enough to soak it with glue (it works on any type).
• Thirdly, be sure to use a primer: the old one has been absorbed for a long time and doesn’t work anymore. The primer must be suitable: other types, for example, under putty, create a strong film that does not allow the glue to be absorbed, which has a bad effect on adhesion.

If you notice a defect on your wall, do not be upset! It is not difficult to fix it, the main thing is to follow the sequence of actions.