Wallpaper Removal & Installation

Wallpaper is one of those finishes people either love or have been wanting to get rid of for years. Many older homes around West Springfield still have several layers from different decades, sometimes painted over, sometimes applied directly to unprimed drywall. Removing it well is slow, careful work, and the goal is not just to get the paper off but to leave a wall that is ready for paint.

Our removal process starts with a test area to see how the paper and adhesive respond. Depending on the type, we score and soak the paper, use steam, or peel strippable facings first and then treat the backing. Adhesive residue is washed off, because leftover paste causes paint to crackle and peel later. Where the drywall face paper has been torn, it is sealed and skim-coated so the surface is smooth again.

Once the wall is clean, it is primed with a product suited to the condition of the surface, and then it is ready for your new finish. Most clients choose to paint the room right away, and because we handle both, the transition from wallpaper to fresh paint happens in one project. If you are curious what to expect, our wallpaper removal guide walks through each stage in detail.

Installation is the other half of the service. Wallpaper has come back in a big way, especially as accent walls in dining rooms, entries, powder rooms and bedrooms. We prepare and prime walls so the paper adheres and can be removed more easily in the future, plan the layout so patterns land well at eye level and at corners, match repeats carefully across seams, and trim cleanly at ceilings, baseboards, windows and outlets.

We work with traditional pasted papers, pre-pasted papers and modern peel-and-stick products, and we are happy to give an opinion on which type suits the room, especially in humid spaces like bathrooms. If the walls need repairs before paper can go up, our drywall repair work is part of the same project so the surface is truly flat before any paper is hung.

Wallpaper removal can go wrong quickly. Aggressive scraping gouges drywall, steam applied too long can loosen the drywall face, and residue that looks gone can still ruin a paint job weeks later. What looked like a weekend project often becomes a room full of repairs. Experience with different papers and adhesives is what keeps the wall intact.

On installation, small errors compound. A wall that is slightly out of plumb, a seam that is off by a few millimeters or a pattern repeat that is misjudged at the first strip becomes obvious across an entire room. Careful layout before the first strip and steady technique through the last are what make the finished wall look professional.