Hanging grasscloth

[janshome]

Although Iam not a professional paper hanger, I would consider myself from experience an Intermediate+ But I have never worked with a grasscloth. I need some advice on primers, paste, proper tools for this application and any tips you may have. My surface is drywall, smooth finish and painted flat. Vague directions recommend trimming edges 1-2" why this step and do I cut before paste or after hanging on wall? HELP! don't know where to start.

[ProWallGuy]

Prime the walls with a good pre-wallcovering primer. Look For Sheildz Clear, or Zinsser's Gardz, or something similar.

I use a heavy-duty clear adhesive, Romans 880 or Dynamite 234.

The manufacturers suggest dry trimming the material bacuase they will ocassionally come wavy from the factory. Do this by using a straight edge and razor blade,, trim off 1"-2" of the edges of each piece to create a nice, straight edge for the seam. Sometimes you need to do this, sometimes you don't.

You might need to reverse hang the strips too. Hang one piece, then put up the second one. If it looks real shaded, you can flip the second one upside down, and see if it looks better that way. If so, then reverse hang every other strip. Remember, some degree of shading is always going to happen. It is the inherent beauty of a natural fiber product.

Some hangers like to "panel" a room. meaning you measure the length of the wall, and trim each panel to be the same width to completely cover the wall. Gives it a more even look.

Hope that helps.

[mike stachnik]

Janshonme;

Ditto Tim

The reason they suggest trimming the edges is because the factory edge CAN be off, but I've never seen one that bad, and I hang alot of grasscloth. Alot of this install depends on your equipment. At the least, you should have a wallpaper table wide enough to handle the 36" width, and a good straightedge. when I say straightedge, I don't mean a metal ruler, I mean either an aluminum or magnesium. (if you have a brass-bound, welcome to the relics club!).

There are a few keys to making this an enjoyable, rather painless, knock-out job. Equipment and patience. First measure each wall for width. Take that measure, and divide by the closest number to 36 you can get, rounding for simplicity. (Example: wall is 100" wide.....you will have two pieces that are 33" wide, and one that is 34" wide). You 'll never see that difference of the 1" once the piece is on the wall. This is what Tim refered to as "paneling". And yes, you will be able to see each piece, or panel. Thats the way grasscloth is, so let your clients know that ahead of time. You don't want to get caught with the "why can I see each seam" question which WILL pop up if your client has never had grasscloth.


Paste and book one 36" sheet cut to length, plus trim. Avoid getting any paste on the front edges of your paper. Make sure your edges are aligned perfectly, because you'll be trimming one side off, hence the need for a table and straightedge. With the straightedge, measure from one edge in the distance you'll need to achieve your panel width. Make sure that this distance is the same at both ends of the straightedge. with a razor blade or whatever you use to trim, cut along the edge of the straightedge. This will leave you with your desired sheet, cut to width. Apply to wall in normal fashion, but do not get any paste on the front. Follow suit with the rest of the sheets.

Theres two things that I find that make for a smoother install. After priming, and prior to hanging, I will "size" my seam area's with a slightly diluted mix of the paste I'm using. Since I know the width of each panel, it's easy to detemine where my seams will be. Just brush it on and let it dry. The reason I do this is because I use as dry as a paste mixture as possible, meaning I add little, if any water to my paste. I want it tacky enough to hold the paper, without it oozing out at the seams. Sizing helps facilitate seams staying down with less pressure. The second is, paste and hang one sheet at a time. This way, your not rushing to get one sheet done as the other is lying around drying out, causing the seams to freeze.

This may sound like alot of work. But in the end, the job will come out, looking much better. You should look into joining the Guild if this is what you do for a living. There are alot of highly skilled craftspeople who share their knowledge on such topics. There may be aven members in your area who could show you hands-on, which is always the best way to learn. Hope this helps.

Mike