Stripping old paper in post-war homes
Houses from the 1960s to the 1990s have often been papered and painted over several times. We strip every layer, including painted-over paper, wash off the old paste and fill any damage. If plaster comes away, our plasterers can repair it within the same job, and you agree any cost first.
Once the wall is sound, it's sized or primed as the paper maker recommends. We plan the repeat so the pattern matches at every join and the least visible join falls in a corner.
Heritage wallpaper in older and listed homes
St Neots has 156 listed buildings and only around 980 homes built before 1919. Walls in those houses can be uneven, and lining paper gives a good paper an even surface to dry onto. For designer and William Morris papers we check batch numbers and plan every drop before cutting. The William Morris hall and stairs we papered over three floors shows the approach.
St Neots at a glance
- 31 milesby road from our Landbeach base, about 39 minutesOSRM routing
- 6%of properties were built before 1919VOA Council Tax stock
- 4%date from 1919 to 1939VOA Council Tax stock
- 14,487householdsCensus 2021
- 156listed buildingsHistoric England
- 66%of homes are owner-occupiedCensus 2021
How we approach wallpapering
We prepare St Neots walls by stripping, washing and filling, then line or size as needed. Samples are held up in the room so you can judge scale. Long staircase drops are pasted and folded carefully, every length is hung from a plumb line, and edges are trimmed neatly around sockets, architraves and skirtings. The full method, products and FAQs are on our wallpapering page.