This wall was textured.
The bottom section was skim coated (what some drywallers call
"putty coating"), primed, and sized for wallpaper.
Some of the inks come off when you wipe this stuff
down. Wring out your sponge well and wipe gently to remove any adhesive.
Then gently towel dry to prevent spotting. Your rinse water will
turn blue. Don't let it get on the carpet.
Unfortunately, this dark wallpaper was printed
on a white backing. Due to limitations in the manufacturing process,
you would normally see white seams no matter how tightly each edge
is butt joined. Most people think this is caused by seeing the wall
behind the wallpaper. Even if the wall were painted black, you'd
still see white seams. There is a solution to this problem...
Before you unroll each bolt, color the bolt ends
using a permanent marker which closely matches the background color
of the wallpaper.* This technique may not
work on certain papers with patterns lighter than the background
color which cross the seams; or on papers that act as a blotter
and suck the marker ink onto the front of the paper. TEST ON THE
OUTER EDGE OF A BOLT END FIRST!!!
Even if the color match isn't perfect it will look much better than
white seams. Don't use a water soluble marker. That will bleed everywhere
when you activate or paste your wallpaper and install it.
Notice the water above the baseboard? Don't leave
it or it will stain your woodwork. Be sure to gently wipe it up
with a clean towel.
The blue ink on the towel and in the rinse water
isn't from coloring the bolt ends. This is what came off the wallpaper
during installation.
GLOW IN THE DARK WALLPAPER!
This wallpaper wasn't completely dry yet, but I wanted a nighttime
photo before leaving the job.
