Lining Paper or Plaster?

Lining paper or plaster? That is the question.

A lot of customers do not know what to do when it comes to this. And I have to say, with all my years of experience. It is totally a preference.

If you buy a house, and want to go to the extent of having it re-decorated professionally, your preferences should come first. One thing I have learned, is that interior decoration is a cyclic thing. Wallpaper comes in and out of fashion every few years, each time it seems it has more garish colours and patterns. But it is your house, and what you want goes.

My personal recommendation would be to have nicely plastered walls. The reason for this is as follows. If your walls are in good condition, and any cracks or holes have been mended, skimming them is not necessarily going to be a long, arduous or expensive process. Plastered walls can be painted and re-painted time and time again, and will continue to stay in good condition.

If your walls are already wallpapered and you want to have them stripped back, skimmed and painted, it is slightly more of a task, but again, it can be done. One thing that I will always advise you to think about is, you don’t know what condition the walls are in under the wallpaper, and any quotation would have to be re-evaluated is severe cases. This is where a lot of customers would opt for lining paper to be put on the walls.

Lining paper comes in different thickness’s. A thick lining paper put on a wall well by a professional, any bumps or cracks underneath would not be noticeable. Once painted, you wouldn’t know that there was paper on the walls. This is the cheaper, faster alternative to having your walls mended, made good and skimmed.

The down side to lined walls is, the first few times you choose to paint it looks great, after that, the weight of the paint on the paper begins to make it sag slightly. The seams start to separate, and then the central heating helps them to separate more, and warps it slightly. This is only ever so slightly, but enough that you would notice it one day.

I would recommend to those with lined walls, to get the re-lined every 3 or 4 coats of paint, this way they always look fresh, and not like overly painted wallpaper.

If you are in need of a professional decorator in Fulham, Putney, or anywhere in London, then give us a call. We are happy to help.