Papering a Ceiling -2

Unfold the paper gradually, smoothing it along the chalk line as you go and working toward the other side of the ceiling. Don’t unfold more paper than you can smooth down easily. Once the paper is started, use the smoothing brush to help you set the rest of the strip, always keeping it exactly aligned on the chalk line.

When the entire strip has been applied to the ceiling, go back over it with the smoothing brush to remove air bubbles. Hold the brush with bristles edge-on to set the paper firmly into corners and along the wall joint, pounding firmly until the paper is well creased into place. Don’t trim the overhanging edges yet; wait until the second strip is in place.

If you didn’t cut all the strips before starting to paste, measure and cut the second strip and all succeeding strips the same way. Brush paste to the back of each strip, fold it accordion-style, and set it onto the ceiling, always starting at the right and working toward the left (or the reverse, if you’re left-handed). Set each strip next to the last one and slide it gently into place to butt exactly against the last edge. Remove air bubbles with the smoothing brush and pound the wall edges into place.

As you finish setting each strip, go back to the one ahead of it and trim the overlapping edges with a sharp utility knife; change the blade as soon as it begins to dull. Match patterns carefully, if necessary. Seal the seams between strips as you work, pressing them firmly with a seam roller; wipe the roller often with a clean rag to remove any excess paste. Trim the last strip as necessary along the wall.

To work around light fixtures, measure carefully and mark the affected strips lightly on the right side before you apply the paste. If the fixture affects only the edge of a strip, cut a small slit in the paper and simply cover the fixture; trim the overlapping paper when you smooth the strip. If the fixture is more in the middle of the strip, cut a small X in the paper exactly at the center point of the fixture, no more than half the diameter of the fixture, and trim away the center points to leave a small hole. Paste the paper and set it into place, easing the precut hole carefully over the fixture. The paper will tear around the fixture as you push it into place; don’t let it tear too far. Smooth the paper around the fixture with your fingers, being careful not to tear the edges. Trim excess paper after the strip has been smoothed into place.

To complete the job, remove any excess paste at the ceiling edges with a damp sponge. Replace light fixture covers and dispose of the dropcloths. Save unused wallpaper for repairs.

Materials: plastic dropcloths, masking tape, strong household detergent, spackling compound, fine-grit sand¬paper, sizing as recommended by wall paper dealer, wallpaper, wallpaper paste as recommended by dealer.

Time: about 1 day per room for patch¬ing and sizing, 1 day for papering. Choose paper with a slight texture to disguise ceiling flaws. The classic is white, but feel free to use colors and patterns. If the paper you like is prepasted, use wallpaper paste to put it on the ceiling-after soaking, most pre¬pasted paper is too heavy to handle or to stick well to a ceiling. Make sure the paper is pretrimmed.

Figure the square footage of the ceil¬ing and buy paper accordingly; most rolls of paper cover about 30 square feet. Buy at least one extra roll. Ask the dealer how much paste and sizing to buy.

Paper the ceiling before you do the walls. Before you start to paper, make sure the ceiling is clean. Move all furni¬ture, rugs, drapes, and pictures out of  the room; cover the floor with plastic dropcloths and secure them at the edges with masking tape. Wipe the ceil¬ing with a wall-cleaning sponge. If it is very dirty or greasy, as in a kitchen, wash it with a strong household deter¬gent and let it dry. Remove light fixture covers.

Prepare the ceiling by patching any cracks or holes; fill them with spackling compound, smoothed on with a putty knife or scraper. Let the compound dry and, wearing safety goggles, sand it smooth with fine-grit sandpaper; re¬move the plaster dust with a wall ¬cleaning sponge. Work from a scaffold made with a plank set across two step¬ladders. Vacuum the room.

Coat the ceiling with sizing, applying it evenly with a large brush. Apply one or two coats, as recommended by the manufacturer. Let dry completely.

Cut border tiles to work out from the corner tile along the two corner walls. Install two or three border tiles in one direction and then two or three in the other border row, always facing the two tongued edges of the tile out. As you work, slide the grooved edges of each tile over the exposed tongues of the last tiles to lock the tiles firmly together; press the tiles firmly against the ceiling.

Fill in between the border tiles with full-size tiles in an expanding wedge pattern, gradually extending the rows of border tiles and fanning tiles out to cover the entire ceiling. To work around light fixtures, hold the tile up to the ceil¬ing before applying adhesive; carefully mark and cut off the area to be removed, then apply adhesive and slide the tile into place.

Continue to set tiles until you reach the far corner of the room. Before cut¬ting border tiles for the two far walls, measure the gap left beyond the last full tile. Mark and cut border tiles along these walls one by one to make sure they fit the gap.

Measure the ceiling carefully to determine the width of the tiles that will go around the edges; measure in feet and inches, across both chalked center lines. To calculate the width of border tiles, consider only the inches mea¬sured past the last full foot in each direction-5 inches, for example, from 17 feet 5 inches. Add 12 inches-the width of one full tile-and divide by 2. The result is the width of the border tiles at each end of each row of tile laid in that direction. If the inch measurement is 5, for example, border tiles in rows across the direction measured will be 8 ½  inches wide.

Calculate the width of border tiles along both directions. Start working in one corner of the room; from this corner, measure out the width of the border tiles in each direction. Mark these points on the ceiling. Snap a chalk line on the ceiling at a right angle through each of these points, making sure each of the two new lines is paral¬lel to one of the chalk lines across the center of the ceiling. These new lines mark the rows of border tiles along the two walls that form the starting corner.

Set the corner tile first. Mark it to the measured size with a soft pencil; cut it, face up, with a sharp heavy-duty utility knife and a steel straightedge. Ceiling tiles are made to lock together, with two grooved edges and two tongued edges. The tongued edges of the starter tile must face toward the center of the room, so cut the grooved edges to trim the corner tile to size. The border tiles along the two starter walls will also be trimmed along the grooved edges; the tiles bordering the two far walls will be cut along the tongued edges.

Unfold the paper gradually, smooth¬ing it along the chalk line as you go and working toward the other side of the ceiling. Don’t unfold more paper than you can smooth down easily. Once the paper is started, use the smoothing brush to help you set the rest of the strip, always keeping it exactly aligned on the chalk line.

When the entire strip has been applied to the ceiling, go back over it with the smoothing brush to remove air bubbles. Hold the brush with bristles edge-on to set the paper firmly into cor¬ners and along the wall joint, pounding firmly until the paper is well creased into place. Don’t trim the overhanging edges yet; wait until the second strip is in place.
If you didn’t cut all the strips before starting to paste, measure and cut the second strip and all succeeding strips the same way. Brush paste to the back of each strip, fold it accordion-style, and set it onto the ceiling, always starting at the right and working toward the left (or the reverse, if you’re left-handed). Set each strip next to the last one and slide it gently into place to butt exactly against the last edge. Remove air bub¬bles with the smoothing brush and pound the wall edges into place.

As you finish setting each strip, go back to the one ahead of it and trim the overlapping edges with a sharp utility knife; change the blade as soon as it begins to dull. Match patterns carefully, if necessary. Seal the seams between strips as you work, pressing them firmly with a seam roller; wipe the roller often with a clean rag to remove any excess paste. Trim the last strip as necessary along the wall.

To work around light fixtures, mea¬sure carefully and mark the affected strips lightly on the right side before you apply the paste. If the fixture affects only the edge of a strip, cut a small slit in the paper and simply cover the fix¬ture; trim the overlapping paper when you smooth the strip. If the fixture is more in the middle of the strip, cut a small X in the paper exactly at the cen¬ter point of the fixture, no more than half the diameter of the fixture, and trim away the center points to leave a small hole. Paste the paper and set it into place, easing the precut hole carefully over the fixture. The paper will tear around the fixture as you push it into place; don’t let it tear too far. Smooth the paper around the fixture with your fingers, being careful not to tear the edges. Trim excess paper after the strip has been smoothed into place.

To complete the job, remove any ex¬cess paste at the ceiling edges with a damp sponge. Replace light fixture covers and dispose of the dropcloths. Save unused wallpaper for repairs.

Mix the paste as directed. Cover your work table with a clean plastic dropcloth and unroll a strip of wallpaper on it, face down. Measure the width of the ceiling across the chalk line and cut the strip of wallpaper about 4 inches longer than this, using a sharp scissors. If you’re using a paper with a definite pattern, cut the strips for the entire ceiling at this point.

Match the patterns exactly before cutting each strip; cut all strips about 4 inches longer than the measured width of the ceiling where they will be set into place. Unpatterned paper can be cut all at once or strip by strip, as you prefer. Adjust the first strip on the table, still face down, so that one end lies flat and the other hangs over the table edge. Brush paste evenly onto the strip of paper with the paperhangers’ paste brush. Fold the pasted strip accordion¬ style, paste to paste, in folds about 18 inches long, lifting the paper at both edges and pulling it toward you to make each new fold. Be careful not to crease the paper at the folds, or the creases will show on the finished ceiling. Slide the piled-up paper to pull the dangling end of the strip up onto the table; paste this end and continue folding until the entire strip is folded together.

Position the stepladder scaffold under the chalk line so that your head clears the ceiling by about 6 inches. Start at the right corner if you’re right ¬handed, the left corner if you’re left¬ handed. Stick the smoothing brush in your pocket. Use a roll of paper to support the folded strip. Lift the roll of paper and the strip, being careful not to let the paper slip off the roll.

Choose paper with a slight texture to disguise ceiling flaws. The classic is white, but feel free to use colors and patterns. If the paper you like is pre¬pasted, use wallpaper paste to put it on the ceiling-after soaking, most pre¬pasted paper is too heavy to handle or to stick well to a ceiling. Make sure the paper is pretrimmed.

Figure the square footage of the ceiling and buy paper accordingly; most rolls of paper cover about 30 square feet. Buy at least one extra roll. Ask the dealer how much paste and sizing to buy.

Paper the ceiling before you do the walls. Before you start to paper, make sure the ceiling is clean. Move all furni¬ture, rugs, drapes, and pictures out of the room; cover the floor with plastic dropcloths and secure them at the edges with masking tape. Wipe the ceiling with a wall-cleaning sponge. If it is very dirty or greasy, as in a kitchen, wash it with a strong household deter¬gent and let it dry. Remove light fixture covers.

Prepare the ceiling by patching any cracks or holes; fill them with sparkling compound, smoothed on with a putty knife or scraper. Let the compound dry and, wearing safety goggles, sand it smooth with fine-grit sandpaper; re¬move the plaster dust with a wall-cleaning sponge. Work from a scaffold made with a plank set across two step¬ladders. Vacuum the room.

Coat the ceiling with sizing, applying it evenly with a large brush. Apply one or two coats, as recommended by the manufacturer. Let dry completely.