Cost to Wallpaper a Room

How Much to Wallpaper a Room?

The average cost to hang wallpaper in a medium-sized room is typically around £200 in labour with the cost of materials varying depending on which wallpaper you choose.

This price just involves hanging wallpaper, it does not involve stripping wallpaper and assumes the wall is in good condition with no remedial work required.

To strip existing wallpaper and hang new wallpaper in a medium-sized room, expect to pay around £350 in labour costs.

The standard painter and decorator will often charge around £150 per day in labour and usually work by themselves as another person in one room can often be one too many.

The job on average will take 1 to 2 days to complete but may take longer in rooms that are difficult to strip or those which need plaster repair work.

Remember, too, that tradesmen prices will be affected by other factors, such as where you are located in the UK.

Wallpapering Prices

Below are some estimated costs of hiring a decorator to wallpaper a room:

Additional Costs of Wallpapering

There are other expenses to consider when you look at the overall cost to wallpaper a room.

If your wall is in poor condition, it might not be possible to hang wallpaper without first remedying any underlying problems. There are two primary options to solve this: plastering or plasterboarding.

Plastering Room Costs

The purpose of plastering is to create a smooth surface to allow hanging of wallpaper or painting.

There are different plastering methods, and this will impact the cost of plastering a room.

Re-plastering a room can cost anywhere between £390 and £700, depending on its size. Fully plastering a room will generally cost between £600 and £1,400.

If it is going to be difficult to hang your wallpaper properly without the wall being plastered or skimmed, it's important to have this work done first. This will prevent you wasting money on wallpaper that is improperly hung.

Plasterboarding Costs

Plasterboard is also known as drywall, and it is an alternative to wet plastering. However, drywall may need skimming with plaster afterwards to ensure hanging wallpaper won't damage the wall if it's ever removed.

As the name suggests, plasterboarding involves boards or sheets being hung to create a smooth surface ahead of wallpapering.

Typical plasterboarding prices range from £250 to £1,200, although any skimming costs will need to be added on top of that.

Painting Skirting Boards Costs

Skirting boards can easily be forgotten about, but next to freshly hung wallpaper, they can stick out and ruin the overall effect.

You should factor the cost of painting skirting boards into your redecorating budget, as it can be a tricky job for amateurs.

On average, skirting boards cost around £200 to £300 to paint. This will vary depending on whether there are any cracks or holes in the woodwork that need fixing before the job can be completed.

What Does Wallpapering a Room Entail?

Wallpapering is not as popular as it used to be. Since the 1990s painting walls has become more popular in the UK, but recently wallpapering has started to come back into fashion.

Home wallpapering is quite labour intensive and the amount of work involved will vary depending on the condition of the walls and the size of the room.

If the walls are already wallpapered, then usually this will need to be stripped off using a steamer and a scraper. However, sometimes you can just wallpaper over old paper.

If the walls are simply painted then wallpapering the room is much quicker, though the walls may still need to be cleaned first. Some wallpapers also require cross lining for a superior finish, especially thinner papers on older walls. All wallpaper will require a smooth and clean surface to hang correctly.

Wallpapering a room will freshen it up, but often to finish the room off properly you will need to also freshen up the other surfaces such as door and window frames and skirting boards. The doors themselves will need attention too if painted and not natural finishes.

Don't forget the ceilings either as a grimy ceiling won't look great next to fresh wallpaper and bright white woodwork.

Wallpaper Removal Costs

If you are stripping old wallpaper off using a steamer, you should be prepared for a lot of condensation. It might be a good idea to remove items such as your sofa, or at least place them in the centre of the room and cover them to avoid them getting damp.

You can buy a steamer for around £25 to £45.

The flooring/carpets will also need to be covered to protect them from wallpaper paste and any painting being done at the same time.

If getting a decorator in to do the work, you should always check whether preparation work (such as moving all your furniture) is included in the price or not.

Most painters and decorators will expect the householder to move all furniture and other items to give them easy access to the walls ready for them to start work.

It's also possible to strip wallpaper using a spray water bottle and scraper. This method is not only cheaper but can also prevent causing any damage.

Follow this process:

• Use a spray water bottle with equal parts warm water and white vinegar.
• Score the wallpaper and spray.
• Leave to soak in then begin to scrape.

If you don't have a spray bottle, you can use a bucket and wet the paper using a sponge.

This method will cost less than £5 and often works just as well as a steamer without causing any damage to plaster.

DIY Wallpapering

Wallpapering seems to be one of those jobs that people have a certain knack for, you can either wallpaper, or you cannot!

Often, it looks much easier than it actually is to get a good finish, and there are lots of things which can go wrong leaving bumps, blisters, wrinkles and mismatched patterns in the final result.

Wallpapering is a job that you can take on yourself if you have the skills. It can, however, be a false economy to attempt to paper a room yourself unless you are confident about your skills. Wallpaper can be expensive and you will use much more of it if you're uncertain about the hanging process.

Patterned wallpaper is even more difficult to get right as the pattern has to be matched from one strip to the next. This frequently results in a lot of wastage to get everything lined up if you do not know what you are doing.

If in doubt, get a professional in so you are guaranteed a professional finish with much less stress. For many, the extra expense is more than worth it!

How to Prevent Bubbles When Wallpapering

One of the best ways to stop wallpaper bubbling is to go slow and steady when hanging a new sheet of paper and smoothing out any bumps as you do.

When smoothing out wallpaper, it's best to use a small amount of pressure with a sponge to avoid damaging fragile foil designs.

But if you still get bubbles even after being extra careful, the best way to get rid of them is to prick them with a pin whilst still damp and squeeze the air out from the edges of the bubble inwards.

When the air is released you should be able to force the paper into contact with the wall and it will then stick and dry flat without any trace of bubbles.

Wallpapering With Pre-Pasted Paper

For those that are worried wallpapering might be too hard for them but don't want to hire a professional, repasted wallpaper might be a good option.

This pre-pasted wallpaper already has the paste applied to the back so you just wet it and apply the wallpaper to the wall like a huge postage stamp. This is much easier than using traditional unpasted wallpaper which requires you to mix and then add the paste to the back before applying to the wall.

However, you will find that professionals prefer traditional wallpaper that needs to have paste mixed and applied because it lasts longer and they feel they can achieve a better finish.

The Costs of Pre-Pasted Wallpaper

Pre-pasted paper is slightly more expensive than normal paper and you can expect to pay £5 to £15 more per role, but there is no need to buy the paste so it actually works out slightly cheaper in most cases.

You still need to be careful and follow the instructions properly but it is generally easier than messing about with wallpaper paste. However, the downside is that pre-pasted paper tends to start peeling off the walls earlier than traditional wallpapers, so you might have to redecorate a little more often.

Cost of Wallpapering vs Painting a Room

People can often shy away from wallpapering as they consider it to be more difficult than painting. However, wallpaper has a number of advantages:

Advantages of Wallpapering

• Easily covers minor cracks and holes in the plaster.
• Simple and cheap.
• Can last as much as three times longer than paint.
• Wallpaper offers modern textures and designs which can add more depth and warmth than paint.

The biggest single disadvantage of wallpaper is the difficulty of removing it when you decide to redecorate. It can often take longer to strip wallpaper from a room than to redecorate it. Wallpaper is not great in humid areas like bathrooms or even some kitchen areas as the moisture can cause the wallpaper to peel away from the wall.

Painting is a popular alternative to wallpapering and can deliver a cost-effective and professional finish on almost any wall. Paint comes in a huge range of colours, shades and finishes nowadays – but so does wallpaper!

The cost of painting a room will generally range from £250 to £500, depending on the size of the room and the price of labour.

Painting might generally be cheaper and quicker than wallpapering, but it also has its downsides.

For example, paint can quickly fade and it more obviously shows wear and tear from minor bumps and marks made by furniture, children or pets. While a freshly painted wall can look great, you will likely find yourself touching up paint quite regularly.

However, there is no getting around the fact that hanging wallpaper correctly is time-consuming if you decide to do it yourself or can be costly if you bring a professional in.

Whether you choose paint or wallpaper, make sure that you are happy with your choice by testing using a large piece of white paper with your intended wallpaper or paint on each wall of the room. Remember that every wall in your home will look slightly different even with the same paint or wallpaper.

Wallpaper Feature Walls

While the overall cost to wallpaper a room can seem prohibitive, you can use wallpaper just on a single wall to create a feature.

This will reduce the time and cost of wallpapering while still delivering a visual impact.

If you're considering a feature wall, be sure to check that your choice of wallpaper and paint work well together.

Which Rooms Look Good with Wallpaper?

Wallpaper is versatile and can be used as decoration in various rooms across the home.

Usually, you'll find wallpaper in the following areas:

• Living room
• Dining room
• Bedroom
• Hallway
• Study

All these parts of the home can benefit from the different colours and designs available with modern wallpaper.

However, some rooms won't work well with wallpaper such as:

• Kitchen
• Bathroom
• Utility room
• Garage

These are generally areas at risk of high moisture levels, and that's something that can damage wallpaper over time.

In the case of kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms, tiling may be a better option, perhaps combined with painting. The cost of tiling will vary depending on the size of your bathroom, but to fully tile a small bathroom could cost around £900 to £1,000.

Ready to get a quote from local tradesmen?

Post your job in minutes and get quotes from local and reliable trades. It's FREE. No obligations.

Get a Quote

FAQ's