Installation Guide

Getting Your Walls Ready: A Pre-Installation Checklist

The difference between a wallpaper installation that looks flawless for a decade and one that shows every seam within a year almost always comes down to what happens before the paper ever touches the wall. Here's what we check — and what you can do on your end — before installation day.

1. Start With a Clean, Dry Wall

Wallpaper adhesive needs a clean surface to properly bond. Dust, grease (especially in kitchens), and residual cleaning products can all weaken adhesion and lead to bubbling or lifting seams down the line. We wipe down and de-gloss walls as a standard first step on every job.

2. Remove the Old Wallpaper Completely

Papering over existing wallpaper might seem like a shortcut, but it almost always telegraphs old seams and texture through the new layer, and it traps moisture between the two layers — a particular risk in Hawaii's climate. We remove old material fully and assess the wall underneath before moving forward.

3. Repair Imperfections

Wallpaper is unforgiving to uneven surfaces — unlike paint, it won't hide small flaws; it highlights them. Before installation, we fill nail holes, sand rough patches, and repair any drywall damage so the finished wall is smooth and level.

4. Prime the Wall

This is the step that's easiest to skip and most costly to skip. A proper wallpaper primer does three things: it creates a consistent surface for adhesive to bond to, it seals porous drywall so moisture doesn't get trapped, and it makes future removal dramatically easier. In Hawaii's humidity, we treat primer as non-negotiable rather than optional — especially in bathrooms, kitchens, and any room without air conditioning.

5. Check for Moisture and Ventilation Issues

Before we hang a single panel, we assess how the room breathes. Is there an exhaust fan in the bathroom? Does the kitchen get steamy during regular use? Are there signs of past water intrusion near windows or the lanai door? These answers shape both material selection and prep — sometimes we'll recommend a moisture barrier or a different primer entirely based on what we find.

6. Plan Seam Placement and Pattern Matching

Good installers plan where seams will fall before the first strip goes up — ideally away from obvious sightlines like the center of a wall facing the room's main entry. For patterned wallpaper, we also calculate pattern repeat in advance so motifs align cleanly across seams instead of looking obviously mismatched.

What You Can Do Before We Arrive

• Clear furniture and wall art away from the room being papered.
• Let us know about any past water damage, leaks, or mold in the space.
• Flag any electrical outlets, sconces, or fixtures that will need to be worked around.
• If possible, run the room's AC or fans for a few days beforehand to reduce ambient humidity.

The Bottom Line

Wall prep isn't the exciting part of a wallpaper project, but it's the part that determines whether your installation still looks perfect five years from now. When you work with us, prep isn't an upsell — it's simply part of how we do the job right the first time.