The question of where to carry out repair work earlier - on the walls or ceiling, began to be asked from the very appearance of stretch films.
I don’t want to shower fresh gloss with dust, which reflects the whole room. Expensive wallpapers are also a pity if they suddenly suffer by accident while working with a stretch fabric. To understand this issue, let's try to step by step follow the process of repairing ceilings and walls.
Process features
Whatever work has to be done first, each will be to the detriment of the other. When installing a baguette under a stretch fabric, holes are drilled in the wall, which produces a lot of dust, and fresh wallpaper may suffer. In addition, the installation of the canvas itself occurs with the participation of high temperatures. Nobody knows if the wallpaper will like it.
There is a way out. Carefully prepare the walls for pasting and invite specialists to install the baguette (do the dustiest work), then paste over the wallpaper and again invite workers to install the ceiling. The method is good, but there is one problem - the craftsmen will not agree to such a protracted method of work.
To understand the features of the process, and at least get closer to unraveling what to do first, you need to try to figure out what a stretch ceiling and wallpaper are.
The canvas itself is a fabric base or a PVC product that comes in matte and glossy. Mounted on a specially prepared metal or plastic frame.
If the ceiling was planned to be multi-level, all drywall work should have been done in advance. First, the old finish is removed, the ceiling is cleaned well, otherwise, in the future, finishing debris will shower on the stretch fabric. Then comes the turn of the treatment of fungal stains (if any). All electrical wiring work must be completed prior to ceiling installation.
Wallpaper - a rolled canvas of various types: paper, non-woven, vinyl. Many had to glue them. To begin with, the walls are leveled, and a layer of glue is applied to the dried surface (if the wallpaper is paper, glue is also applied to the canvas). Then the coatings are placed on the base, glued well, air bubbles and excess glue are squeezed out with a roller.
There is nothing complicated about this, but there are two types of development of events: either the wallpaper is pasted over before the installation of the ceiling and pressed down with a baguette (they look neat in this case), or after the top of the canvases you will have to carefully trim, trying not to harm the ceiling structure.
What is the sequence?
Let's try to understand what is better: to stretch the suspended ceiling before or after wallpapering. To do this, consider both options.
First the wallpaper, then the ceiling
If a decision is made to proceed in this way, it is worth considering the need for a break of 4-5 days between pasting the walls and installing the ceiling. The wallpaper should dry well before the heat gun works..
Some experts believe that you should first work with the walls, perfectly align them, otherwise the ceiling canvas may be skewed.
The main danger of pre-gluing is the contamination of the walls when working with a perforator.
If traces of brick remain on the wallpaper, it will be quite difficult to remove them.
A rotary hammer equipped with a vacuum cleaner would help solve this problem to some extent. Gluing the canvases before installing the ceiling frame will cause them to fall under the baguette. It will press down the upper edge of the paintings, which will make it difficult to dismantle the wallpaper during the next repair.. The positive point is the ideal upper contour of the wall.
You can opt for liquid coatings. They are beautiful and modern, but the risk increases when working with a spatula to stain the finished ceiling.
If you have to glue wallpaper for painting, the risk of staining the ceiling becomes even greater. On the other hand, high temperatures during installation can affect the quality of the paint at the base of the ceiling. The same problem can happen with liquid wallpaper.
First the ceiling, then the wallpaper
If the wallpaper is light and delicate, during the installation of a stretch ceiling, they can be irreparably damaged, so it is better to paste them over at the last stage of repair. In addition, the lack of professionalism among those working with the ceiling can lead to mechanical damage to the wallpaper.
pasting the walls, care must be taken to work with the upper edge of the canvases so as not to break the ceiling plugs. Everything will work out if you show diligence, but during the next repair, the wallpaper is easily dismantled.
Both options have their pros and cons, but the choice always lies with the owner.
Important nuances
The question of order has not yet been clarified. What to do before, mount stretch ceilings or deal with walls? Pasting wallpaper, as well as installing the ceiling, have their own nuances. When working with walls, there is a chance to damage or stain the stretch fabric, and in fact it is actually eternal, while wallpaper can be re-pasted every year.
When a profile is placed under a stretch ceiling, there is a possibility of wallpaper contamination, and there is also a fear that they will not withstand high temperatures. In this case you can abandon the PVC surface in favor of a fabric web, the mount of which takes place in a cold way.
And one more nuance - the profile for a woven ceiling requires finer drilling, which means there will be less dust. However, well-dried wallpaper can easily withstand temperatures of 60-70 degrees.
You need to heat up the PVC film to soften it. The prepared canvas is immediately filled under the profile using special tools. The gap between the material and the wall is masked with plugs. It is they who are the first to suffer from poor-quality work with wallpaper.
An important nuance: any stretch ceiling can be mounted with wallpaper, even in a room furnished with furniture. Sliding wardrobes and curtains are not a hindrance to this process either. You just have to work as a vacuum cleaner afterwards. But, if the repair has just begun, you need to ask yourself the question many times what to do first.
But what if the repair was made a long time ago and you need to re-paste the wallpaper without damaging the ceiling? Dismantling should be carried out very carefully, especially if the wallpaper was pasted at the initial stage. and got under the ceiling profile. They will have to be released without damaging the canvas.
To perform the work you will need a spatula and a construction knife. Carefully slide the spatula between the ceiling and the knife. Moving them along the walls, slowly cut off the old wallpaper. In this way, you can protect the material from being cut, even if the knife comes off.
It is much easier to remove the finish if you wet the walls with water and wait a while.
Having studied the workflow, it was expected that we would immediately get an answer to our dilemma. The answer is no, you will have to turn to specialists.
Expert opinion
The renovation is coming to an end and it is hoped that experts will shed light on the sequence of construction work.
Masters believe that it is better to paste over the walls, and then install the ceiling. The arguments are the same: there is a risk of damaging or staining the walls, in addition, high temperatures are unfavorable for fresh wallpaper. Perhaps these craftsmen are afraid of the responsibility for the dusty walls.
Other experts, on the contrary, advise mounting the ceiling after gluing, fearing for the canvas, which can be damaged with a construction knife when cutting wallpaper. And glue and paint, getting on the canvas, will ruin it forever.
There is no unequivocal opinion even among professionals, because the material for work, the room, various nuances - everything can be extraordinary, requiring an individual approach.
Successful examples and options
In conclusion, I would like to dwell on the aesthetic component of the work done. If you see how beautiful the ceilings and wallpaper have become, the answer to the question of what to do before can develop by itself. Or maybe it won't work out.
Stretch ceiling - has always been an interior decoration. It can be amazing and mysterious, like a country through the looking glass. With him, the room is filled with colors, it seems larger and brighter. Ceilings come in different types, have their own design and style.
Matte
Absolutely flat surface without a hint of reflection. The texture resembles a classically painted canvas. Used for large rooms.
Matte is so neutral that it suits any style. Soffits will be good equipment for the ceiling, or other sources of bright light, because the matte canvas does not reflect light.
Glossy
A good option for small rooms. They get the opportunity to visually double in size. Moreover, the dark gray canvas has a stronger reflectivity..
Spotlights (even a faint glow) on such a ceiling look like stars. By building multi-level compositions with the help of drywall, and placing a canvas in them, they achieve the effect of an almost natural image of water or sky.
fabric
Despite the textile origin, the canvas is still processed with polymers and acquires special strength.
Satin
The texture resembles satin (the surface is slightly shiny), and if equipped with an appropriate pattern, it will be difficult to distinguish from the fabric.
Currently, the most common finishing materials in the production of repairs are: for the floor - laminate, for walls - wallpaper. Their popularity is due to a wide variety of colors (there is a lot of room for design) and an affordable price. The question of what wallpaper or laminate first arises for almost everyone who decides to do such work on their own. There is no single answer. As practice shows, many both professionals and "amateurs" prefer the sequence: "first laminate and then wallpaper." Although this method has quite a few negative points.
Sequence of work according to the rules and regulations
All regulatory documents for construction and repair determine the procedure for performing finishing work in the direction from top to bottom. In our case, to the question of what is wallpaper or laminate first, SNIP gives an unambiguous answer and recommendations for consistent work: first we glue, and then we lay.
From a technological point of view, this is absolutely correct. Wallpapering work should be carried out in a "tightly" closed room. Almost all adhesive compositions contain a large amount of water. The humidity of the room during the work and further drying (and this sometimes takes 2-3 days) will be very high. This can significantly damage the flooring if the laminate is installed prior to gluing. At best, it will simply swell and its service life will be significantly reduced. In the worst case, our coating will simply swell, and its partial, and sometimes complete replacement will be necessary. That is, the money for its acquisition and the time for arrangement will be wasted, not to mention their own labor costs and moral damage.
If you have purchased a “super-moisture-resistant” laminate and are not afraid to scratch it with the legs of a ladder or a construction knife when cutting wallpaper, then to the question: what is the laminate or wallpaper glued first, you will definitely answer yes, in that order.
So, having decided on the sequence of work, we proceed to their implementation (after all, it is better according to the algorithm recommended by SNIP).
Wall preparation
Before you puzzle yourself with the question of what to glue the wallpaper or lay the laminate first, you need to do all the preparatory work.
Preparing the walls:
- We remove old wallpaper with a special scraper, spatula or other convenient tool. To speed up the process, the wall covering is thoroughly moistened with water.
- Depending on the size of the irregularities and roughness, we apply the necessary layer of plaster or finishing putty.
- Then we grind the surface with sandpaper.
- Carefully remove dust and prime the walls with a special compound to prevent absorption of wallpaper paste.
Floor preparation
Since laminate is recommended to be laid on a fairly flat surface, the subfloor must be prepared accordingly. With large elevation differences, you will first have to perform a rough sand-cement screed. If the irregularities are small, then one filling of the self-leveling mixture will be enough (there is a sufficient variety on sale). After such processing, alignment and grinding will not be subsequently required.
Cutting wallpaper
We cut wallpaper either on a special workbench (a cutting table, which hardly anyone has on the farm), or on the floor (which happens much more often). And again we return to the question: what comes first wallpaper or laminate? If you nevertheless initially mounted the floor from the laminate, then when cutting the wallpaper, for example, using a ruler and a construction knife, there is a high probability of scratching the surface. Well, if you listened to our recommendations and preferred to start with wallpaper, then scratches, even deep scratches, will not affect the quality of the future floor.
We measure the height of the wall and prepare the required number of pieces with a small allowance.
Attention! If the pattern on the wallpaper provides for docking, then first unwind two rolls at once and simultaneously attach them to the wall. Then it will be much easier for you to determine the place of the incision. It is better to number the prepared pieces immediately, then there will be no errors in the gluing process.
Wallpapering
We tightly close all windows and doors and proceed to the final decoration of the walls. There are three ways to apply glue: only on the back of the wallpaper strip, only on the wall, or on both surfaces at once. It depends on the material of the wallpaper used (paper, vinyl, and so on) and the manufacturer's recommendations (usually they are indicated on the packaging; however, as well as the brand of recommended glue).
The following procedure is most likely familiar to almost everyone:
- Using a plumb line or building level, we draw a vertical line on the wall.
- In accordance with the applied markings, we apply the strip to the wall (starting, of course, from above).
- Gently smooth with a special soft spatula or brush.
- Glue the next strip and so on.
- After arranging all the walls of the room, we leave the windows and doors closed for final drying (2-3 days).
Throughout this time, the humidity in the room will be very high. Anyone who has ever done such work must have seen trickles of water flowing down the glass. In such conditions, the floor covering can become completely unusable. For those who doubt the sequence: glue the wallpaper or laminate first. We hope that now it is clear why the walls are first of all equipped, and only then the floor.
Arrangement of the substrate
Before proceeding with the installation of laminate panels, a special substrate is laid on the floor surface. For this purpose, roll materials of cork, expanded polypropylene or small foam balls are usually used, fixed between two strips of polyethylene film. The choice of the type of products for this purpose depends only on your preferences and financial capabilities.
Many manufacturers equip on one side a small strip with an adhesive applied to it. This greatly simplifies the fixation of the substrate strips to each other and prevents their displacement. If the material you purchased does not have such a convenient technological “thing”, then after laying it is necessary to fix all the joints of the individual strips from above with a thin mounting tape.
Laying laminate
Before proceeding with the installation of the laminate, lay out several sheets along one wall, and some in a perpendicular position. See which option looks best in daylight and artificial lighting and is most in harmony with pasted wallpaper. Having decided on the direction, you can start laying. This is another answer to the question: what to glue the laminate or wallpaper first?
Attention! It is unacceptable to lay the laminate close to the walls. Leave a gap of 10-15 mm. To do this, pegs must be installed around the entire perimeter of the room. Such devices can be purchased at any hardware store or cut independently from a wooden block of suitable sizes.
First lay the first strip of laminate along the wall. The second and subsequent lines must be mounted with a shift of 20-30 cm relative to each other (that is, in a checkerboard pattern). Almost all modern varieties of this popular floor covering have quick-lock locking locks at the ends. If you purchased products with a regular tongue-and-groove joint, then after laying each row, it must be tapped with a mallet through a spacer made of non-solid material, for example, through a wooden block. This will ensure a snug fit between the sheets of laminate to each other.
Naturally, in the process of laying it will be necessary to cut the material. And here, to the question of what wallpaper or laminate do first, many opponents of dust, of course, will answer - only the floor. Arguments: the dust that inevitably forms during sawing will cover the glued wallpaper with a dense layer and clog the pores of the wall material (especially if it is paper). However, firstly, modern electric jigsaws and hand-held circular saws have devices for connecting a vacuum cleaner, which reduces the dust formation process to a minimum. And, secondly, the cut can be made in another room. For example, in the bathroom, where shavings from tiles and earthenware are much easier to remove.
After finishing the laying of the finishing floor covering, we remove the fixing pegs around the entire perimeter and proceed to the arrangement of the plinth.
Finally
The final choice of sequence: what is first wallpaper or laminate, remains, of course, up to you. Everyone chooses for himself the most acceptable and convenient in all respects algorithm for carrying out repair work. The main condition that must be met is to purchase obviously high-quality materials from trusted manufacturers and strictly follow the recommendations for their use.
To complete the repair with minimal financial losses, maximum effect and in a short time, you need to do each type of work in a timely manner. Then there will be no threat of damage to the steps already taken. When deciding what to do first - glue the wallpaper or stretch the ceilings - it is necessary to take into account what causes less construction debris and the likelihood of damaging the already finished part.
Stretch ceilings are considered an expensive pleasure. Damage to the stretch fabric due to the fact that the wallpaper was not glued initially causes additional costs.
When choosing what to do first, glue wallpaper or stretch the ceiling, you need to take into account many factors: the materials and technologies that should be used, the cost of the project. For example, if the stretch fabric is made of PVC, you will have to warm up the entire room, since such ceilings are installed using a heat gun. In this case, damage will be done to the wallpaper, so it is advisable to glue them in the second turn.
And if you first glue light wallpapers, and then work with the ceiling, building dust settles on the walls, making the coating unattractive.
Opinion of experts: it is desirable to first do all the rough work, and then glue the wallpaper or make a stretch ceiling in any order. In this case, rough work will not affect the condition of the finished surfaces. It is slightly more expensive, more troublesome, but more reliable.
To decide whether it is better to finish stretch ceilings before or after wallpapering, it is necessary with your own construction team. Specify that builders are responsible for the type of premises.
Every ceiling installer should have a tool with a dust collector
If the wallpaper is already pasted
If not a major overhaul is being done, but only part of the work, what to do first is decided by the case. With wallpaper glued, it is quite possible to work if you do it carefully and take some precautions:
- Ordinary wallpaper or photo wallpaper should adhere well to the walls. If the wallpaper is first glued, it is necessary to withstand at least 5 days before installing the stretch ceiling. Otherwise, a change in the microclimate in the room will cause them to simply fall off. An important role in this is played by the method of installing ceilings: a heat gun heats the room up to 60 degrees.
- The walls are covered with a film to protect them from construction debris, which will appear in the process of preparatory work with ceiling surfaces.
- When installing the mount, it is better to use a special puncher with a vacuum cleaner. In this case, dust will settle much less.
If you do a major overhaul first, and then change the ceiling design when the wallpaper is already glued, it is better to use baguettes. They will cover the damaged tops of the wallpaper. The risk of spoiling them is very high when the frame is installed. But if everything is done strictly before stretching the canvas, there will be no problems.
If the ceiling is installed immediately
In the case when the ceiling structure has already been strengthened before wallpapering, and the canvas is stretched, the wall must be repaired with extreme care. It is advisable to complete the rough work earlier to avoid a large amount of dust. If this was not possible, the ceiling must be covered with a film, which is attached to the walls in places where the baguettes will be located further. Reinforced baguettes can be carefully removed, but if it is supposed to glue the wallpaper further, they are usually not laid.
Tension material is easily damaged, so repairs must be done carefully
The wall surface must be leveled, only after that wallpaper is glued. If they are light or fabric, then this order is more correct. This ensures that the walls are in perfect condition.
The walls will have to be re-glued much more often, so the wallpaper is glued end-to-end to the decorative plinth. If you have to tear them off, there will be no damage on the stretch ceiling.
Other cases
There are many exceptions and nuances that you need to pay attention to. Here is some of them:
- Ideally, when the stretch ceiling or wallpaper does not begin to be glued separately, but do it in stages. First, you should complete all the preparatory work, only then take on the finishing.
- In order for false ceilings to remain clean when wallpapering for painting, you must first deal with the walls. Otherwise, the paint may get on the ceiling sheets, which react very poorly to most chemicals. If you have to paint after installing the ceiling, the perimeter is finished with masking tape. The ceiling itself is covered with a film until the paint dries.
- The possibility of replacing wallpaper with a stretch coating exists. The old ones are neatly trimmed under the plinth. To avoid contamination and damage to the canvas, after rolling the ceiling with a film, all work is carried out in the usual way. Especially often this needs to be done in the kitchen, where moisture and grease quickly make the wallpaper unusable.
- If part of the room is already ready. It is advisable to invite workers from well-known construction companies, and not cheap labor.
- It is better to remove any dirt immediately, before the stain has eaten into the surface. If you still had to clean the stretch ceiling fabric, you can do this with a vacuum cleaner (if you do not rest against the coating), with a dry soft cloth. Glossy canvas can be cleaned with water and dish detergent or by diluting ammonia in water in a ratio of 1:9.
Caring for the canvas is simple: just gently wipe the stain with a microfiber cloth
It is necessary to decide what should be brought to the ideal first - the ceiling or the walls - taking into account the specific situation, weighing all the pros and cons. It is best to discuss all the details with the hired workers before the start of the repair, and not during its progress.
Repair in an apartment or house is a small war that every person faces. Before you take all the steps, you need to think through every little thing, nuances, purchase all the materials. During the repair, many questions arise, one of which is what to do first - glue the wallpaper or lay the laminate? This topic concerns most people who come across these materials. Today we will figure out what is better to do in the first place.
Advantages and disadvantages of different methods
Each master and team in the construction industry has its own arguments and facts regarding when to glue the wallpaper - before or after laying the laminate. It does not depend on the professionalism of this or that person, but to a greater extent on convenience, the sequence of repairs and other factors.
One of the most important nuances that affect the sequence of repairs regarding flooring and paper sheets is the complexity of the preliminary work and the amount of debris that can be. So, you need to predict how much material residue you will have on the floor, ceiling, walls, and so on. This is due to the fact that during subsequent work, the remains of building materials should not damage the flooring or wall decor. For this reason, it is recommended to first make the repair more complex, with a lot of debris, and then move on to cosmetic actions.
Important! We draw your attention to the fact that when laying the floor, regardless of the type of base material, the smallest amount of debris is generated compared to other types of repairs in the room.
Facts about wallpapering walls at the initial stage
Before deciding when to wallpaper - before or after laying the laminate - analyze the entire scope of the repair that you plan to do.
Why is it better to finish the walls before laying the floor:
- Laminate is a flooring material that is installed in a unique way using wedges. As a result, it does not damage the wall decor.
- When laying floor “planks” after pasting paper rolls, your wall products will not be smeared with various substances. This condition is met if you have done all the finishing work before gluing paper or non-woven rolls.
Important! If you decide to decorate the walls first, then the room in which the repair is being made must be completely dry. That is, the moisture formed during wallpapering should disappear. If there is high humidity, budget laminate brands can change their shape and size.
If you are wallpapering when the flooring has already been laid, the floor must be covered. This is due to the large amount of moisture released with this technology of wall decoration.
Is it possible to glue wallpaper after laminate or not?
When faced with the problem of what to do first - glue the wallpaper or lay the laminate, some people, due to any circumstances or decisions, give their preference to the original floor finish.
According to the technical characteristics, it is possible to finish the floor first, then the walls. However, it is worth considering the fact that damage to the floor is possible. At the very least, you can stain it with glue and the like. More serious damage is also possible.
Based on the above reasons, all professionals and specialists recommend that you first finish the vertical surfaces of the room.
Important! Of course, if you already have laminate flooring installed, then you need to protect it from damage. To do this, it is best to cover it with any material in two or three layers. For example, film, fabric, paper rolls.
The sequence of repair of walls and floors:
- Wall preparation. It includes the removal of old decor, putty, primer and decorative plaster.
- Rough floor preparation.
- Pasting of vertical surfaces in the room.
- We expect complete drying.
- Laying floor decor.
- Install skirting boards.
footage
Of course, when deciding what to do first - to glue wallpaper or lay a laminate, many experts have their own opinion and the owner decides on his own which one to give his preference. We recommend that you first repair the walls, and then finish the floor.
All photos from the article
Operations such as wallpapering and installing a ceiling plinth are quite simple. However, even they have certain nuances that raise questions among home craftsmen. In particular, many people are interested in - first glue the wallpaper or glue the ceiling plinth?
What to glue first
Before saying what to glue wallpaper or ceiling plinth first, let's get acquainted with the existing types of ceiling fillets:
The method of installation of fillets depends largely on their weight. For example, foam and polystyrene products are very light, so they can even be glued to wallpaper. The only thing is that for this you need to follow a certain technology, which we will get acquainted with below.
Plastic products weigh much more, especially for massive models. Therefore, they must be mounted directly to the wall. In view of the foregoing, it is possible to answer the question of whether it is possible to glue the ceiling plinth on the wallpaper: if foam plastic, then yes, and if all other types, then no.
Installation nuances
Over pasted walls
First of all, let's consider how to glue the ceiling plinth on the wallpaper, since this question is most often of interest to home craftsmen.
In this case, the following adhesives will be needed:
- "Moment-montage";
- Any other polymer adhesive;
- Putty mixed with PVA.
Advice!
When choosing the better to glue the ceiling plinth to the wallpaper, you should pay attention to the setting speed of the composition.
The higher it is, the better, since it is difficult to hold the planks on an outstretched arm for a long time.
