If your walls seem to be a little rough and you are thinking of wallpapering them, there are a number of things which you should keep in mind. You can find more about venetian plaster"http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com/Venetian_Plaster.html">resources on venetian plaster at his website. The first is that if you try to wallpaper over the rough wall, it will not go on properly and the results will not look good. This means that you have a few choices to make.

You can either place a liner on the wall yourself or pay a professional to do everything for you. Obviously doing it yourself will save time and money and it is not overly difficult to do either.

Preparing Rough Walls for Wallpaper

Now it is only really a good idea to do this yourself if the walls are not too rough. If they are then you may need to hire a professional. If they aren't too rough then adding a liner onto the wall is the first step to preparing it. This will mute the texture and give you a smooth surface on which you can add the wallpaper to.

Skimcoating the surface with a drywall joint compound is the best idea though it will require some amount of patience and time. Firstly you will need to remove any paint which is scaling on the wall as well as grime, dirt and dust which may have built up over time. Any water stains should also be sealed with an oil based stain killer. If you have chosen to wash down the walls then you will need to ensure that you take off any soap and cleanser type residue before you begin your work.

If the wall is slightly too rough then it may be a good idea to try and knock off some of the really rough bits. This can really help to reduce the number of coats of mud that you may need and therefore it saves you money as well as time. Once you have done this you will then be ready to start on the walls properly and in order to do this you will need some all purpose compound.

Usually the wall will need to have at least two coats of the all purpose compound on it, but it really depends upon how rough the wall is. If it is overly rough then it will need more coats. The tools which you will need to help you to prepare the walls include a mud pan and a 10-12 inch broad knife.

When it comes time for the skimcoating you will need to ensure that all the strokes that you do all go in the same direction. For example, when you are doing the first coat it may be easier to go horizontally. However if you do choose to go horizontally then you will need to make sure that each stroke is horizontal for the whole wall. Once you have finished the wall allow it to dry before applying another coat. For the second set of strokes it may be a good idea to go vertically. This will help to give an even coating.

Finally you will need to sand down and to do this you may find it easier to use a medium grit sanding sponge. Once you have done this you should then add a drywall sealer/primer before eventually trying to wallpaper. It really is as simple as that!