Who Can Install Wallpaper? Find Out Who to Hire

While hanging wallpaper should seem easy to DIY, anyone who’s tried this project knows the challenges. From keeping the seams straight to smoothing the material to matching patterns to working around windows, hanging wallpaper takes a lot of patience. Rather than do the work yourself, knowing about professionals who can install wallpaper could be helpful. Here’s how to find a local wallpaper installer with the experience to ensure a high-quality job. 

Benefits of Hiring a Wallpaper Installer to Put Up Wallpaper for You

There are several benefits to hiring a wallpaper installer, including:

• Experience with difficult room layouts

• Experience with delicate wallpaper materials

• Ability to work around items built into the room

• Measurement accuracy, so you order the right amount of wallpaper

• Own all the necessary tools

• Faster installation than a DIY job

• Experience with prepping the walls

• High-quality finished product–with less frustration

Most experienced wallpaper installers can also remove existing wallpaper before hanging new wallpaper. This can be a messy and time-consuming job, making hiring a local wallpaper removal professional quite appealing. However, the cost to remove wallpaper by a professional is steep, ranging from $400 to $1,200.

Can I DIY a Wallpaper Install?

To stay within your budget, rather than search for a pro to hang your wallpaper, you can do the job yourself. This will save you money, but glue-down wallpaper might be hard to handle if this is your first DIY. You may want to consider an easier option: When comparing peel-and-stick vs. traditional wallpaper, the peel-and-stick product is far easier for a novice to handle. However, it almost certainly will not last as long as a glue-down traditional wallpaper installation from a pro.

Can I Hire a Handyperson to Hang Wallpaper?

When determining who to hire to install wallpaper in your home, you could save some money by hiring a local handyperson versus a professional wallpaper installer. Most likely, an average handyperson will not have the same level of experience as a professional wallpaper hanger.

However, if you have a relatively easy wallpaper install job, a handyperson could do the work just as well as a pro. After all, some homeowners hang wallpaper as a DIY job–and do it well–so a handyperson could also install wallpaper successfully.

Be sure to get a price quote from the handyperson to ensure that you will save money compared to hiring a pro. Also, ask the handyperson if they have experience hanging wallpaper.

How Do Wallpaper Installers Hang Wallpaper?

Professional installers follow a similar process no matter who hangs the wallpaper for you.

• Preparation: The pro you hire to install wallpaper will prepare the wall to accept the installation. This includes smoothing the surface by removing bumps and texture that may show through the paper. Removing old wallpaper and adding primer to the wall may be a necessary part of preparation, too.

• Projecting the Layout: The pro will create a rough layout of how the paper will fit against the wall. The idea is to create a layout that minimizes the appearance of seams, while also ensuring enough wallpaper is available. If your wallpaper has patterns, the pro makes sure the last seam appears in an area of the room where it’s not easily visible, as the last seam almost certainly will not have matching patterns between the sheets.

• Create Lines: The pro will use a laser level or a plumb line to mark lines on the wall that are perfectly straight. These lines serve as a guide for properly hanging sheets of wallpaper.

• Apply Paste: The pro will place the wallpaper paste onto the sheets of wallpaper or onto the wall, depending on the type of wallpaper in use. The pro only adds enough adhesive for one sheet of wallpaper at a time so it remains wet and viable.

• Hang the Wallpaper: The pro will apply the sheet of wallpaper, starting at the top and guiding it along the plumb line. The pro then uses a smoothing tool to remove any air bubbles trapped behind the sheet.

• Trim the Edges: The pro will use a razor blade, utility knife, or straightedge to trim any overlapping edges precisely.

DIY vs. Hiring a Pro

Some homeowners opt to hang their own wallpaper, especially DIY-friendly products like peel-and-stick wallpaper. However, wallpaper hanging can be challenging since you need to line seams up perfectly and use just the right amount of adhesive to achieve a professional-looking result without peeling, bubbling, or damaged drywall.

To guarantee the result you want, you can hire a local wallpaper installer instead. This will also save you time that you’ll be able to spend on other, more manageable projects.

Cost to Install Wallpaper

The cost of wallpaper installation ranges from $320 to $820 or an average of $560. However, project costs vary wildly by room size, so estimates are priced at $1 to $7 per square foot or $4 per square foot on average. Custom or luxury wallpaper will raise prices above this range, so have a pro inspect your space for the most accurate estimate.

If you're going the DIY route, your only cost will be that for the wallpaper itself. Wallpaper is priced by the roll, with costs ranging from $10 up to several hundred. If you don't already have paste, a water tray, sponges, tape measure, and other necessary tools for the job, you'll need to factor in those costs as well.

Kyle Schurman contributed to this article.