easiest trade

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I think any trade can be learned/taught. How long this takes is another matter, This goes back to the old argument of the validity of the short courses. A person who is suited to manual work may get a good grounding in the very basics of a trade, but they will face a mammoth task to become a master of their chosen craft.

There is a huge void between a tradesman who has the basic skills, compared to a master craftsman who knows his trade inside out, a true craftsmam can do any job, anywhere in the world. Just my take on the dilution of skills.

 

[Tony73]

I did alot of wall paper , but still learning. Same with tiles . And hope i'll get some tips/advice about hanging wall paper even here :smilewinkgrin:

 

[charlie1]

I think any trade can be learned/taught. How long this takes is another matter, This goes back to the old argument of the validity of the short courses. A person who is suited to manual work may get a good grounding in the very basics of a trade, but they will face a mammoth task to become a master of their chosen craft.

There is a huge void between a tradesman who has the basic skills, compared to a master craftsman who knows his trade inside out, a true craftsmam can do any job, anywhere in the world. Just my take on the dilution of skills.

Good point phil and i agree, a true craftsman given the resourses can create something extra special where as a tradsman is limited to his / her skills and imagination. A good tradesman can cover most problems that come there way in day to day life without stressing , they dont need to have a passion for it, its just what they know through years of experience where as guys like yourself and some others on here, have tried different things and broadened there knowllage by stretching themselves in different aspects of there trade driven by a passion for it. However, it has occured to me, do people realise the extra precision the craftsman goes to? In some cases not, for example tling a normal bathroom, a good tradsman and a proper craftsman will do a very similar looking job in most cases to the un trained eye of joe public.

 

[charlie1]

I did alot of wall paper , but still learning. Same with tiles . And hope i'll get some tips/advice about hanging wall paper even here :smilewinkgrin:

I have no interest in hanging wallpaper but looking at some of colour R's work then i have to admit, impressive results can be achieved with paper but its just like everything else, it takes years of experience and curiosity about the trade to get any good at it...tiling will do for me lol!

 

[Colour Republic]

And my wall paper is not higher :lol:, i used laser level to start and on the corner. I took that last picture from closer, so you guys would see that walls are out one wall by 15mm, other by 35mm). House is very old (used to be pub) so ceilings and walls are all over the place.

I get that the walls are out of plumb but your floor must be running out hugely for it to drop by 15mm over such a short distance



I'm not trying to bust your balls over it as the jobs look good but wallpapering is far from easy. Just because most people can do a half decent job of a bumpy whites splashback doen't mean they can tile a stone bathroom with mitred or profiled edges.

The pictures above are just a few of ours and I hang wallpaper from £15 a roll to hundreds of pounds a meter, but even the cheap wall coverings still get a great deal of care and attention in making sure the job is spec'd to the correct standards.

This is one i'm doing in a few months, works out about £130 a sqm (trade!), believe me it is a whole world away from from a wallpaper you could pick up in B&Q

 

[Colour Republic]

Here's a perfect example of somebody being able to stick paper to a wall but not know what they are doing. Another decorating firm had hung this paper 2 or 3 times and every time it failed. The problem is they didn't line and they used the wrong paste. So we went and did it for them.

Colour Republic | Harlequin Oriana metallic gold Wallpaper | Installation

 

[Tony73]

Correct, have a look at the pictures with wall paper with the books. You could see how much skirting is running out :lol:. Done lots of paper where you overlap and cut , where you rip off about 10mm by hand before hanging etc etc. But i would defo ask your advice when i need, as i can see you know about hanging wall paper

 

[Tony73]

What paste do you use ?

 

[Tony73]

Will take more pictures tomorrow

 

[Colour Republic]

What paste do you use ?

What for the gold paper?

It was a PH balanced wheat based paste (ready mixed)

The problem with metallic woven papers is that you need to control the amount of moisture in the paper. The paper backing will expand at a greater rate than the metallic printed surface making the paper curl as soon as it is pasted. By using a PH balanced (will not stain the print either from getting on the front or by seeping through from the backing paper) wheat based (has lower water content than other types of paste) it becomes easier to hang. The lining paper was needed so it drew out the paste and set the seams quicker (this wouldn't have happened if we sized the liner after it was installed, it is much better to leave it unsized as you reduced some of it's properties by doing so), the paste can also get a much better bond to the lining than if it was applied directly to a plaster wall. Also the liner reduced the tension on the wall itself. That paper is still under tension today as it is still trying to shrink back to it's pre expanded state. Over time the paint it was stuck to would have failed and the paper split at the seams, the lining paper also works in a similar way to a decoupling membrane (although not in exactly the same way), so no split seams even 10 years later.

There is nothing wrong with solvite packet paste but it is only suited to certain types of paper, we use it for maybe 1 in 10 papers we hang.