The Wallpaper Lady's Blog

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.”
 

Before quoting a price, it’s always best to see the job in person, to measure accurately and to gauge the prep required.

The Wallpaper Lady prices projects by the job, not by the roll.

In the Houston market, her price is generally neither the highest nor the lowest, but falls reasonably in the middle.

There are many factors that come into play … size of the room, difficulty of the job, type of paper, type of wall prep required, materials needed, accessibility (3rd floor with a 50lb bucket of paste?), parking, drive time, etc.

In most cases, prepping the walls (stripping old paper, smoothing a textured surface, priming) and materials for prepping and hanging are included. Wallpaper is not included.

If you are considering hiring another installer, be sure you are comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges. The Wallpaper Lady says: “I’ve got decades of experience, take great pride in my work, take care while in your home (use dropcloths, don’t bang my equipment into furniture or walls), am trustworthy for the clients who leave me in their homes while they go to work, I communicate well with my clients and show up on the day I said I would, and I clean up when I’m done. My price also covers membership in the Wallcovering Installer’s Association (WIA), continuing education, gas, vehicle, tools, advertising, and my web site – which is probably how you found me.

“I’ve got experience with all sorts of materials, from paper to vinyl to non-woven to natural fibers, I know which primer to use on which wall condition, I know which paste to use for which type of paper, I know how to keep paste stains off grasscloth and how to prevent blushing on delicate fibers, I follow the method of “working clean,” and I maintain my tools and equipment properly.”

The Wallpaper Lady adds: “I am always amazed when I tell people that I can’t get to their job for several months, and they reply that they are willing to wait.” People who have had bad work, or mediocre work, appreciate talent and skill, and are willing to wait for a job that will be beautiful and that will last.

“If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.”

“Julie, can you fix this? We hired a national chain, because they were $50 cheaper. (to hang 10 rolls of paper worth $100 each) They didn’t remove the old paper or do any prep, and they were perplexed that the new paper had to be hand-trimmed. They worked fast because they had another job to do that afternoon. The pattern doesn’t match in places, there are white lines showing at the seams, and the corners are twisting. We are at the end of our budget and can’t redo the room, but if you can make it look just a little better, we will be happy – but we wish we had hired you in the first place.”