Filler on lining paper joints

[danielfitchie]

I've just had a decorator come in to put lining paper up in my hallway, stairways and and landing and found that he's used filler on most of the joints and corners. I've never had a decorator in before and firstly am wondering if that is a normal thing to do? It's not what I was expecting.
He's advised me to sand it down before painting but I can't get my head around sanding it down without damaging the surrounding paper. That or getting it flush enough not for it to be really obvious once painted, especially when there are some right clumps in places.
He said he has used easi-fill.

Thanks

 

[Mottie]

I've done the same in my house when my lining paper shrunk slightly when dry, leaving gaps between the joins. Honestly, a little wipe in the joints with filler and a light sanding down with a block and you're good to go. It's not noticeable afterwards, especially if you give the joins a couple of coats before painting the whole lot. In fact once, we removed some wooden dado rail that had been papered above and below with lining paper. As the paper was firmly stuck on the wall, instead of stripping it all off, we just filled the 2" gap with filler, sanded it down, gave the filler a couple of coats and it was not noticeable - a lot less aggro than taking the paper off. Just make sure you use a flat block and give the joint a coat or two of paint to seal it.

 

[opps]

A decent decorator would aim to butt the paper without the need for filler... That said, yes, from time to time you will find the odd gap that needs filling.

EasiFill is a very soft filler, sanding it should result in the surface of the paper being ripped (assuming that you use something like 150-180 grit paper). You may however find that the filler sands back too much and requires a refill and resand.

Personally I would have applied a coat of emulsion first (to make the paper harder) and then applied Toupret RedLite filler, and then sanded and applied a spot prime of emulsion, before applying the second full coat of paint to the walls.

 

[danielfitchie]

Thanks for the responses guys, I'm still waiting on the decorator to come back and finish a few bits so haven't tried sanding anything yet. When you say give give it a few coats of paint to prime/ seal it, do you mean to just the filled areas or the entirety of the area that has had lining paper applied? Also do you use a standard emulsion or a dedicated primer undercoat?

 

[opps]

Only the areas that were filled require an extra coat of standard emulsion.