Home > Paperhanging basics > Paperhanging skills > Around sockets and switches

Papering round an electric socket.

• The same rule applies to sockets, switches, thermostats or any square or rectangular obstacle you have to get round.
• If you are able to do without electric power for a time(dont forget about your freezer) it makes papering easy to have the sockets and switches removed.
• Do not ever remove anything unless you know how to refit it correctly.
• Before you trim round a socket, drop the paper completely over it and press your thumb into the corners of the socket so you can see exactly where they are.
• Then make a small hole approximately where the centre of the socket is and cut a clean diagonal line to each corner.
• Fit the paper carefully around the socket.
• You can trim into the edge of the socket with a sharp blade or craft knife.
• For a more professional finish trim as close as possible with the papering shears, loosen the socket and tuck the paper in behind it. Remember, if you are going to do it this way that switches etc often have dirt and dust behind them. Loosen them before you start to paper and blow out all the dust and loose bits.

Small Obstructions .—Although electric light switches, bell pushes, etc., are now, as a rule, set flush with the wall with removable plates, and can thus be ignored for paperhanging purposes, the old projecting type, which cannot easily be unscrewed, is still to be found and must be dealt with by the paperhanger.

Hang the paper in the usual way down to any such obstruction, making a pencil dot on the paper exactly over the centre of this; then, from the nearest edge, make a horizontal cut through and a little beyond this dot.

Smooth down the remainder of the length, with the exception of those portions immediately around the obstruction. Make another cut, at right angles to the first, through the pencil mark, and then two diagonal cuts, thus forming a kind of star.

The same procedure is then adopted as when surplus paper is trimmed at the top and bottom of a length. The superfluous parts are outlined with a pencil or with the point of the scissors, drawn back, and cut along the line, the remainder being pressed snugly into place around the obstruction.

Use of the Roller .-Instead of the smoothing brush referred to above, a broad roller may be used for pressing the paper into position on the wall. This roller is covered with felt to prevent damage to the paper, and care should be taken that no paste comes into contact with it.

The small seam roller is used on the joints, but should not be employed until three or four lengths have been hung, in order that the paste may have time to set and to minimize the risk of it squeezing out under pressure.

If the seam roller is pressed too hard against the joint, it is apt to leave a shiny streak. Some papers are so soft that even a light rolling will affect them in this way; if it is considered necessary to roll the joints, a piece of clean paper should be placed between the wallpaper and the roller.