Wallpaper Removal & Installation in Calgary: What It Involves and What It Costs

Wallpaper removal: what you are dealing with

The difficulty of removing wallpaper depends almost entirely on two factors: what the wallpaper is made of, and what surface it was applied to. Both vary widely in Calgary homes depending on when the paper was hung.

Strippable vs. non-strippable paper

Most wallpaper installed after 2000 is strippable — the decorative top layer peels away dry from a corner, leaving the backing attached to the wall. The backing then releases with water and a scraper. This is the fast version: a standard room can be stripped in a few hours.

Older vinyl wallpaper, fabric-backed paper, and grasscloth must be scored with a perforating tool and soaked with removal solution before scraping. The perforations allow the solution to penetrate the vinyl facing and soften the paste underneath. This takes longer and requires more care — scoring too aggressively damages the drywall.

The bare-drywall problem

The most difficult wallpaper removal scenario is paper hung directly on unsealed drywall — no primer, no sealer coat applied first. This is common in Calgary homes built between 1970 and 1990, when the practice of sizing or sealing drywall before papering was inconsistent.

When wallpaper is applied to bare drywall, the paste bonds directly to the paper facing of the drywall. Removing the wallpaper tears the drywall's paper face away with it, exposing the underlying gypsum. The result looks like the wall is disintegrating. Once this happens, the damaged areas must be skim-coated before painting or new paper can be applied — which adds significant time and cost.

There is no way to know in advance whether this issue is present without testing a corner. Checking a hidden corner before starting any removal job is always the first step.

Paste residue

After paper is stripped, paste residue remains on the wall surface — it feels slightly tacky and will show through paint as a ghostly sheen once dry. Paste must be washed off with warm water and a sponge, rinsed, and the wall allowed to dry completely before any primer or new paper is applied. Skipping this step is the most common DIY wallpaper removal mistake.

Wallpaper installation: what the process involves

Wall preparation

Wallpaper reveals every imperfection in the wall surface — dents, dings, nail pops, uneven joints, and texture all show through. The wall must be smooth, clean and primed with a wallpaper primer (not a standard paint primer) before hanging. In Calgary, the drywall joints in older homes often need light filling before a wallpaper project — the paper dries and contracts slightly, and any movement at a joint telegraphs through.

Paste types

Three methods are in common use:

• Pre-pasted paper — paste is already on the back of the paper and activates with water. Easiest for DIY. Quality varies; some pre-paste papers need additional paste applied at seams to hold long-term.
• Paste-the-wall — paste is applied to the wall, not the paper. The paper is hung dry. Best for non-woven papers; allows repositioning before the paste sets. Increasingly common in European papers sold in Canadian stores.
• Paste-the-paper — traditional method; paste applied to the back of the paper, which then must book (fold paste-to-paste) and rest for a few minutes before hanging to allow the paper to expand. Required for most natural-fibre papers.

Pattern matching

Solid or small random-pattern papers waste very little material. Large pattern repeats (a botanical print with a 24-inch repeat, for example) require matching the pattern at each seam — the amount of paper wasted increases with the repeat size. A room that requires 8 single rolls of a solid paper might require 11 to 12 rolls of the same room with a large-repeat pattern. Always account for pattern waste when calculating how much wallpaper to order.

Calgary humidity considerations

Calgary's winter humidity typically runs 30 to 40% RH — significantly drier than most Canadian cities. Natural-fibre papers (grasscloth, seagrass, jute, bamboo) are beautiful but absorb and release moisture with the season, which causes dimensional movement. In Calgary, this means visible seam gaps in winter as the fibres contract in dry air. These papers are best suited to rooms where seam visibility is acceptable or where humidity is supplemented, such as a well-humidified bedroom.

Non-woven papers (a polyester/cellulose blend, common in most European papers) are far more dimensionally stable and hold seams well through Calgary's humidity swings. For most Calgary rooms, non-woven paste-the-wall paper is the most forgiving choice.

Wallpaper pricing in Calgary