In some cases, with a light orange peel texture, most wallpapers can be hung right over it without having to prep or skim coat the wall. Heavy orange peel and knock down textures are usually the ones that need skim coating to get a smooth surface.   Wallpapers tend to suck into the wall when they dry, so you can usually see thicker textures underneath. So look at your walls and let us know so we can determine whether it needs to be skim coated or not. You can email us a photo here if you are not sure what kind you have. This way we can get you the best results from your wallpaper install.  

   The process to skim coating usually requires an additional day before hanging the wallpaper. This also depends on the size of the room. Some of our clients have asked about liner papers that are installed over texture before the wallpaper is installed. Is this method something we do instead of skim coating? In my experience, liner papers tend to lift from the wall when wallpaper is applied over them. Liner paper also shows it's seams underneath the wallpaper that is applied over it. Then we have to skim coat the seams anyway when the liner paper dries, adding an additional day to the project. So we might as well just skim coat the walls in the first place.

 Here is the process to skim coating:

   On the first day, we put a layer of drywall compound on the walls that we will be hanging the wallpaper on. This needs to dry overnight. On the second day, we scrape the edges down and wet sand the wall to a smooth surface. This reduces the dust to a minimum. Then we prime the walls with a quick drying low VOC primer and begin to hang the wallpaper. 

   It is a good idea to let us know about your texture because we need to arrive at your house well prepared to do the job right. So please let us know what type of texture you have when you submit your information through our Contact Us page.