Old Paper Off, Wall Made Right
Paper left from an earlier decade comes down before anything new goes up. We repair what tears, and only then start hanging, with that removal time shown before you book.
1990s-Home Wallpaper Installation in Oak Island, NC
Wallpaper Installation on Oak Island's 1980s and 1990s Walls
Oak Island's housing is middle-aged. In the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, the median home dates to 1997, and more than half went up between 1980 and 2009: about 21 percent in the 1980s, 15 percent in the 1990s and 20 percent in the 2000s.
Those decades matter for wallpaper because of what may already be on the wall. Patterned vinyl and borders at the chair rail or ceiling line were common finishes then, and some of it may still be in place. Paper from that period was often hung straight onto drywall that had never been primed. When it comes down, the paper face of the drywall can tear with it, leaving a rough, fuzzy surface that has to be sealed and smoothed before anything new will lie flat. Every installation we do includes removing that old paper and repairing the wall behind it.
A border is its own small job. It leaves an adhesive band, and often a paint line where the wall was painted around it.
Then there is the oldest slice of the stock: 18.4 percent of the town's homes date from before 1980. In those houses, earlier paper is sometimes painted over rather than stripped. Under federal EPA rules, paid work that disturbs paint in most homes built before 1978 must follow lead-safe practices.
The island runs a long way east to west, and our Judges Road shop is about 40 road miles from Oak Island Town Hall.
What Wallpaper Installation in Oak Island Includes
Most people who call us already have their paper, whether they chose it or a designer did. Still deciding? Tell us the pattern, and its repeat tells us how many rolls to buy. Every installer is a W-2 employee of ours, and no job goes to a subcontractor. We hang traditional and designer papers, never peel-and-stick. The checklist below fits any house. After it comes what older homes on the island may add. Our page on how our wallpaper installation works walks through the full method.
Included in every installation
Existing paper and borders taken down, and the wall repaired
Primer or sizing chosen for your paper
A plumb starting line, never taken from a corner
Pattern matched seam to seam around the room
Inside corners hand-cut, never wrapped
A walk around the finished room with you, then cleanup
What changes in a 1980s or 1990s Oak Island house
Here the old paper can add prep time. We test a corner first to see whether it peels dry or needs soaking. If the drywall face lifts with it, that area is sealed so it won't bubble under water-based paste, then skimmed smooth. A border comes off along with its glue band, and the stripe it leaves is blended into the wall before primer. The estimate shows removal as separate time from hanging. A house from 2010 or later usually has bare drywall and skips this stage, going straight to primer.
Why Oak Island Homeowners Choose Intracoastal Wallcovering for Wallpaper Installation
No Paper Over a Torn Face
Fuzzy, torn drywall under new paper shows through as bumps and blisters. Damaged areas are sealed and smoothed first, so the new pattern sits on a flat, sound surface.
A Wallpaper Company First
Paper is the trade we started in: ours is a second-generation wallpaper company that also paints, with membership in the Wallpaper Installers Association. On your walls, every inside corner is cut by hand rather than wrapped.
A Long Drive, Planned
Oak Island is about 40 road miles from our shop. We're usually booked two to three weeks out, and we call before we arrive. Our 1-year workmanship guarantee covers the installation.
How Wallpaper Installation Works in Oak Island
From the first conversation to the finished room.
01Describe the Wall Today
On the instant estimate form, choose the decade your house went up and what is on that wall: a border, a full paper, painted paper or bare drywall.
02Order Paper, Hold a Date
If the paper isn't bought, we size the order from its pattern repeat. Our install calendar tends to fill two to three weeks ahead.
03Test a Corner, Then Strip
We call before we arrive. A test corner then shows how the old paper releases, and torn drywall gets sealed and skimmed.
04New Pattern, Final Look
Primer goes on, then the paper, seam matched to seam. We review every wall with you. Our 1-year workmanship guarantee covers the installation.
How Much Does Wallpaper Installation Cost in Oak Island?
Wallpaper estimates come back instantly. On Oak Island, the decade the house was built can move the price a good deal, because a 1990s wall may hold paper and a 2015 wall usually won't. The figure depends on:
How much wall there is, and how tall
The paper you chose: grasscloth, vinyl and traditional papers each hang their own way, and unpasted papers hang differently
Waste from the pattern repeat at each seam
Old paper or borders to strip
Sealing and skim-coating where the drywall face tears
When removal is involved, the estimate lists it on its own. The quote is the quote we honor. Unless we source the paper, it isn't in our price. Haven't ordered yet? Send the pattern, and its repeat tells us how many rolls an Oak Island room of your size will take. Military households receive 10% off.
More for Your Oak Island Home
Interior Painting in Oak Island
Painting for the walls you aren't papering, booked with the same company that hangs the paper.
Designer Wallpaper Sourcing
We order trade papers and track down a discontinued or hard-to-find pattern, with rolls counted first.
Where We Serve
From our Wilmington base, we serve Oak Island and the surrounding Brunswick County area, plus the rest of the coastal Carolinas corridor.
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New Wallpaper for Your Oak Island Home
Tell us the build decade and what covers the wall. Wallpaper estimates come back instantly.