The shrink wrap is 100 percent better. But expansion and contraction is still a problem. Each material is different. LaRue Brown, director of marketing for York Wallcoverings, admits manufacturers had an early problem with uneven paste and paste flaking off, leaving bare patches on the product. Other improvements are coming by way of the paper suppliers and the installers themselves.
Most manufacturers buy raw substrate from paper suppliers.
That improves the quality and consistency of prepasteds. Some substrates, on the other hand, don't make for good prepasted products. It hasn't worked. On the other end, paperhangers themselves have learned how to work with the product, though not always in ways with which the manufacturers agree. Brown is fully aware that most contractors don't like to use water trays.