The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-03-15
PAPERHANGING AND REPAIRING
WALLS.
BY Mrs. S. c. Butcher, Ellensburg,
Wash.

Wash
Spring cleaning time will soon be
here and some of the rooms will need
to have their walls repaired and repa-
pered Here are a few suggestions
which will be a great help to those
who have never attempted to do this
kind of work. To all such | would say
select a cheap paper with pattern
which will be easily matched and be-
gin in a small room, as the strips of
paper will be shorter and easier to
handle.
The secret of papering lies in the
proper folding of the strips. I have
seen beginners try to put a strip upon
the ceiling without folding it. This
will result in failure. Prepare the
walls and ceiling before beginning the
papering, as imperfect walls will ruin
the paper. First remove all loose pa
per. If the corners have become
rounded, place row of tacks about
2R inches apart on each side OF cor
ner, about IA inches from it. Then
with an old sharp knife cut or break
the cloth right down the corner. Next
take a broom and sweep out all dust
and particles of loose paper. Make
a sizing by melting common furni-
ture glue with water, mix with flour
paste which has been boiled, and
with an ordinary whitewash brush
dampen all the broken corners. II
the cloth has become loose and is sag
ging in places, tack to place and rub
lightly with the sizing. In sizing the
walls be careful not to make them too
damp with the sizing, as this will
cause the cloth to be glued fast to the
wall. The idea is to draw the cloth
back to it's original tautness. Do not
put the paper on for at least a half
day after sizing the walls. Now cut
strips of cloth about five inches wide
and paste them in all the corners
which have been broken, and with a
brush made for the purpose tap them
until they fit back into the corner
snugly. If there are cracks in the old
paper, it is very likely caused by the
cloth being out of shape. Tack along
each side of the crack, place a piece
of new cloth over it and brush with
sizing.
The next thing to do is to line the
ceiling. To do this have chalk line,
and with an awl Or nail fasten it to
the ceiling exactly sixteen inches
from the wall Go to the other side
of the room and measure the same dis
lance from the wall, marking the
pace Then rub the line with chalk
hold to place with one hand and with
the other draw it down and let it
strike the ceiling. This makes nice
straight line across the ceiling
Now study the pattern of your pa.
per and be sure you understand how to
match it. Then cut enough paper for
the entire ceiling. Be sure to cut the
strips long enough, for often the walls
of a room are not straight and in
matching the paper on ceiling and
walls there is danger of running short
on one end.
Arrange a board about twenty-four
inches wide and ten feet long for past
ing. Lay the paper face downward
on the back of the pasting board, with
the untrimmed edge towards you. Let
the ends hang off the board at left,
and keep the right end even with end
of pasting board. Then draw the top
piece forward until the edge just COW
ers the front edge of the pasting
board. BY keeping the edges even or
an eighth of an inch over the edge
of the board, the board will be kept