Bubble Trouble

mog703

hanging 54" vinyl, as always using a premixed clear paste i pasted, booked and left the piece to relax for about 5 min.before hanging returning to the job the next day i noticed many small air bubbles under the paper. used stiff brush and plastic smoother, air temp was fine, low humid. ,primed walls what went wrong? i've had a few bubbles in the past but never the entire sheet. any suggestions on why this may have happened and how to fix short of slicing every bubble?

chris n

What primer and paste were used?

mog703

sherwin williams latex drywall primer (pro block i think) and a heavy duty clear strippable paste. thanks for the reply as i'm still baffled as to why this particular paper acted this way. to note there were three other vinyls installed on this job (same primer and paste) with no problems. would be happy to provide any further info you may need to troubleshoot this as i would love to avoid this happening in the future. THANKS!

vandyandsons

hmm,

If you in fact used Pro-Block, and not Prep-Rite, your primer should be fine.

I prefer the strippable clay bases that they sell at SW. I think it's called Roman 935. Especially for 54" vinyl goods.

What kind of backing is on the vinyl. Is it paper backing, or standard vinyl backing?

DavidNTX

Is it possible there is an incompatibility between the primer and adhesive? Have you used both of these products together before?

I am not as up to date as I should be on some of the newer coatings and everything is moving to waterborne. Having said that I will now say this. Alkyd primer should be used under VWC. That is what is or has been recommended in the past by wallcovering suppliers and those who make adhesives. Oil will seal better where latex is made to allow moisture and air to "breathe out".

This might be something to consider as to the reason this happened. Those 2 components may have even worked great together in the past. I have primed walls for wallcovcering using a latex primer and nothing bad has happened. Wallcovering installers will always gripe about it. Oil primer also allows for better workability of the wallcovering. Normally I did always prime walls for VWC using an alkyd primer but there were times I got caught and did use a latex primer but alkyd primer is or was preferred and recommended.

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sparehair

if the same application has been used in other locations and it worked fine the problem area must be contaminated with something. I don't hang paper but maybe silicone or something like that on the wall?

DavidNTX

I doubt your primer would bond to a wall with silicone. I'm no wallcovering expert but I do know what the specifications usually call for. I bet there will be someone here with an answer. Maybe even more than 1.

The problem now is going to be fixing it. How much area did this?

I have never heard of any magical solution to fix these things other than what you mentioned, cutting each bubble or using a hypodermic needle to squirt some glue into the bubble then try and roll it down with a seam roller or maybe even a smoother.

Hope it works out for you.

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mog703

wow, i'm very impressed with all your responses. it is obvious i'm dealing with true journeymen. all very good points but the same paste and primer were used with the other vinyls installed throughout the job (all fabric backed solid vinyls) it was only a problem with the one paper (the most expensive to note). possibly with this particular vinyl our painters should have used an oil based primer but up till now latex has given us no problems. i did try every trick in the book to get this paper to lay down (my book anyway) and i was able to get it presentable but spending 4 times my norm per sheet. anyway, from your responses i gather that it was probably just some type of incompatibility with the paper,paste and/or primer. maybe just a "once in a lifetime thing" (i hope) but thanks to everyone for taking the time to consider my problem i hope i can return the favor for someone. Great Site!

ps have not tried the clay based products but i've heard good things from other hangers think i'll give it a shot next job.

pss i was able to fix the worst of the bubbles i incurred the first day without splitting them used a med/hot iron, damp towel and 6" hard roller. not too bad spent about 2hrs to fix 30yds. thanks again