Wallpaper installation cost

MaterialsEstimator, Wallpaper and hanging price survey · checked 2026-09-22

Wallcoverings Association, and ASTM F793, Wallcovering roll formats, pattern match types and hanging allowances · checked 2026-09-22

1. 01Shopping on a per-square-foot rate

   It describes neither a tall room nor a difficult one. On a 12 ft ceiling it charges $629 for time nobody spends; on a broken-up room it is $527 short.

   Instead — Ask what it works out at per strip, or per roll hung. It is the only figure that compares two quotes on two different rooms.

2. 02Assuming a high ceiling means proportionally more work

   The strip count comes from the perimeter. The same walls at 8 and 12 ft both need 28 strips; each one simply takes a little longer.

   Instead — Expect the labour to rise by something like a quarter, not by the sixty per cent the area does.

3. 03Accepting a fixed price for stripping sight unseen

   The spread on this room is $313 to $1,190 and nobody can tell which from a photograph.

   Instead — Pull a corner first, and have stripping quoted as its own line with a stated assumption about what is behind it.

4. 04Forgetting who makes good the plaster

   A scraper on unsealed plaster takes some of the surface with it. Repairing that is rarely in a hanging quote and is rarely nothing.

   Instead — Ask before the work starts, not when the walls are bare. It is a different trade's work in some cases.

5. 05Ignoring the pattern when comparing labour

   A half-drop adds about 28 per cent to the hanging, on top of needing more paper. Two quotes for two patterns are not comparable.

   Instead — Tell every hanger the repeat and the match, and expect the difficult one to cost more in both directions.

6. 06Dropping the lining paper to make a price competitive

   It is effectively a second hang, so removing it takes a visible amount off a quote — and it is what makes a heavy or delicate paper sit flat on an imperfect wall.

   Instead — Compare quotes that both include it or both exclude it. A cheaper quote that has quietly dropped it is not a cheaper quote.

7. 07Booking the hang before the paper has arrived

   Papers get delayed, arrive in the wrong dye lot, or turn out to be short once the repeat is worked out properly. A hanger's day is booked either way.

   Instead — Have every roll on site and checked — count, dye lot, damage — before confirming a date.

8. 08Treating a phone quote as a price

   It is a rate applied to an area, and the two things that move the number most — the ceiling and the cuts — are exactly what a phone call cannot see.

   Instead — Get somebody in the room. Where that is not possible, describe the height, the openings and the pattern explicitly and ask for the per-strip figure.

1. 01Count the stripsPerimeter divided by roll width, rounded up, less any full-height doorways. This is the unit the work is actually done in.
2. 02Ask what it works out at per stripDivide the labour by the strips. It is the number that lets you compare two quotes on different rooms.
3. 03Check whether the room is tallThe strip count does not change with ceiling height but the area does, so a per-square-foot price on a tall room charges for time nobody spends.
4. 04Check how broken up the walls areWindows, alcoves, a chimney breast and a staircase all add cuts and almost no area. Here a square-foot price goes the other way and undercharges.
5. 05Separate stripping from hangingIt is the most variable item on the job and it should be priced on its own, ideally after somebody has pulled a corner.
6. 06Ask what happens to the plasterMaking good after stripping is rarely in a hanging quote and is rarely nothing.
7. 07Ask for the price per strip or per roll hungIt is how the trade thinks, it prices tall and awkward rooms correctly, and asking for it changes the conversation.

Strip

One floor-to-ceiling length of paper. It is the unit a roll yields, the unit a hanger's day is measured in, and the unit this page prices by.

Per square foot

The way hanging is usually quoted — around $4.5 a foot. It is convenient and it describes neither a tall room nor a broken-up one, in opposite directions.

Cut length

What each strip is cut to: the wall height plus trim, rounded up to a whole pattern repeat. It is most of what decides the time a strip takes.

Half-drop match

Alternate strips starting half a repeat lower. It adds about 28 per cent to the hanging as well as to the paper, because there is more to line up.

Lining paper

A plain paper hung horizontally first so the finish paper sits flat. It is a whole extra hang, and it is the first thing a thin quote drops.

Sizing

A sealing coat on a porous wall so paste does not soak into it. Cheap, quick, and not optional on new plaster.

Stripping

Removing what is already there. It is the most variable line on any wallpaper job — a factor of nearly four between the easy case and the hard one — and nobody can tell which from a photograph.

Non-woven

A paper hung by pasting the wall. It is quicker to hang and, years later, usually peels off dry in whole sheets, which is the cheap end of stripping.

Making good

Repairing the plaster after the old paper comes off. It is not usually in a hanging quote and it is not usually nothing, particularly where a scraper has been used.

Obstacle factor

How much a room's cuts add to the time. A chimney breast, a staircase or several windows can add half again to a hang while leaving the area almost unchanged.

Per roll hung

The other honest way the trade prices — a rate for each roll put on the wall. It behaves like a per-strip price and it is worth asking for by name.

Trim

The few inches cut off the top and bottom of every strip once it is on the wall. It is part of why a strip takes the time it does regardless of how tall it is.