We've got as far as insulating the 4' shortwall trailer we're working on, but I can't find any paneling I like very much. Either the wood looks like something in an old mobile home, or else the white stuff looks flimsy and boring. We ended up buying plywood with one side smooth, and then stopping at the Paint/Wallpaper store and buying wallpaper I liked. The people there advised I prime the wall with a product that will help the wallpaper adhere better.

I can return all this stuff if I don't open it. Before I throw good money away, has anyone had success or lack of success applying wallpaper to smooth plywood in a living quarters trailer? I bought white textured stuff that will look good on the ceiling, and then a "leather look" paper in soft blue for the walls. The plywood has one smooth wall, but there is still some roughness to it, it doesn't feel like a gyprock wall, that's for sure. I then have two cans of this product that you paint on, allow to dry for at least an hour, and then wallpaper over. The wallpaper is prepasted. Any tips from those of you who have already been there? I could also paint the plywood, but i was afraid that it would look cheap and show the wood texture slightly, too.

It depends upon your plywood, I did several trailers with MDO it is a plywood that is designed for sign use(very smooth) and the last several I have been using a plywood from Home Depot I think it is from China also very smooth. I have had trailers built for 10 years and the wallpaper is still holding on great. So I'm not sure what type of plywood you have but I can say if it's one of the two above it will work.

This may help...

After the plywood is hung and in place, prime it with a high quality white pigmented acrylic primer. Then install liner paper over that. Then you can hang regular wallpaper over that. If you are going to hang the liner vertically, just be sure that when you hang your wallpaper, the wallpaper seams do not land directly on top of the liner seams, i.e., they should be staggered. Otherwise, hanging the liner vertically should be just fine. Do not use universal border adhesive. Buy a gallon or two of Heavy Duty Clear premix adhesive. Hang the liner with the premix, and let it dry for 24 or 48 hours. If the seams butt up good, you can hang right over that. If they do not, you might need to double cut them on the wall. It is possible that you might need to skim float the seams on the liner depending on the type of paper you're hanging on it. Then hang the paper with the premix too. Sizing is using a thinned out version of paste, applying it to the wall to aid adhesion. Priming is using a pre-wall covering primer, usually acrylic.

For a raised seam: Use a razor blade held flat against the liner, and try to shave off the raised lip. Or use an 80-grit sand paper to knock it down.

To skim coat a seam: Use a 4 inches or 6 inches of stiff putty knife, and apply joint compound along the seam. Spread it on about ¼ inch like cake frosting, making sure to force it down into the seam. Then come along right behind it with a 10 inch or 12 inch stiff mudding knife and scrape it all off. Wax on and wax off. This will leave the joint compound in the low spots. Sometimes you might need to leave it on a little thicker to cover up worse blemishes. This is called 'floating.' Try to fade it smooth on the edges so it makes it easier to sand. If floated right, you might not need to sand at all.

For cuts and tears: If they do not leave big gaps, or are very noticeable, then do not do anything. When you hang the paper, they will be covered. If they are noticeable, flat them out with Spackle if small, or joint compound if large. In a corner, run a bead of latex caulk down, smoothing it in with your finger.

Thank you both for your advice. The plywood we bought was from Totem, it's "one side good" plywood. The good size is smooth to touch, obviously nicely sanded and has no dips or dimples from knots, etc. We bought the 1/2" stuff, paying about $40 each. I'm not sure of the "brand" of plywood - goes to show what I know - I thought plywood would all be very similar to each other!

Now, Retento has me truly feeling overwhelmed with wallpapering with her thorough advice! The little bit of wall papering I've done has always been in a house, I simply hung pre-pasted wallpaper by immersing it in the water tray, hanging it vertically on the wall, wiping down with a sponge and making sure I got it straight, and then using a razor or utility knife to trim edges. I thought i could get away with doing that in the trailer, too, but maybe not! I did buy the primer the Benjamin Moore Paint place suggested. They told me it will be very runny, almost like water, the instructions say paint it on, allow to dry for an hour, then apply the wallpaper. I got the impression that what the primer would do is make the wall less porous, and therefore the wallpaper would more likely stick to it. It's primer, not paste of any sort.

So just for clarification - do you think that I need to put up a liner first? I've never even heard of wallpaper liner before, I had to read your note twice to figure out what you were talking about. (I must live a sheltered life!) I gather liner is something that sticks really well, better than average walllpaper, and it must provide a layer that helps wallpaper stick even better than it would upon the wall. Would I need liner AND then still extra adhesive to put the wall paper on!?!

Lastly, any special advice on putting the thick textured wall paper on the ceiling? Would I just work across the horizontal length of the trailer, putting up short strips from one side to the other? Is it going to be more likely to drop off than putting it vertically on the walls? Woe is me, I'm getting scared now and suddenly paint is sounding more attractive all the time!