Old Layers Priced Before You Book
Tell us what is on the wall, painted over or not, when you request the estimate. In an 1890s room that can mean several layers, and removal is priced before you book.
Frame-House Wallpaper Installation in Southport, NC
Wallpaper Installation in Southport's Older Frame Houses
Southport holds far more pre-1940 housing than nearby Oak Island, St. James, Caswell Beach or Bald Head Island. In the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, 13.5 percent of its homes date from 1939 or earlier, while those four barely register any. Nearly three in ten Southport homes were built before 1980.
Much of that older stock sits in the Southport Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1980 with 161 contributing buildings. Its nomination describes plain one- and two-story frame dwellings, most of them built by about half a dozen local carpenters. In several houses it describes narrow beaded boards used for wainscoting.
For wallpaper, a house of that age raises two questions. First, what is already on the wall? An older room may hold earlier paper, sometimes painted over, and the wall behind it may be plaster. Removing old paper and repairing the wall is part of every job we do, though in an 1890s room it runs longer. Removal of painted-over paper disturbs paint. Under federal EPA rules, paid work that disturbs paint in most homes built before 1978 must follow lead-safe practices.
Second, where does the wainscot stop? Paper usually belongs above a beaded-board dado, and covering the boards themselves takes extra preparation. Interior wallpaper sits outside historic-district review.
Southport City Hall is about 34 road miles from our Judges Road shop.
What Wallpaper Installation in Southport Includes
Most people who call us already own their paper, chosen by them or by a designer. If yours is not ordered, send the pattern name and we calculate rolls from the repeat, allowing for the extra a tall room needs. The person hanging it is our W-2 employee, not a subcontractor. Step-by-step detail lives on our page about how our wallpaper installation works.
Every installation includes
Any earlier wallcovering stripped, and the wall fixed before new paper
A primer or size coat chosen for the paper you picked
First strip hung to a level line, not to a corner
Every seam matched to the pattern
Inside corners hand-cut, never wrapped
Cleanup once you have seen the finished walls
What changes in an 1885-1905 Southport house
Expect the stripping stage to be the long one. Where paint covers old paper, the film is perforated so water can reach the paste beneath. Under federal EPA rules, paid work that disturbs paint in most homes built before 1978 must follow lead-safe practices. If plaster crumbles or lifts as the old layers come away, it is patched flat, since fresh paper telegraphs every bump. Above a beaded-board wainscot, the cap rail sets the bottom line, and the paper is trimmed to it by hand. A frame house that has settled may leave walls out of plumb, so the pattern is hung to a true vertical and the drift is hidden at a corner. Stripping and repair appear on your estimate as their own block of time. A Southport home built since 2000 skips nearly all of this.
Why Southport Homeowners Choose Intracoastal Wallcovering for Wallpaper Installation
A Straight Lead-Safe Answer
Close to three in ten Southport homes predate 1980. Ask how stripping old paper is handled in yours, and the answer comes on the first call, before a date is offered.
Plumb Lines on Settled Walls
A frame house more than a century old rarely stands perfectly true. Inside corners are cut by hand, never wrapped, and the pattern is hung to a level line rather than to a leaning corner.
Members of the Trade
Southport walls get a Wallpaper Installers Association member and a second-generation wallpaper company. Our installers are W-2 employees, and we call before we arrive.
How Wallpaper Installation Works in Southport
From the first conversation to the finished room.
01Describe the House and Wall
Start the instant estimate with two details: roughly when the house went up and what is on the wall today, beaded board included. In an 1890s room those can move the price a good deal.
02Settle Rolls and a Start Date
If you still need paper, we work out the roll count from its repeat before you buy. The first open date is normally two to three weeks away, and we call before we arrive.
03Strip, Patch and Prime
Earlier layers come down, any loose plaster is repaired, and the wall is sealed for the new paper.
04Hang and Inspect
Strips go up to a true vertical and are trimmed at the ceiling and the wainscot cap. Then you inspect the room, and our 1-year workmanship guarantee covers the installation.
How Much Does Wallpaper Installation Cost in Southport?
Southport's housing splits two ways: 13.5 percent built before 1940, and more than half built since 2000. The same size room can price differently depending on which kind of house it is in. The figure depends on:
Wall area and ceiling height
The paper itself; grasscloth and vinyl each hang their own way, and unpasted papers hang differently
Pattern repeat and the waste it creates
How many layers of old paper there are, and whether paint covers them
Plaster or drywall repair after removal
Trimming to a wainscot cap or around period casings
In a pre-1940 house, removal and wall repair can move the price a good deal. A Southport house built since 2000, with drywall and nothing to strip, generally costs less for the same room. For any Southport room, the quote is the quote we honor. Unless you buy the paper through us, it is billed apart from the labor. Military households get 10% off.
More for Your Southport Home
Interior Painting in Southport
Painting for the rooms around your new paper, from the company that hangs it.
Designer Wallpaper Sourcing
Trade papers suited to a late 1800s frame house, and help tracking down one particular pattern.
Where We Serve
From our Wilmington base, we serve Southport and the surrounding Brunswick County area, plus the rest of the coastal Carolinas corridor.
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New Wallpaper for Your Southport Frame House
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