At Captain Wallpaper, we focus exclusively on premium wallpaper installation.
While we do not perform wall preparation ourselves, we provide clear guidance on what’s needed to ensure a flawless result.
Below are answers to the most common questions about how to prepare your walls before installation.
To ensure the best results, walls must meet Level 5 drywall finish — the industry standard for premium wall coverings, especially when using non-flat paints, gloss finishes, or fine materials like silk, grasscloth, or mural panels.
Level 5 means all joints and corners are embedded, skimmed, and smoothed to prevent seams and fasteners from showing through the wallpaper.
We don’t perform wall prep ourselves, but here’s what a proper Level 5 surface includes:
✔️ Two coats of joint compound over all flat joints
✔️ One coat over all interior angles
✔️ Fasteners covered with three coats of compound
✔️ Full skim coat over the entire surface
✔️ No tool marks, scratches, or sanding dust
✔️ Smooth, clean, dry, and ready-to-prime surface
✔️ For glass mat or fiber-reinforced panels: check the manufacturer’s instructions
Not sure if your wall meets Level 5? Send us a photo — we’ll gladly advise before installation.
No — do not paint directly over unprimed drywall or joint compound if you plan to install wallpaper.
Paint can seal the surface unevenly, trap dust or joint residue, and lead to poor adhesion or future failure.
Instead, you must first apply a proper primer.
✔️ If you’re not painting:
Prime the surface immediately using a recommended wallpaper primer (see below).
✔️ If you do plan to paint before wallpapering (for aesthetic or inspection reasons):
Always apply primer first, then paint — never the other way around.
To ensure proper adhesion and surface stability, walls must be primed with a wallpaper-specific primer — not general-purpose paint primer.
We recommend the following professional products:
✔️ Zinsser Gardz® Problem Surface Sealer
Ideal for new drywall, damaged surfaces, and porous areas
Deep-penetrating, seals chalky or dusty walls
Fast-drying, water-based, creates a stable surface for adhesive
Prevents bubbling, peeling, and seam failure
✔️ Draw Tite™ Penetrating Sealer / Primer
Excellent for sealing ripped or shredded drywall before repair
Locks in loose material, won’t rewet or bubble once dry
Non-flammable, low odor — a great alternative to shellac/oil-based sealers
Especially useful for surface restoration projects
⚠️ Important: Never use regular paint primer before wallpapering — it may cause poor bonding or future delamination.
I collaborate with interior professionals to bring bold ideas to life — one wall at a time.
Every testimonial reflects the trust and results we’ve built together.
I just can not stress enough how talented Oleksandr is on the installation side of Captain Wallpaper and Maria is on the responsiveness side to request for bids, getting insurance certs in place, scheduling the work and the follow up.
We had a project that one installer botched and due the difficulty of one of the (Zebra) print patterns, others refused to even give us a quote.
Captain Wallpaper came to the rescue and did the Zebra print first and did a perfect job. Every room they touched in the house is perfect.
They just finished a «Bradbury and Bradbury Wallpaper» frieze in an iconic arts and crafts home for us and nailed it.
I have been a GC for over 40 years and and Captain Wallpaper are the best and most talented wallpaper subcontractor that I have ever come across.
Rock House Design — Lauren Brandwein
I am an interior designer so details, proficiency and responsiveness are extremely important to me.
Captain wallpaper has installed enough projects for me that I have come to enjoy a job well done!!!
His communication is great and each installation has gone smoothly and done with great care. When I find an expert, I stay with them for years and this is how I feel about CW.
We had a very large project with some specific timelines, and the Captain Wallpaper team was able to both accommodate those timelines and deliver a fantastic finished product.
Their eye for detail and professional, experienced input any time it was needed was much appreciated.
Huge thank you from everyone here at Mulholland Works — we hope to have the opportunity to work with you guys again!
I have been fortunate enough to work with Captain Wallpaper since 2022.
He is a textile engineer! His artistic ability, skill and impeccable mastery of all aspects of textiles is off the charts!
He brings a new level of craftsmanship to the 21st century.
We might be a good fit if…
You value silence and precision
You prefer one craftsman over five subcontractors
You appreciate natural materials — silk,
grasscloth, leather, wood veneer
You’ve said: “It has to be perfect — or not at all”
Wallpaper installation in San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and surrounding areas.
Captain Wallpaper Inc
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