How we chose
We started from the thirty-six decorating, plastering and handyman firms Google Maps shows offering wallpapering across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the PDA and TrustMark registers, each firm's own website and platforms such as Checkatrade and Which? Trusted Traders [1] [2]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place — no mandatory registration applies to hanging paper. Ten firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated September 2026.
How to hire
Start by matching the person to your walls. A wallpaper hanger owns measuring, lining, pattern matching and clean seams; a plasterer owns skimming and repair; most decorators do both papering and paintwork. If your walls are newly skimmed, blown, cracked or damp, say so in your first message, because papering over unsound walls fails whatever the paper cost. Damp walls need treatment and drying first, and fresh plaster must be fully dry before lining or paper goes near it.
Hanging paper needs no licence and no registration by law, so badges matter less here than in gas or electrical work. The voluntary scheme worth knowing is the Painting and Decorating Association, whose directory lists members it has vetted for workmanship and cover, and which offers a mediation service if a member's job goes wrong [1]. TrustMark, the government-endorsed quality scheme, runs a postcode search for firms that have passed checks on trading practices and customer service [2]. If a decorator claims either badge, type the business name into the scheme's own search and check the name that comes back matches the firm you are hiring.
Check the business itself before you book. Type any limited company into the Companies House register and confirm the name, number and active status match the quote header [6]. Read customer reviews across every source you can open, not just the ones the firm links to, and treat a record of one or two ratings as thin evidence either way. Ask for photos of recent papering, ideally pattern-matched drops and stairwells rather than plain painted walls, and for a recent local reference you could verify.
Get at least three written quotes on the same scope, since the cost guides urge you to compare like with like before choosing [3]. Each quote should separate stripping, wall repair, lining, hanging labour and materials, and say who supplies the paper and what happens if a roll runs short. It should name the rooms and drops, the start date, how furniture and making-good are handled, and payment stages — a deposit for materials is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Ask whether the paper is factored into the price or supplied by you, and confirm batch numbers match across every roll [3].
On the day, clear small furniture and take pictures down before the decorator arrives unless the quote includes it. Agree which walls get which paper, confirm the pattern repeat and direction on the first drop, and check joins, corners and edges in daylight before the paste fully dries. Keep the room aired and the heating low while paper dries, and agree when the decorator returns if an edge lifts. Note any snag on the day rather than living with it.
Keep every paper the job produces: the written quote, the invoice, any guarantee terms and photos of each finished wall. If the finish fails, raise it with the firm first in writing with photos, then use the PDA mediation route where the firm is a member [1]. Citizens Advice sets out your options when paid work goes wrong, including template letters for putting the complaint in writing [5]. Pay the balance only when the work matches the written scope.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, cost guides put lining and papering a standard room at £260–£2,950 for labour, from a Which? survey of nine Trusted Traders in November 2025, excluding VAT and with you supplying the paper [4]. Checkatrade's guide puts hanging labour at roughly £350–£500 a room, or around £14 per square metre, with the paper itself adding £20–£40 per square metre [3]. Telford usually sits below London and South East prices [4].
Stripping and preparation move the price most: extra layers of old paper, blown plaster, lining over tired walls and bold pattern repeats all add time, and tall stairwells and ceilings cost more than plain bedrooms [3]. Designer and textured papers cost more per roll and waste more in matching than plain or random-match drops. Occupied rooms with heavy furniture take longer than empty ones, and travel and parking across Telford all feed the quote.
Ask whether VAT is added on top, since published guide ranges exclude it [4]. Firms in this round all offer quotes or quote forms but publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a whole house with no breakdown as a question, not an answer. Get the scope in writing before work starts — exactly which rooms, which preparation, who supplies the paper, and what changes the price if stripping reveals worse walls than expected. Agree payment stages and keep every quote and invoice together [5].
Red flags
Quotes for papering without seeing the walls in person or asking for photos and what lies underneath.
Offers to hang new paper straight over the old instead of stripping back to a sound surface.
Gives one fixed price with no breakdown of stripping, preparation, hanging labour and materials [3].
Cannot show photos of past papering with matched patterns, straight joins and tidy edges.
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [5].
Will not put the rooms, the preparation, the price and the start date in writing before lifting a tool.
Disappears when an edge lifts instead of returning to make it good under the agreed terms.
The bottom line
For most people, start with Handyman Telford: one tradesperson for papering plus the odd jobs around it, with a deep customer record and a clearly run site. Ask for proof of cover and an itemised quote first, since no insurance detail is published.
Match the firm to tricky walls: Town and Country for papering inside full-house decorating with written terms, Dampguard where damp or blown plaster must be fixed first, and A Thorpe where fresh plaster needs finishing. For a single room, get two or three itemised quotes on the same written scope, then check the pattern match in daylight before you pay the balance.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.