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.
Telford and Wrekin adds a few local wrinkles. Parts of Wellington and Newport and the streets around the Severn Gorge sit in conservation areas, where the council weighs the historic character of the area in decisions on works that need permission [7]. Listed buildings need the council's consent before any work affecting their special interest, inside or out, and unauthorised work is a criminal offence [8]. Neither rule stops routine papering, but where the walls belong to an older or protected home, clarify the position through the council's pre-application advice before anyone orders paper [7]. Parking matters too: Ironbridge runs its own parking permit scheme, so agree access and where the decorator's van will sit when the job lies near the gorge [9].
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].
A typical job runs the same course from first message to sign-off. The enquiry states the rooms, the faults in the walls and the paper in mind, with photos of each wall and a note of ceiling height for stairwells. The visit ends with a written quote naming every room and drop, the stripping and repair steps, the lining decision, who supplies the paper and the batch check, the start date, furniture and making-good, and payment stages with a deposit for materials rather than full payment upfront. Sign-off happens in daylight against that written scope, checking pattern match, joins, corners and edges wall by wall, with snags noted before the balance is paid and the quote, invoice, guarantee terms and finished-wall photos filed together.
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].
A single room or feature wall is the most quoted job in this trade, and the price moves with the walls more than the paper. Extra layers of old paper, cracks and blown patches needing fill, and bold repeats that waste length in matching all add hours, while plain or random-match drops on sound walls sit at the quicker end. Where the published guides price labour with you supplying the paper, confirm that split in writing, since a decorator supplying designer rolls is pricing a different job [3] [4].
Stairwells, halls and landings cost more than plain bedrooms for one reason: height and access slow every drop, and the quote should say how the working platform is handled. Jobs following plastering or damp treatment carry their premium in time rather than money, since fresh skim must dry right through before lining and the agreed wait belongs in the written scope. Walls needing treatment first are decorator-plus-plasterer briefs, and the plastering side of the quote deserves the same itemised lines as the hanging [3].
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.
Names no business address, phone number or traceable trading name on the quote or messages.
Starts hanging while stripped walls are still damp or unrepaired, instead of agreeing the drying wait first.