How to Hire a Wallpaper Hanger

After choosing your wallpaper, you've got to find the right person to hang it. Common sense and a respect for experience will serve you well.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Ask around for referrals. Your friends may have had a good - or bad - experience with someone. Either way, write down the name.

2. Ask at your local wallpaper store. But remember that in some cases - like at the mega home-improvement centers - referrals may include a commission arrangement with the store. There's nothing wrong with this practice (if the paperhanger does a good job), but it may raise the price a little bit.

3. Ask craftspeople you respect for their referrals.

4. Remember that you can't get an accurate estimate over the phone. A good paperhanger will always come to the job site and see the space firsthand. A smart homeowner will want to look the paperhanger in the eye.

5. Check the paperhanger's references - call one or two. But be aware that no craftsperson will give you the name of someone who wasn't pleased with the work.

6. Go see examples of the work, if a reference will let you come over.

7. Be sure the paperhanger has a license and construction insurance, if required by your state. Both the state and the contractor's insurance company should be able to provide this information.

8. Get bids in writing. Each proposal - or contract - should be written in clear, ordinary language, with a payment schedule clearly laid out.

9. Get a start date and a completion date.

Tips & Warnings

• Check the design or style section of your local newspaper. It's often possible to find out who did the work you see featured in the paper. Magazines devoted to interior design sometimes credit the craftspeople whose work appears there. Television shows about home improvement often give contractors' phone numbers at the end of the show.

• Don't always take the lowest bid; you'll generally get what you pay for.

• Pay attention to any suggestions that your contractor might have. He or she has seen a lot more wallpaper than you ever will. (Of course, in the end, the paperhanger doesn't live in your house - you do.)