Types, and what each one is for
| Type | Character | Rate per roll | Wipeable | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-woven | Paste-the-wall, stable, strips dry | ₹1,800 – 5,500 | Lightly | Bedrooms, feature walls; the default |
| Vinyl on paper backing | Durable printed PVC face | ₹1,200 – 3,200 | Yes | Children’s rooms, corridors, rental flats |
| Heavy vinyl / contract | Thick, impact resistant | ₹3,500 – 8,000 | Yes, scrubbable | Offices, clinics, hotel corridors |
| Grasscloth and natural fibre | Handmade texture, visible seams by design | ₹4,500 – 12,000 | No | Studies, dining rooms; not near hands |
| Fabric-backed textile | Silk, linen, felt | ₹5,000 – 14,000 | No | Formal rooms, headboard walls |
| Customised digital print | Any artwork, sized to the wall | ₹90 – 350 / sq ft | Depends on substrate | Murals, kids’ rooms, reception walls |
Installation is charged per roll in India: ₹450–900 for standard paper, more for grasscloth and murals where alignment is critical.
Calculating rolls without over-ordering
- Measure the wall width and height, ignoring doors and windows under about 2 sqm — you will need the offcuts for matching.
- Divide the area by 45 sq ft per roll rather than the nominal 57. That allowance covers trimming and a small pattern repeat.
- For a pattern repeat over 300 mm, add one extra roll per three. A large floral repeat can waste 30% of every drop.
- Order all rolls in one batch and check the batch number on every one. Two batches of the same design will differ slightly in colour, and on adjacent drops that difference is obvious.
- Keep one full roll after installation. Patch repairs from the same batch are invisible; from a new batch they are not.
Wall preparation — where the money should go
Wallpaper is thin. Every ridge, every trowel mark, every unfilled hairline crack in the plaster shows through it, especially in raking light from a window.
- The wall needs two coats of putty, sanded flat, and a coat of primer or sizing. Skipping the primer is why paper sometimes cannot be removed later without taking the plaster with it.
- A previously painted wall in good condition needs only sanding and sizing. A distempered wall must be scraped back entirely — paper will pull distemper off the wall within a year.
- Textured or sand-faced surfaces must be skimmed flat first. Budget ₹35–70 per sq ft for the skim.
- Check for dampness with a moisture meter, not by touch. Anything above about 12% and the paper will bubble and the adhesive will feed mould.
The Mumbai damp-wall rule
This is the single most important paragraph on this page. Mumbai external walls, and internal walls shared with a bathroom or a duct, carry moisture through the monsoon. Wallpaper over a damp wall traps that moisture, the adhesive stays wet, and mould grows behind the paper where nobody sees it until it smells.
- Do not paper an external wall, a wall below a leaking chajja, or a wall shared with a neighbour’s bathroom, until the source is fixed and the wall has been dry through one full monsoon.
- Where a client insists, we use a breathable non-woven paper with a fungicidal adhesive and tell them in writing that the warranty excludes damp-related failure.
- The safest walls are internal partition walls, bedroom feature walls away from external faces, and walls in air-conditioned rooms.
- In sea-facing flats, humidity alone can lift the edges of a heavy vinyl. Non-woven behaves better because it breathes.
Care, life and BOQ wording
- Dust with a dry microfibre or a vacuum brush head. Vinyl can be wiped with a barely damp cloth; grasscloth and textile cannot be cleaned at all.
- Expected life: 5–8 years on a Mumbai internal wall, less in a corridor where shoulders brush it. Removal and replacement is a one-day job per room, which is the material’s real advantage.
- BOQ: “Wall covering: non-woven wallpaper, design and batch as approved; walls prepared with two coats of putty, sanded, and one coat of wallpaper primer; fungicidal adhesive.”
- BOQ: “All rolls from a single batch; batch number to be recorded. One surplus roll to be handed over.”
- BOQ: “Contractor to record substrate moisture reading before application; work not to proceed above 12% moisture content.”
Specification summary
| Property | Specification |
|---|---|
| Roll size | 10.05 m × 0.53 m; plan at 45 sq ft usable |
| Preferred type | Non-woven for homes, heavy vinyl for offices |
| Substrate | Putty, sanded, primed; moisture below 12% |
| Adhesive | Fungicidal, appropriate to paper type |
| Rate | ₹1,200 – 8,000 per roll + ₹450 – 900 fixing |
| Installed cost | ₹55 – 180 per sq ft typical |
| Life | 5 – 8 years in a Mumbai flat |
| Never apply to | Damp external walls, distempered surfaces, unskimmed texture |
Frequently asked questions
How many rolls do I need for one wall?+
Measure the wall in square feet and divide by 45, then round up. A 12 ft × 10 ft wall is 120 sq ft, so three rolls. Add one more if the pattern repeat is over 300 mm. Order in a single batch and keep the surplus.
Can wallpaper be applied over an existing painted wall?+
Over sound emulsion, yes — sand it lightly and apply a sizing coat. Over distemper or chalky old paint, no; the paper will pull the surface off. Over texture, only after skimming flat, which is a separate cost line.
Does wallpaper cause dampness?+
It does not create damp, but it conceals and worsens it. A wall that was drying to the room now cannot, and the adhesive gives mould something to grow on. Fix the source first, wait a monsoon, then paper.
How long does wallpaper last in Mumbai?+
Five to eight years on internal walls in good condition. Edges lift first, usually at external corners and near switches. Because replacement is a one-day, low-mess job, many clients treat it as a refreshable finish rather than a permanent one.
Is customised digital wallpaper worth it?+
For a single feature wall with a specific image, yes — at ₹90–350 per sq ft it is often cheaper than panelling and far more personal. Insist on seeing an A3 proof at final resolution; images that look good on a phone pixellate badly at 8 ft wide.