Service · Miami
Wallpaper Removal & Installation in Miami-Dade
Most wallpaper problems — bubbling, tearing, peeling edges — are not wallpaper problems at all. They are preparation problems. At Smoke Painters, every removal starts with protecting the drywall underneath, and every installation starts with a properly primed, skim-coated surface. Whether we are stripping a textured feature wall in Doral or hanging new wallcovering in a Miami Lakes bedroom, the prep is the job — and we never cut it short.
quality craftsmanship · local and licensed · done right the first time
What's included
Wallpaper Services We Handle — Removal, Prep, and Installation
Smoke Painters handles the full scope of residential and commercial wallpaper work: removing existing wallcoverings without damaging the drywall or plaster beneath, repairing and skim coating the exposed surface, and hanging new wallpaper to a professional finish. That full-scope approach matters because the two phases are inseparable — a beautiful new wallpaper installation is only as good as the wall it goes on, and a wall that has not been properly repaired and primed after removal will telegraph every flaw through the new material within months. For removal, we work with all types of wallcovering: single-layer vinyl-coated paper, double-layer wallpaper with a backing still bonded to the wall, fabric-backed grasscloth, textured embossed papers, and older paste-hung papers that may have been installed directly over unpainted or poorly sealed drywall — the scenario most likely to cause drywall face damage if removed carelessly. Our process uses controlled moisture application and careful scoring so the paper lifts cleanly rather than pulling the drywall's paper facing with it. Where damage does occur, we skim coat and sand the surface back to a paint-ready plane before any new material goes up. For installation, we hang standard and premium wallcoverings including pre-pasted papers, paste-the-wall varieties, peel-and-stick panels, and heavier commercial-grade vinyls. Pattern-matching on repeat designs — florals, geometrics, large-format murals — is handled with care for alignment at seams, corners, and around windows and doors. We prepare every wall with the correct primer for the specific wallpaper product being installed, because skipping that step is what causes adhesion failure and seam lifting in South Florida's humid conditions. We serve homeowners updating a single accent wall, families refreshing a full bedroom or dining room, and property managers preparing rental units between tenants. The business catalog description says it plainly: safe wallpaper removal without damaging drywall underneath, plus new wallpaper installation, with skim coating and wall prep included. That is not an upsell — it is the standard.
- 01Vinyl-coated and double-layer wallpaper removal
- 02Grasscloth and fabric-backed wallcovering removal
- 03Old paste-hung paper removal with drywall protection
- 04Skim coating and sanding of walls post-removal
- 05Pre-pasted and paste-the-wall paper installation
- 06Peel-and-stick and commercial-grade vinyl installation
- 07Pattern-matched repeat designs — florals, geometrics, murals
Pricing logic
How Smoke Painters Prices Wallpaper Removal and Installation
Wallpaper pricing is scoped by the condition of what is coming off, the condition of the wall underneath, and the complexity of what is going on. A straightforward single-layer removal in a small bedroom costs far less than stripping decades-old double-layer paper from a large room with crown molding and extensive repairs required. We provide free, on-site estimates so there are no surprises — transparent pricing is how we work.
Room Size & Linear Footage
Square footage of wall surface is the primary cost driver. A standard 12x12 bedroom with 8-foot ceilings carries roughly 400 sq ft of wall surface; a large dining room or open-plan living area may exceed 700 sq ft. More surface means more labor hours for both removal and installation, and more material for installation jobs. Expect price to scale nearly linearly with footage.
Number of Wallpaper Layers
Single-layer removal is the baseline. Double-layer wallpaper — common in homes where new paper was hung directly over old — can double the removal labor because each layer must be addressed separately and the adhesive between layers adds resistance. Homes with three or more layers (not uncommon in older South Florida properties) are priced accordingly and always require a thorough wall assessment before work begins.
Wall & Drywall Condition
Walls that show drywall face damage, old water staining, gouges, or surface irregularities after removal require skim coating and sanding before any new work proceeds. This is included in our scope, but the extent of damage directly affects labor hours. A wall in good condition may need one light skim pass; a heavily damaged wall may need two full coats, block sanding, and a second prime coat — adding meaningfully to the total.
Wallpaper Material & Pattern
Standard pre-pasted papers and paste-the-wall products install faster than heavy commercial vinyls, grasscloth, or large-format mural panels. Pattern-matched designs with a vertical repeat greater than 12 inches require careful layout, additional material for matching waste, and more precise seam work. These factors add 15–25% to installation labor on complex patterns compared to a solid or random-match design.
Ceiling Height & Access
Standard 8-foot ceilings are the baseline. Rooms with 9- or 10-foot ceilings require extended-reach tools and additional setup time. Cathedral ceilings, stairwells, or any area requiring scaffolding or multi-level laddering carry a premium for both safety compliance and labor — consistent with OSHA fall protection standards under 29 CFR 1926.501.
Pre-1978 Home Considerations
Homes built before 1978 may have lead-based paint beneath existing wallpaper. Under the EPA RRP rule (40 CFR 745), specific containment and work practices are required when disturbing painted surfaces in those structures. Scope and approach for pre-1978 homes are reviewed during the free estimate, and any required RRP practices are factored into the project pricing.
In practice
Who Calls Smoke Painters for Wallpaper Work
Wallpaper jobs come to us from all directions — a homeowner who just discovered three layers of paper behind a bathroom mirror, a property manager turning over a rental unit, a family ready to finally update the dining room that has not changed since the 1990s. These are the patterns we see most often.
The "It's Peeling Everywhere" Homeowner
Edges lifting in the corners, bubbles forming along seams, paper curling away from the wall in humidity — this is almost always an adhesion failure caused by improper prep at original installation. The fix is full removal, wall repair, correct primer, and a fresh hang done right the first time.
The New-Home Buyer Updating a Room
They inherited wallpaper from the previous owners — a floral bedroom, a heavily bordered living room, a dated kitchen backsplash paper. They want the room to feel like theirs. Our job is to strip it cleanly, repair the wall underneath, and either paint it out or hang something they actually chose.
The Rental Property Manager
Between tenants, an older unit has dated wallpaper that makes the listing photos look tired. A clean, smooth painted wall photographs better and attracts better tenants. We remove the old paper, skim coat, prime, and leave the wall ready for paint — often coordinated with an interior painting visit.
The Accent Wall Installation
A homeowner has found a wallpaper they love — a bold geometric, a textured grasscloth, a large-format mural for the dining room wall — and wants it installed professionally. They have seen DIY results and do not want bubbles or misaligned seams. Precise pattern matching and proper wall prep are the whole job here.
The Historic or Older Home Owner
Plaster walls and pre-1978 construction mean wallpaper removal carries real risks: damaged plaster, potential lead-paint considerations under EPA RRP guidelines, multiple layers of paper applied over decades. These projects need a crew that knows how to assess before they start pulling.
The Full-Room Refresh
A family wants the master bedroom or dining room fully updated — existing wallpaper off, walls smooth and primed, new wallpaper or fresh paint applied in one coordinated project. Bundling removal and reinstallation into a single visit reduces disruption and ensures the wall prep is done once, correctly.
The Commercial Space Rebrand
A business refreshing its lobby, office, or retail space needs wallcovering removed and either repainted or re-papered to match a new brand standard. Commercial vinyl wallcoverings are common in these spaces and require specific removal techniques to avoid substrate damage.
Ranges
Wallpaper Removal & Installation Pricing in Miami-Dade
In the Miami-Dade market, wallpaper removal and installation pricing runs $300–$1,500 per room depending on scope, condition, and complexity. That range is wide because the variables are wide: a single-layer paper removal in a small, well-maintained bedroom sits at the lower end, while a large room with multiple wallpaper layers, significant drywall repair needs, and a complex pattern-matched installation sits at the upper end. Several structural realities of the local market shape where projects land within that range. First, Miami-Dade's housing stock includes a large volume of homes built between the 1960s and 1990s — many of which were wallpapered more than once. Double- and triple-layer removals are common here, particularly in Hialeah and older sections of Miami Lakes, and they add real labor hours to a project. Second, the region's year-round humidity means that wallpaper originally installed without proper wall priming tends to fail earlier and bond more stubbornly when removal time comes — both conditions that affect labor cost. For installation specifically, material cost is a separate line from labor. Homeowners supply or select their own wallpaper, and pricing from Smoke Painters covers prep, priming, and hanging labor. Pattern complexity — particularly large-format murals and designs with vertical repeats greater than 12 inches — adds to both labor hours and material waste, and is reflected in the estimate. Bundling removal and installation into a single project typically delivers better value than treating them as separate visits, because the wall prep phase is completed once and applied to both the removal repair and the installation prime coat. Homeowners who also need interior painting after removal can often coordinate that work in the same project window, further reducing setup and cleanup overhead.
- Single-layer removal only, small room (up to ~400 sq ft wall surface)
- $300 - $500
- Single-layer removal + skim coat repair, average room
- $450 - $700
- Double-layer removal + wall repair, average room
- $600 - $950
- New wallpaper installation, standard pattern, average room
- $400 - $700
- New wallpaper installation, complex pattern or large-format mural
- $600 - $1,000
- Full project — removal, repair, and new installation, average room
- $800 - $1,500
- — Material (wallpaper) cost is not included in labor ranges above; homeowner supplies or selects product separately.
- — Pre-1978 homes may require additional scope for EPA RRP compliance; this is assessed during the free estimate.
- — Rooms with ceilings above 9 feet, stairwells, or areas requiring scaffolding carry a premium for access and safety setup.
- — All pricing is subject to on-site assessment — free estimates are available with no obligation.
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Luisa F. · West Hialeah
Service area
Wallpaper Services Across Northwest Miami-Dade
Smoke Painters is based in Doral and serves homeowners and property managers throughout the surrounding communities — including Hialeah, Miami Lakes, and Medley. We schedule on-site estimates and project visits across the coverage area, so you are not waiting on a crew driving in from across the county.
FAQ
Common questions
It depends on how the original wallpaper was installed. Paper hung over unprimed or poorly sealed drywall — common in homes built before the 1990s — is the most likely to cause drywall face damage on removal because the wallpaper adhesive bonds more strongly to the drywall paper facing than to a sealed surface. Our process uses controlled moisture application and careful scoring to minimize that risk. Where drywall damage does occur, we skim coat and sand the surface back to a smooth, paint-ready plane before proceeding. This repair work is included in our standard scope, not treated as a separate add-on.
A single-layer removal in an average bedroom — roughly 400 square feet of wall surface — typically takes one full workday including wall cleaning and light surface prep. Double-layer removal in the same room adds another half to full day depending on how stubbornly the backing adheres. Rooms requiring significant skim coating and repair after removal need additional drying time before priming and any new installation can proceed. We provide a realistic timeline during the free estimate so you can plan around the project.
Our standard approach is for the homeowner to select and supply the wallpaper. This gives you full control over product, pattern, and finish without a markup. We review the product specs before installation to confirm it is compatible with the wall substrate and our prep approach — particularly for paste-the-wall varieties, commercial-grade vinyls, and large-format murals that have specific hanging requirements. If you need guidance selecting a product, our color consultation service can help.
Skim coating is the application of a thin layer of joint compound across the entire wall surface to fill imperfections, smooth texture, and create a uniform plane. After wallpaper removal, most walls show some combination of adhesive residue, surface tearing, old patch repairs, and uneven texture — none of which you want to see telegraphed through a new wallpaper or a fresh coat of paint. Skipping skim coat is the reason so many DIY wallpaper removals end with visible flaws in the finished wall. We include it because the alternative is a result we are not willing to put our name on.
Yes, but product selection and wall prep are critical in high-moisture rooms. Vinyl-coated or solid-vinyl wallpapers perform best in bathrooms and kitchens because they resist moisture absorption better than paper-faced products. We apply a moisture-resistant primer before hanging in these spaces, and we pay particular attention to seam sealing to prevent moisture from wicking behind the material. In Miami-Dade's climate, cutting corners on moisture prep in a bathroom virtually guarantees early seam failure and mold risk.
Potentially yes. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule (40 CFR 745) applies to work that disturbs painted surfaces in pre-1978 residential buildings. During wallpaper removal, painted surfaces beneath the paper may be disturbed, triggering specific containment and work practice requirements. We review pre-1978 properties during the free on-site estimate and determine the appropriate approach. We do not perform lead testing ourselves, but we do advise homeowners on when testing or certified RRP practices are warranted before work begins.
Absolutely — and bundling the two phases into a single project is often the most efficient path. Once the wallpaper is off and the wall is skim coated, sanded, and primed, the surface is ready for paint. Coordinating removal and interior painting in one project means the wall prep work is done once rather than twice, reducing total labor hours and shortening the overall project timeline. Many homeowners in Hialeah and Miami Lakes take this approach when refreshing a room they have been putting off for years.
See also