Is My Space Stikwood Ready?

Congratulations! We’re so excited you’ve decided to upgrade your space with our products, and we can’t wait to see how your project turns out. But first, let’s take a look at some of the steps you should take to ensure that your space is ready for your new home decor upgrade, as well as the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions we get about our peel and stick wood products!

How to Prepare a Brick Fireplace Surround for Stikwood

One of the more common materials used to create fireplace surrounds is brick. While some people may love it, for others, it’s just not their cup of tea. If you’re looking to trade your brick fireplace surround for something a bit more dramatic, look no further than our peel and stick wood planks! While our adhesive isn’t strong enough to adhere directly to the brick, we have a simple, inexpensive, step-by-step solution to help make your transition away from brick as easy and painless as possible.

Just follow these step-by-step instructions, and you’ll be on your way to a beautiful Stikwood fireplace surround before you know it!

• First, make sure you have anchor screws and a masonry drill bit. Anchor screws look pretty much like normal screws but feature extra threads to help cut into the brick and remain secure. Make sure your drill bit is a size or two smaller than your anchor screws, or else the hole will be too big for your screw to attach. You can either rent a hammer drill or simply spend a few extra minutes with a regular drill—it’s entirely up to you!

• The goal is to cover your existing brick fireplace surround with plywood, then attach our peel and stick wood planks to the plywood. You’ll need to measure the fireplace surround to determine exactly how much plywood to purchase, as well as how many square feet of wood wall While there are several styles and thicknesses of plywood, we recommend going with something fairly thin. We like the 5mm poplar plywood in four-foot by eight-foot sheets because it’s thin, durable, made from sustainable materials, and easily available at your local home improvement store.

• After you’ve purchased your plywood, cut each piece down to the correct size. We recommend starting with the two sides, then cutting your front panel to cover each side edge where they meet on the corners. Starting with the two sides, determine where the mortar, or the material between each brick, sits in comparison to your plywood. You’ll want to drill into the mortar if possible because it’s easier and will put less wear and tear on your drill bit. Measure and mark on your plywood where you will drill your screws. Making sure to don the appropriate safety glasses, screw the sides of your panels into place. You can choose to add beads of wood glue to the edges of the sides where it will meet the front panel to help secure a tighter fit. Then, repeat the same process for the front panel.

• Once the plywood backing is attached, you’re ready to install your Stikwood planks to create your wood wall fireplace surround! Stikwood even has an option to add fire treatment to ensure your fireplace is not only beautiful but safe as well.

Can Stikwood be Installed Over a Tile Backsplash?

We’ve made sure that customers looking to add a splash of reclaimed wood to their kitchen or bathroom can do so with no problem. Thanks to our Splash Safe technology, shoppers can choose their favorite reclaimed wood wall look and then upgrade to splash safe to enjoy their favorite finish as a backsplash. Installing Stikwood over existing tile is super easy! Simply use your favorite glass or tile cleaner to remove the dust, dirt, and hard water residue from the tile, wait for it to dry, and then begin applying! It’s as simple as that!

Can Stikwood be Installed over Wallpaper?

One of the most commonly asked questions we get is whether or not our products can be applied onto wallpaper. The answer? Absolutely! Let’s be real. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, wants to deal with the dreaded task of removing wallpaper. If you’ve never done it before, consider yourself lucky! But for those who have, we know this is a huge relief if you’re looking to bring Stikwood into your home. Thankfully when creating a decorative wood wall in your home, removing the wallpaper is one step you can skip!

Here are a few tips and tricks on how to make the most of your time when applying our peel and stick wood panels over existing wallpaper:

• Remove any loose pieces of wallpaper that may be peeling off the wall. As we mentioned earlier, it’s not necessary to remove all the wallpaper, but if your peel and stick wood panels adhere to loose pieces of wallpaper rather than the wall itself, they may begin to move as the paper falls off.

• Smooth out any noticeable bumps or ridges with sandpaper. This will not only ensure your wood wall is visually flat, but it will also help ensure maximum adhesion from the planks as well.

• Make sure to clean the wallpaper thoroughly to remove any dirt, dust, or oil from the wall. This will help ensure that the adhesive on the planks is able to adhere to the wallpaper.

Installing Stikwood on Textured Walls

Remember when textured walls used to be the thing to have in your home? While we don’t recommend adhering our peel and stick wood planks directly to excessively textured walls—such as those with raised plaster designs—you can easily create a wood wall directly on top of light textures, such as those with the appearance of an orange peel.

As with wallpaper, we recommend taking a few easy steps before applying the panels to create your finished product!

• If there are places that are more raised than others, use a sander to remove some of the paint or plaster in that area. We recommend placing a drop cloth on the ground if you’ll be doing any heavy sanding to make clean-up a bit easier!

• With a lightly damp cloth, wipe down the wall, focusing more heavily on any areas that you’ve sanded, to remove all of the dust, dirt, and debris that could decrease the effectiveness of the adhesive on our products.

• Once the area is clean and dry, you’re ready to start creating your wood wall!

Have More Questions?

Regardless of the look you’re dreaming of, Stikwood can help bring your vision to life. If you have any questions or concerns about installing our peel and stick wood planks in your home, give us a call or use the chat feature and we’ll walk you through each step of the process!