Lime plaster over laterite is what Ribandar's Portuguese-era houses are made of, and with a river at the back door those walls draw up moisture and release it through the surface. Covering them in vinyl stops that, and the paper blisters while the wall suffers. So in an old house wallpaper belongs on a later brick partition, in an upstairs room well clear of the ground, or nowhere. The newer flats on the hill are a different matter: their cement-plastered inner walls take vinyl designer wallpaper well once primed. Wherever a wall feels cool and clammy to the hand in August, choose PVC wall panels and keep the paper for a dry one.
- Restored houses on the main road: paper a newer partition wall only, and leave the original lime walls painted so they can breathe.
- Ground-floor rooms beside the river: no wallpaper at all; PVC wall panels on battens cope with the damp that rises there.
- Flats on the hill: a textured or 3D vinyl behind the bed, kept off any wall shared with a bathroom.
Ribandar is the long, narrow village on the Mandovi between Panjim and Old Goa, reached by the causeway from the city. A single road runs through it, lined with old houses that back onto the river, with a ferry across to Chorão.
Ribandar is known for its row of Portuguese-era houses, many two storeys high with balconies over the road and the water behind. Several have been restored. Newer flats stand on the hill above.
With the river on one side and salt pans and mangroves along the causeway, Ribandar is humid and breezy, and mosquitoes are common in the evening.
Riverside and backwater homes
Walls near water hold damp at the base. Wallpaper should stop above any tide mark of rising damp, and the wall should be treated first. Vinyl papers with anti-fungal adhesive cope with humidity; paper-backed and fabric wallpapers do not.
Old Goan houses
Old walls are lime-plastered and need to breathe. Sealing them under vinyl can trap moisture, so a wall is tested first, and loose or powdery plaster is made good. Often the answer is to paper a later partition wall and leave the old lime walls painted.
