Anyone painted over wallpaper?
- Thread starter esh
- Start date
I've done it a couple of times when time has been short. Just two months ago we renovated (again) a house that I painted over the wallpaper maybe six years ago.
This time I had time to remove the wallpaper and get it back to plaster. I spent one whole day with a steamer... did one three metre section of wall and gave up. A nuclear attack would not have budged that wallpaper. I used a stanly knife and cut the paper at the corner and finished that section only. It would have taken me a week to get the wallpaper off one large room and a hallway. I don't know what it was glued on with, but it wasn't coming off easily, even with the little metal scratcher thingy that pushes holes into the paper.
The steamer was "melting" the paint and I could get it off whilst it was soft, but then I had to scratch up the paper underneath and the wallpaper must have been a good quality and getting the steam through was almost impossible. So I stopped at the nearest corner and gave up.
We painted over it once more and it looks great.
Moral of the story... if it is stuck on well, not lifting at the edges, paint over it
.
This time I had time to remove the wallpaper and get it back to plaster. I spent one whole day with a steamer... did one three metre section of wall and gave up. A nuclear attack would not have budged that wallpaper. I used a stanly knife and cut the paper at the corner and finished that section only. It would have taken me a week to get the wallpaper off one large room and a hallway. I don't know what it was glued on with, but it wasn't coming off easily, even with the little metal scratcher thingy that pushes holes into the paper.
The steamer was "melting" the paint and I could get it off whilst it was soft, but then I had to scratch up the paper underneath and the wallpaper must have been a good quality and getting the steam through was almost impossible. So I stopped at the nearest corner and gave up.
We painted over it once more and it looks great.
Moral of the story... if it is stuck on well, not lifting at the edges, paint over it
.
Wall paper which doesn't come off walls easily is symptomatic of a papering job which was not done properly in the first place ie walls should have been 'sized'/lined with backing paper, then the wallpaper applied.
Glues have changed over the years but poor surface preparation contributes to how hard it is to remove the surface finish. I have seen places where DIYers have applied contact adhesive to the wall prior to papering - sticks like $h!t to a blanket.
If all else fails, use a textured paint (yuck), but it will cover.
Glues have changed over the years but poor surface preparation contributes to how hard it is to remove the surface finish. I have seen places where DIYers have applied contact adhesive to the wall prior to papering - sticks like $h!t to a blanket.
If all else fails, use a textured paint (yuck), but it will cover.
Too much wallpaper
Yeah, we first tried warm sugar soap and hot water with roller, then we hired a steamer to help get it off from Kennards. Both still took alot of time. Surprisingly, the sugar soap worked better.
The steamer had these rollers that would make small holes through the wallpaper to help it come off but it was making marks on the wall. My partner got told a pro can come do it for $100 a wall. Would save us time but its not worth it. We are thinking of painting over the walls that the wallpaper is still perfectly intact. Even the kitchen has wallpaper! Prep work kills me
Yeah, we first tried warm sugar soap and hot water with roller, then we hired a steamer to help get it off from Kennards. Both still took alot of time. Surprisingly, the sugar soap worked better.
The steamer had these rollers that would make small holes through the wallpaper to help it come off but it was making marks on the wall. My partner got told a pro can come do it for $100 a wall. Would save us time but its not worth it. We are thinking of painting over the walls that the wallpaper is still perfectly intact. Even the kitchen has wallpaper! Prep work kills me
yes a few times,
depends on what sort of finish you want, if its a cheap rental, then paint over it all you want, depends if the wall paper is torn or not, ive painted rooms which have been torn and it does show, so some rooms Itook it off,
if you can scrape it off easily with a scraper, then id say spend the extra half day and go for it
other then that, use one of those steamers that you can hire for like $30 per day,
makes the job far easier, however, be warned, it is time consuming, took me about 2-3 hours per room, x 9 rooms!!!
depends on what sort of finish you want, if its a cheap rental, then paint over it all you want, depends if the wall paper is torn or not, ive painted rooms which have been torn and it does show, so some rooms Itook it off,
if you can scrape it off easily with a scraper, then id say spend the extra half day and go for it
other then that, use one of those steamers that you can hire for like $30 per day,
makes the job far easier, however, be warned, it is time consuming, took me about 2-3 hours per room, x 9 rooms!!!
I did once and probably wouldn't do it again, the wallpaper ended up bubbling in places. Next time I'll go to the effort of removing it first.
Yeah... Don't...
In the kitchen of our first ppr, the brick wall/ivy wallpaper had been coated over with 3 coats of varnish that had gone yellow. With a small baby and a toddler and an ex who didnt do anything houseworky, I spent every night starting at 9pm for weeks getting it off. What a job. Have just advised my daughter to replaster a small area instead of getting it off, and paint over it in the cupboards
