topic Re: Painting over wallpaper in Home

Painting over wallpaper

qualitygal — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 11:50:15 GMT

I've seen that Kilz needs to used to prep before painting. Have any of you here ever done this and have info to pass along on doing this? Also think I might do the bathroom. Can't think of what this is called...board with wallpaper on it. I may need to prep that too. The area by the sink (sink is right up against a side, small area,) that needs something new. Need to put washable paint on it I think. Any ideas if you've done this before to pass along? Think while we'll soon be able to open windows for fresh air and before it gets humid, that it might be a good time to see about it. Thanks!!

Re: Painting over wallpaper

brii — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 11:57:33 GMT

I've never painted over wall paper. I would probably remove it first.

We always use a paint/primer in one now. Most good paint comes with a primer already mixed in.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Sooner — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:07:31 GMT

On 4/8/2014 brii said:
I've never painted over wall paper. I would probably remove it first.

We always use a paint/primer in one now. Most good paint comes with a primer already mixed in.

Sometimes if it was not properly put on to begin with you CAN'T get it off without removing the top layer of the wall board. In that case, you have to use "mud" and tape over the seams and sand it down and such and so forth. Put a layer of sizing over the paper and paint or put on more wallpaper. Then after it is properly done you can remove that second layer of paper and repaper again when tastes change.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

151949 — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:22:23 GMT

I would not do this. Over time the glues that hold wallpaper on fail and it peels and it would ruin the paint job. Plus wallpapers usually have texture to them that would show through the paint.However, I have a friend who just bought a mobile home and wanted to cover up the 1990's southwest decor and she did paint over the walls that were made from that board with the paper attached and it looks very nice. She did use Kilz as her first coat to hide the print - then she painted it ivory.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

stevieb — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:29:31 GMT

It can be more costly and labor intensive to remove it, but that's what I'd do. Painting over wallpaper, more times than not, looks exactly like what it is... paint over wall paper. The texture of the paper is likely going to show through, if not now then later. Moreover, as the paper deteriorates, so will the paint.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Annabellethecat66 — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:37:41 GMT

Years ago when I was young, I used to wallpaper every room in my house. The man building my house even hired me to paper some of the other houses he was building.

It is very difficult to paint over. I've never done it. I wouldn't advise it. Like someone else said, you have to make sure you have the seams sealed with mud, if you don't you will be able to see every single seam.

Mud is very tricky to smooth out bla bla I could go on but you'll go crazy trying to get the wall 'sized' before you even start to paint.

Removing the paper can be time consuming and difficult (though they have a lot of new stuff out there that sure works better than when I did it.

It will be easier to remove if the person who put it down sized the wall BEFORE they put the paper down. Here's how it works. If they sized the wall before the paper was put down it means they applied a water-like substance that sealed the wall and kept it from absorbing all of the glue that's on the paper (if it was pre-glued). This still allowed the paper to stick to the wall it just kept it from being absorbed by the wallboard and kept it from separating (the paper would separate and it probably will to some degree anyway).

Make sure you get the equipment you will need to remove the wallpaper. You will need to 'mark it' before you try to remove it. I'm not familiar with the new stuff they sell but I've been told they make it relatively (subjective word) easy to remove paper these days. Again, it depends on how the paper was put up.

I have removed paper from my walls. Sometimes it was easy and sometimes I ended up digging holes (which I had to use mud to fill and sand down before I painted the walls) in the wall!

You'll do fine. Just allow plenty of time and don't get frustrated. It is probably pretty easy these days compared to the old days when I tried to do it.

To sum up (Phew! I told you I'm long-winded) I wouldn't paint over it. Just take an area that isn't easily seen and try to remove the paper but size it first.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

aprildreams — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:47:22 GMT

I redid a kitchen in an older home that had hideous wallpaper on wallboard a few years ago. I put bead board up first and painted it. Looked beautiful!

Re: Painting over wallpaper

fthunt — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:53:53 GMT

I would never do it - nor put new roof shingles over the previous layer.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Babycuddles — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:54:27 GMT

I moved into a 1940's farmhouse ten years ago. They had never painted the walls or ceilings. They always wallpapered everything including the ceilings and must of done it every year. After removing six layers of wallpaper it became obvious I needed to do something for a quick fix until my husband and I could rip out the walls and replace them. I took off any wallpaper that was peeling taped up the seems with mud and lightly sanded them down. I knew I did not have the ability to sand down the entire walls to a smooth finish so I chose to orange peel them. I bought a big fluffy roll brush and dipped it in the mud and painted my entire walls that way with the mud. It did put a small texture on the walls. After I did that, I painted with kiltz oil base and then I painted with regular paint. The two rooms I have left that I have not had a chance to rip out are still looking good ten years later and I get a lot of compliments on those two rooms. The wallpaper still does not show through and it is not peeled off the walls. That being said, it would probably be best to remove the paper, patch, kilz and then paint.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

scoop — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:55:34 GMT

I've seen it done but would not recommend. It never looks as good as if you primed/skim coated & painted new sheet rock. Removing the old sheet rock can be messy but it's worth it in the end to have it look nice. Cutting corners ends up costing more money in the end.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Kitlynn — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 14:03:04 GMT

Yes you can do it and it will come out just fine and look beautiful if you do it right. We had our kitchen done last Summer. You have to make sure that the seams in the wallpaper are not coming loose anywhere. Then paint with a really good primer first and then your paint color of choice on top. Our contractor did ours and it looks gorgeous!

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Cardamom — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 14:19:40 GMT

Oh yeah, that is what I have going on until we gut the bathroom. I inherited this mess a few years ago when we bought this house. It was a single guys house. I assume he never used this second bathroom to shower in. It looked okay when we bought it. Once the kids started showering in there the wallpaper underneath the paint started bubbling and peeling. So we have been spackling, sanding, using Killz and repainting in spots where necessary. We just keep patching it up till we remodel. We did initially use the Killz all over but it doesn't permanently solve the problem. And we used really good paint from Sherwin Williams which also has primer mixed in it. I really recommend against it especially in a bathroom where there is moisture. It's just not the right way to do something.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

pattypeep — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 14:24:05 GMT

I was attempting to remove some wall paper that a tenant had used in my MIL's rental. Even rented a steamer. Could not remove it safely. I ended up getting compound and floating a layer over the wallpaper giving it a Tuscan feel. Looks great.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Scooby Doo — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 14:43:39 GMT

In a bathroom the paint over wallpaper will bubble. Since it's a small room, I'd put beadboard over the wallpaper or put new quarter inch drywall on it andf start fresh.

I have a small bathroom that was wallpapered. The moisture gets under the paper eventually and it will come off. I removed the wallpaper (big job) but then we had to mud all the walls anyway and sand and paint. Took a long time. I would just start from fresh.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

luvmyteddy4 — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:04:47 GMT

I painted over a wall in my living room over 20 years ago. It was textured wall paper that I had put up originally. It still looks great today and I have painted my living room at least 5 times since then.

After taking some borders down in other rooms I gave up in the kitchen and painted over the border. It turned out fine too. You never know. I got lucky.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Nightowlz — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:28:09 GMT

I would never paint over wallpaper either. We had wallpaper in the bathrooms & removed it & painted. We used Zinsser Paper Tiger Scoring Tool & sprayed on Dif Gel Wallpaper Stripper. The scoring tool puts tiny holes in the wallpaper allowing the Dif Gel to get behind it which made for easy removal in our case.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

depglass — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:28:20 GMT

Kilz will keep color from bleeding through, also mildew discoloration after it is removed. It won't keep paper sealed.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

momgirls2 — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 18:33:51 GMT

I painted over wallpaper in my bedroom and bathroom after we moved in two years ago. I have had no problem with it. Just removed wallpaper from another bedroom and laundry room. It was a big job, but they all look good. Just be sure that the paper is stuck on really well. That is the reason I removed it in the other two rooms. It was not.

Re: Painting over wallpaper

qualitygal — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 18:48:27 GMT

Thanks ladies, can't thank you enough. A LOT of food for thought here. May have to rethink this whole thing!!!

Re: Painting over wallpaper

Hoovermom — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 19:05:12 GMT

I removed wallpaper from my mom's bedroom and bathroom (25 year old home). I used a long straight ss cake spatula from her silverware, sprayed water on paper, let it set, then used the spatula to go under the paper and removed it all. Yes, it took me sometime to do it but it all came off with little scarring on the wall. After a while it was actually quite fun. She had a painter come in after me and finish the walls. I did save her a lot of money. Good luck.