My wife and I are faced with painting a room that has previously had its wallpaper painted over. Of course the biggest problem we face are the unsightly seems that werent properly fixed the first time. Im wondering what the best course of action is. Cut out seems and fill in? Scrape all paint off? Skim coat the whole wall? Any help would be appreciated..
Chris
Tips for picking the right paintbrush based on paint type, surface, and personal comfort.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
If you've tried peeling the papers completely off and it's pulling the rock off with it what I'd do is rerock the entire room before I paint over it or if possible I'd rock over the paper with 1/4" rock glued and minimal amt of screws.
Sure is nicer to start with fresh drywall then continue the bad work.
MeherBaba http://www.meherbabainformation.org/content.asp
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Blog http://cliffordrenovations.com/WP/
My painter swears by this product, Drawtite, for a sealer before painting over wallpaper. He says it helps at loose seams.
If any spot pops he just scrapes and hot muds over then spot reseals.
http://www.fauxshop.com/primer.htm
View Image
Edited 8/16/2008 11:28 am by jagwah
Of course the biggest problem we face are the unsightly seems that werent properly fixed the first time.
I'm not sure what that means. Is the paper coming loose at the seams (note spelling)? or are the seams just telgraphing through?
If they're loose, you'll need to remove whatever is not well adhered, prime (use an oil primer), skim, prime again and then paint. If the seams are telegraphing through, you can just skim coat the seams (you'll probably need 3 coats), prime and paint.
Seems are telegraphing through. Thought cutting seems out and mudding over was the solution. Seems its the best way to do it but was wondering if skimcoating the whole wall would work?"prime (use an oil primer), skim, prime again and then paint" - can you explain that skim part? I'm a furniture maker not a home builder! :)Chris
A skim coat of mud is a thin skin to fill the irregularities and provide something that can be sanded where necessary.So you cut scrape and remove anything that is loose or built up too high first, then the primer/sealer. That gives you a good binding agent and isolates some opf the new chemistry from the old. It also tends to make any other loose paper known in that itpuckers up when the primer is drying.Then the skim coat to fill and smooth, then more primer and final paint.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
an important preliminary step is to use a sharp flexible putty knife first and be sure you remove anything not well adhered. Sometimes luck is all that is holding the existing wall paper in place, and other times removing old wallpaper is like pulling off your own thumbnails - hard and painfull. You want to be sure that it will stay there considering the amt of work you will be doing over it.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yeah, what Piffin said. You CAN skim coat the whole wall, but it may not be necessary. Usually, just skim coating the seams is sufficient if everything is well adhered.
Occasionally, I've seen where the strips of wallpaper were overlapped instead of butted. If this is the case, you can still hide them by skim coating them, but it will be a little harder and you'll need a deft touch with your taping knives. Or you can cut them out, but I wouldn't because you may find yourself removing a lot more wallpaper than you had planned on.
The reason for the oil primer (rather than latex) is to prevent subsequent compound and paint from wetting the wallpaper. Oil primer will block moisture. If the paper does get wet, it may stop adhering to the wall and once again, you may find yourself removing a lot more wallpaper than you had planned on.
I'd use "lining wallpaper" over the old stuff.
Which is?
I think I know what he means...embossed wallpaper. I've used it in cover-ups before and it'll hide a multitude of sins.
Personally I'm a bigger fan of 1/4" dw over everything(in lieu of a tear-out), and a clean start. If it's bad enough that I'm scraping, mudding, sanding, etc...I'd rather have my end result be a perfect(!) wall, than one that may or may not look good -or stay that way.
Lining paper is wallpaper designed for lining walls to cover rough walls. My house had a cloth backed paper with no texture. It's usually pretty thick, and is paintable.Lining (liner, blankstock) paper is available here, but you can get it at a wallpaper store. Don't expect the big boxes to have it, but it's possible. You probably want a light to medium lining paper.
http://www.wallliner.com/wallliner.html
Edited 8/17/2008 8:08 am ET by MarkH
Skim coat the whole wall?
thats what I would do, hot mud and topping mixed, then sand and texture if desired. Not really that big of a deal to do, and then you're starting with a fresh surface.
but thats just me
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
d-mix
p
Why you troublemaker, you :-)
To the OP: if you're really curious what he's talking about, use the search function. The stuff he referred to has been discussed to death and I don't even want to mention it again lest it re-activate some of those "interesting" discussions.
I agree with Andybuilds.
Any version of painting over the wall paper, as you already know, is a cheap and lazy short cut that looks like it.
Any version of painting over the wall paper, as you already know, is a cheap and lazy short cut that looks like it.
I guess you're talking about painting directly over old wallpaper, but I've floated drywall mud over old wallpaper (and then re-textured) plenty of times, and never had any problems later, nor did I consider it a shortcut. This was in cases where the wallpaper had been applied without sizing, and was literally glued tight to the face paper of the sheetrock.
No way would I remove and entire room of sheetrock down to the studs just because of stubborn wallpaper.View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product” – Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
No way would I remove and entire room of sheetrock down to the studs just because of stubborn wallpaper.
Agreed. In fact, when it's that stubborn as to be one with the wall, I tell my customers to think of it AS the wall. I wouldn't remove the paper layer on the drywall before painting either ;-)
At 12 bucks a sheet is it really worth all the time salvaging for a finished product that can't be gaurenteed?
At 12 bucks a sheet is it really worth all the time salvaging...
If it were 12 bucks a sheet including demolition, disposal, delivery, installation, taping/spackling, getting old jambs flush and new trim it would be a no brainer.
Perhaps I should have clarified a bit on my description of the wall paper. Its old. Like 80 years old and glued directly to the plaster. Pulling of paper means pulling out large chunks of plaster. Chris
Torch it off.View Image
Edited 8/19/2008 11:58 pm ET by MarkH
Edited 8/20/2008 12:20 am ET by MarkH
old wall paper was usually done with wheat paste , i think you would be amazed how easy it comes off of plaster wall, stripping off from plaster is easier than dry wall i would try a section and see.any damaged areas can be skimmed with durabond
That was what I was thinking. Old wallpaper on smooth plaster should come off fairly easy with the 4 inch scraper blades.
Nobody here can tell you exactly what to do without seeing this. Some wallpapers were installed for the purpose of stabilizing and saving old plaster and hiding the cracks in it. Removing those can mean removing the plaster.If you thump on the wall here and there and it all seems solid and the paper is not peeloing away, leave it.
It you wash over the wall with a hot water rag and the paper blisters up, remove it.
I f you canfind a corner peeling back, and pulling it slowly takes it off, then remove it.In btween those is a world of judgement calls.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
108471.24 in reply to 108471.21
Perhaps I should have clarified a bit on my description of the wall paper. Its old. Like 80 years old and glued directly to the plaster. Pulling of paper means pulling out large chunks of plaster.
Chris
I'm thinking Chris is running the risk of getting in deep.
Poor guy is balanced on the brink and people here pushing him over.This could lead to a whole house remodel before he knows it.If he hears himself thinking, "As long as I'm doing this..." he should just stop and shoot himself or burn the place down now, LOL
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
When you say the plaster will come off in chunks when pulling off the paper
is it because you have already learned this from trying an area of the walls?
Reason I ask is a lot will depend on the shape of the plaster that is under the paper.
That's right! Poor guy has a wife with an idea she wants the wall painted a diff colour and all of a sudden he is down to the studs!?!?!Sheetrock has a paper face to begin with! What is wrong with another piece of paper? Tape on the joints is a piece of paper for cryin' out loud!Yes, if the existing is easy to peel, take it off. A quick wetting will tell. If it comes off easy he does not want more paint over it, but odds are just as good that it will want to stay and no sense whatsoever ion fighting with it when it is so easy top float a skim coat of mud over it. Any loose stuff will show long before he gets finish paint on, and what lasts untill the paint is one will last a lifetime.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
All paint jobs are 90% prep work. Short cut the prep and you short cut the paint job. Don't be afraid of putting in a little work. Remove the wallpaper, repair the walls, prime and paint. The next color change will be a breeze, otherwise, it's going to look like you know what. I use a scoring tool and Dif remover. Go light with the tool and give the remover time to work, keeping the paper wet with repeated applications. The instructions are on the container of Dif.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
i agee removing wallpaper is the best thing i would just add after you score the paper and wet it down , cover the wall with thin painters plastic smoothing it tight to the wall. the plastic keeps the dif from drying to fast . ive found this helps sometimes. other times its just wet, peel ,grin and bear it.
Leaving the wallpaper & painting over it will just delay the mess untill later,strip it patch it ,and paint it then. Do it right, do it once.
If the room is presently drywall, don't count out the option of gutting it back to the studs. I just did this in a room that allowed me to reroute misplaced heating ducts, add electric, phone and cable lines. Upgrade from 1 1/2" of poor insulation and fix a few framming issues. Total material was less the $400 and I don't charge myself for labor.
i had this problem when my old skylights leaked onto the papered drywall
i went to home depot and got some " venetian plaster " and coated all the walls in the room , MBR , 500 sq ft
that was 3 years ago and there isent one mark showing to this day
this stuff can be tinted any colour you want and is roughly the texture of thined drywall mud
, it is a 2 coat deal and i wished i had known about it years ago when i used to skim coat paper in old houses till i was blue in the face :, )
I've never worked with venetian plaster but would like to try it on a small room such as the bathroom or one wall in a larger room.Do you apply it to the wall with a trowell?Thanks!
there are several ways you can apply it
the first method you apply the base coat with a putty knife not trying to get it perfectly smooth then apply a top coat after which you sand it to bring out the rough look of a wall that has plaster over cement
i just use it to cover old paper and imperfections similar to a skim coat and that way i dont need to paint ( in this case i use a trowel )
i have found it a lot less trouble than mud and faster
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Could you share the other methods also?
Thanks
when i used it i was not trying to obtain the marbled look that it was intended for
i merely wanted a smooth wall with no defects showing ( eg seams lited paper etc) so i just trowled it on sanded lightly and gave it a final coat
it dries quite quickly however when the tint is added the can must be shaken longer than normal to get the tint throughly mixed in
make sure you use a drop cloth if working over carpet it dosent come out of rugs as easy as mud does , dont ask me how i know
i find mud bubbles wall paper first coat at least while this stuff dosent seem to