Can you paint over wall paper, what is the easiest way to remove the wall paper if not.?

Answer 1

Yes you can paint over wall paper. Just about anything can be painted, the trick is selecting the appropriate paint for the surface that you will be painting. (If any of the paper is cracked or peeling, the loose has to be removed before painting, any cracks or uneven places can be filled with a filler and painted over.)

NOTE: BEFORE you decide to remove wall paper; answer this: what type of walls do you have underneath the paper. If you have drywall or plaster, it is VERY important to know if your walls were properly primed before the paper was put on the wall. If not, removing the paper can cause damage to the wall. If your walls were properly primed, then any of a number of ways will remove the paper. You could rent a steamer, you could fill a spray bottle with hot water and vinegar--or just hot water and work section by section peeling it up. There are wallpaper remover solutions available commercially at stores such as WalMart. I personally prefer to use hot tap water. (There is no magical solution, wall paper removal is a long boring process.)

Answer 2

I'v always heard that you shouldn't. But, I was too lazy to take down the wall paper and painted it. It looked just fine. Didn't bubble or come off from getting wet with the paint. The only thing was, was that the lines from where the wall papers meet showed up abit. So, I just used a sponge and gave it the sponged look. It turned out very nice. You can also use a crumpled up plastic grocery bag. Used that one too. And of couse a feather duster. Just dip the tips in alittle and dot away. That's pretty cool looking too. You can practice on a big piece of cardboard of like behind the fridge first if you want. Good luck.

Answer 3

Depends on the wall paper. Some have a coating that make it difficult to paint over and others are textured and look like crap when painted over.

To remove the wallpaper you have several options.
1. get a steamer
2. Chemical remover from a hardware store.
3. A vinegar solution (vinegar is good at doing alot of things)

Answer 4

No, you cannot paint over wall paper without have the paint crack later when the wall paper starts to peel.. Hardware stores sell enzyme kits that take it off in no time if you follow the instructions. After that you need to sand the wall, wash it with tri-sodium phosphate, and prime it before painting so that any residual glue does not bleed through the new paint.

Answer 5

you can but not recommended you can use just hot water and a scrapper to do the job. they do sell kits at any hardware store. just take some kind of prong type scrapper and scratch the walls with it. wet it with hot water but be careful not to over soak so you don't cause yourself molding problems. let it set for at least 5 to 10 minutes and begin scrapping. do not dig into the walls all you want to do is just scratch the paper up so water will soak through and loosen paper. then just scrap with flat 4 or 6 inch scrapper blade. it is time consuming but well worth it when you are done. be sure to clean walls when done so that primer and paint will adhere. after you scrap a section you may want to wipe down with an old rag or towel.

Answer 6

Greg, I just talked to a professional painter about this last week. You Can paint over about anything, IF, you prime it. If you do not prime it, you may have to do more than one coat.
He said make sure the surface was clean of grease and dirt, no tears or peeling places in the paper surface. Clean, repair, let it dry good, then you can paint, get a good paint.

Answer 7

I have painted over wallpaper before and it looked horrible. There were alot of cracks and places when the paint began to peel and chip off. I would recomend getting a steamer and peeling the wallpaper off before you paint expecially if you plan on keeping the room that color for a long time. Its not worth the time to have to go back over the room and paint it again because you painted over wallpaper. If you steam the wallpaper it peels off very easily

Answer 8

I painted a room with wallpaper before, i just cleaned it with warm soapy water to remove greese and grime, then made sure to prime it. I put 2 coats of paint and have never had any problems!

Answer 9

Yes you can, but to remove use some vinegar and water &sponge & soak wall let sit for a minute and scrap off.

Answer 10

If I were you I would remove it. You can get a scorer from your local hardware store that makes it much easier to pull wallpaper off