painting over wallpaper? good idea or bad?

Question

whats the best technique, or is it even a good idea.

(i want to avoid stripping a 50 year old wallpaper, that was poorly installed.)

Answer 1

Well, I've painted over wallpaper many times. The only difference is that is was properly installed to begin with. Painting over poorly installed wallpaper is never a good idea... but if you still decide to do it, here's how to go about it without mucking up the job:
1. Make absolutely certain that all seams are sealed and there are no tears in the paper. You can buy a special glue in a syringe for sticking down seams of wallpaper. You'll find it at any home hardware store. For pieces that are missing in the paper, you'll need to use polyfilla to even it out with the paper or it will show thru the paint.
2. Wash the paper with liquid TSP. Don't use hot water to mix it, use cold. And don't use the powder TSP, as it is toxic, is harder to mix and you'll have to rinse it after. You'll find TSP at any home hardware store. This will remove all grease, grime, grit, etc. If you don't do this, your paint won't stick properly. Let it dry for at least 5 hours.
3. Prime the wallpaper with an oil-based primer. I suggest Bull's Eye 1-2-3 or Kilz. It's important to use oil as it won't lift your wallpaper and latex paint will. Just prime one coat.
4. Paint over the primer with any kind of paint, including latex paint. You can paint over oil primer with latex, but not latex over oil paint so make sure you've used oil primer and not flat oil paint to prime. You may need 2 coats of paint.

If however, you decide to remove the paper (which I highly suggest since it was poorly done!), here's how to do it the easiest, most cost effective way:

1. Buy a scoring tool at any home hardware store. It looks like a rotary pizza cutter with spikes. Run this all over the wallpaper, every which way.
2. Using a spray bottle (an old windex bottle works just fine), fill it with blue car windshield washer fluid. Spray this all over the walls. Wait 10 minutes. (If you are doing large spaces of wall, you can do just parts at a time). Don't skip the waiting period, as it won't work properly.
3. Spray the wall a second time. Wait 5 minutes.
4. Easily peel (it comes off in large sections!) and scrape the paper off the walls.
5. Wash the walls with liquid TSP as stated above. Let dry.
6. Prime the walls as stated above before painting or replacing the wallpaper with another.

Oh... and though some people here will tell you to use fabric softener, DON'T DO IT!!!!!!! Fabric softener does work, but it's really hard to rinse it off the walls after, and it will make any new paint or paper hard to adhere. If you don't believe me, go put some fabric softener on your hands and try to rinse it off.... Besides, fabric softener is more expensive than car windshield liquid and you won't have to rinse that off.

Enjoy your new walls!

Answer 2

Very bad idea. The wallpaper can mildew very easily, especially if you live in a humid climate. I would definately remove the wallpaper before you paint. It might seem like a lot of work now, but it will help you avoid a sticky mess later.

Answer 3

Please don't paint over the paper, you will not be happy with the resulting pops, bubbles and seams that show.
To get a good finish on your walls, you have to strip the paper off.
Trust me, I know what I'm talking about, I rehabbed several homes for resale and many of them were older with this exact problem.
The easiest way to do this is not with a commercial steam stripper as many think but with hot water, Downy fabric softener and a sprayer. Soak the paper, I mean soak it, and wait about 10 minutes. Pick an end and start to peel, slowly. It will all come off in one long strip just like it was put on. If you hit a spot that sticks, just spray on more Downy and wiggle it free.
The solution is 1/4 cup of Downy to 1 gallon of water.
Remove all nails, and use a mop to clean the walls thoroughly before applying primer and paint.
It is not an extremely fast process, but you will be much happier with the finished product. If you paint over it anyway, this method will still work to take off the mess. It will just be slower yet because the solution will have to permeate the paint as well as the paper.
A 10' x 10' room with just me working on it takes about 12 hours.
I get excellent results this way.

Answer 4

I would take it donw. Sometimes the moisture in the paint will loosen the paper, and then you have a big mess.

However, I recently took some down, then painted over it. What a mess. Be sure to prime the wall first (after paper removal) to eliminate the glue residue from bleeding through.

If it was poorly installed, it might be worse painting over it.

Answer 5

Depends, I think that if you want to paint over wallpaper, make sure that any loose corners are glued down first, so that they don't end up coming up later on. And if the wallpaper is dark, make sure that you put a base coat on first, so that it doesn't show through the final color that you put on the wall.

Answer 6

I have done it. I suggest that you make sure there are no "bubbles" under the wallpaper. Also you might want to sand it a little bit, especially if there is overlap at the seams. I would use filler putty along the seams and sand lightly there too, then use a primer.

Answer 7

i personally would strip it, dont just paint over it because the wallpaper might make it uneven. the best way is to start fresh.

Answer 8

If you use a good primer on the wallpaper first. Mine turned out gorgeous.

Answer 9

It will be time consuming but for the best finish always remove the wallpaper.

Answer 10

You can paint over it but it may start peeling because of the paint. Paint over a seam first to see what it will look like.

If you decide to remove use the directions here and it will not be as difficult:

http://www.askthebuilder.com/250_Stripping_Wallpaper_-_Now_it_is_Easy_.shtml