Paint over Wallpaper? Yes You Can!
Stripping Wallpaper
Stripping wallpaper is a tedious job, and sometimes
it's not merely tedious, but darn near impossible.
If there are numerous layers, or it has been pasted
to an unpainted, un-sized wall, you simply cannot
remove it without doing major damage to the underlying
plaster or wallboard, requiring extensive repair.
There's an easier way. It is possible to paint
over wallpaper, if you do it correctly and with
a little work, you can hide all the seams too.
• How To Paint Over Wallpaper
• Remove all the loose paper, taking special
care around the seams. Using wallpaper seam glue,
paste down remaining loose edges.
• Prime the walls one coat of fast-drying
shellac or alcohol based primer. These tend to
be smelly, so make sure you have lots of ventilation.
Unlike waterbased primers, these will not loosen
the wallpaper. Use a short nap roller, one sold
for smooth walls. 
• Using the widest drywall knife you can,
apply drywall mud over all seams and flaws. Sand
smooth. Prime over the drywalled areas. You may
need to go back and re-drywall some flaws. Take
time with this step, and make sure you have good
light. Use a large sanding sponge, available in
paint or hardware stores, rather than sandpaper.
It will be easier to get a smooth, flush finish.
• Using clear or white caulking, caulk
along the ceiling, baseboard and trim. This will
help you get a nicer line when you cut in the
edges with a brush.
• Now you're ready for paint. Don’t
use cheap paint over all your hard work! Go to
a good paint store one that real painters use
- and buy the best quality available. Use an odorless
oil base primer, prior to painting. Since glossier
paints will show up remaining imperfections in
your wall, consider some of the excellent washable
flat paints, or a low gloss satin paint such as
200 Promar from Sherwin Williams. No matter what
finish or color you choose, count on doing two
coats for the best looking, most washable surface.
• Does this sound like too much work? You
can save some steps and texture your walls. No
sanding required and you can be a bit messy! Prime
the walls as above, and caulk the edges. Buy a
4-6 flexible drywall knife and a 5 gallon bucket
of joint compound for an average size room. On
a scrap board or piece of cardboard, experiment
with applying the compound until you have a pleasing
finish. Have fun with it! If you don t like the
way it' s coming out, scrape it off and try again
until you have a technique and finish you're happy
with. Tape the trim before applying it to the
walls. Once your walls are done and the texture
dry, you can use a large wet sponge to smooth
out any rough edges.
• Prime the walls with PVA primer, and
apply two coats of your chosen finish paint, using
a medium or long napped roller.
• There. Nobody will ever know there's
wallpaper under your gorgeous new paint job!
ASK AN EXPERT
How to apply paint to walls without stripping
wallpaper -- Ask an Expert
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Q: I am tired of stripping wallpaper
and have a bedroom where I would like to paint
over it. The wallpaper has a raised vertical pattern
that looks like ribbons of string. What is the
best method to do this? What should be used as
the base coat? Can I use glazes over the paint
or would it be too much for the wallpaper? J.A.,
Bay Village
A: From Matt Jaworski, owner of Jaworski Coatings
in Elyria
(1-866-874-2114, www.welovepainting.com):
First, the good news: You can paint your bedroom,
bathroom or any other room with out stripping
the wall paper.
Now, the bad news: Because the wallpaper is textured,
it will require more prep work. The walls will
need to be primed and coated with joint compound
and sanded before you paint.
Here are the steps to painting walls with textured
wallpaper to achieve a smooth finish:
1. Protect all trim with painter's tape.
2. Apply an odorless, oil-based primer to the
walls. Make sure the room is well ventilated and
that you wear a respirator. Do not use a latex-
or water-based primer, as it will deactivate the
glue under the wallpaper and create bubbles.
3. Once the primer is dry, apply the joint compound.
Roll the joint compound onto an 8-by-4-foot area,
then smooth it out with a trowel. Continue working
around the room in sections until all the walls
have been coated.
4. Allow the walls to dry for 24 hours.
5. Scrape the walls with a scraping tool to smooth
out the joint compound.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for a second coat.
7. After the second coat has dried, it needs
to be sanded using a 180-grit sandpaper or sanding
sponge. Have a lot of light in the room during
this step so you can see fine lines, scratches
and nicks, which can easily be sanded out. Again,
make sure the room is well ventilated and wear
a respirator.
8. Clean up all the dust created by the sanding.
9. Now you apply one coat of primer and two coats
of paint or more until full coverage is achieved.
Your walls are now ready for any glaze or faux
finish you wish to apply. –
Compiled by Melissa Hebert
Ask an Expert!
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or to "Inside & Out Experts," 1801
Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114.
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Painting Over Existing Wallpaper
By James C… James operates the House Painting
Directory.
If you have ever removed wallpaper in the past
you know that it can be a nightmare. It never
simply peels off like it does on those home improvement
shows. There are many products available to you
to supposedly make it easier. You can buy special
tools to score the wallpaper, wallpaper removal
chemicals and even special scrapers. They help
a little but usually do not work as well as advertised.
Even a small room can take hours, even days to
strip the wallpaper from. What choice do you have
though, it must be done if you are going to paint
that room. Well maybe not, you might just be able
to paint over that wallpaper.
If you decide you want to try to paint over
wallpaper you must first make a careful examination
of it. Look for areas that are coming loose, bubbling
up or torn. All of these areas must be repaired
if you are going to paint over it so if it is
damaged in many areas, you should pull it down.
If it is only damaged in a few areas, we can continue.
First you need to repair the damaged areas.
Glue any loose sections of the wallpaper and make
sure that all of it is firmly attached to the
wall. Now mix up some joint compound and apply
it to the seams. This will keep the edges from
peeling in the future and give you a smooth surface
on which to texture. If the wallpaper itself is
textured, you will need to float the entire wall
with joint compound. After the joint compound
dries, you should sand it lightly to smooth the
surface. Let the surface dry thoroughly before
continuing.
If your old wallpaper had a dark color, you
should apply a sealer now. The sealer will keep
the strong color from bleeding through in the
future. After you have sealed the wall, you can
begin texturing. You have a variety of different
texturing options available to you. Visit your
home improvement store's paint department for
examples of texture. Let the texture dry thoroughly
after applying it.
Now it is time to paint. Choose a quality house
paint and prepare your house for painting. Paint
your walls and you are done. That's all there
is to it. It is still quite a bit of work but
painting over wallpaper can save you hours of
tedious scraping and peeling. The most important
thing is to make sure that your wallpaper is in
good enough condition to paint over. If you have
any doubts, you are probably better off removing
it.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_C
Things you’ll need for painting over wallpaper
• Ladder
• Plastic
• Drop cloths
• Drywall pan and blades
• Patching compound
• Plastic snap off razor blades or utility
knife
• Odorless oil base primer
• Blue tape
• Sandpaper or sponges
• 500 watt Halogen lights
• Paint brushes
• High quality non shedding solvent resistant
sleeve for priming
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