Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How do I get rid of air bubbles that have occured after painting over wallpaper? Also the paint has dried and the bubbles haven't gone. I would appreciate your help.
By Rose B
Why, oh why, did you paint over wallpaper? That was your first mistake. I would scrape it all off and start over, but if you don't want to do that, take a sharp x-acto knife and make a small slit in the bubble. Insert a small bit of wallpaper adhesive with a toothpick. Press down on bubble. Let it dry completely, then repaint.
We are moving into a farmhouse soon and want to do some redecorating. One room has old wall paper in it. Shall we try to strip it or is it best to just paint over it? Any advice would be appreciated.
By Sheila from Ontario, Canada
It would be best to strip off all the old wall paper before painting. If you decide to take the easy way out and paint over the wall paper, what would happen if the wall paper starting peeling off the wall.
Definitely strip it. Peel off what you can. What's left behind can be easily removed mixing a spray bottle of 1:1 water and liquid fabric softener (cheap stuff is fine). Spray it on and scrape it off. Don't use a wallpaper scraper, it will take chunks of wall out. A plastic ice scraper or plastic spatula will work best.
As long as the wallpaper isn't bubbled or peeling/lifting and you simply want an easy convenient fix until a later date (even a couple of years down the road), then you most certainly can paint over the wallpaper and it will be no more difficult to remove the wallpaper with a coat of paint or two on it at a later date! I know this first hand. ;-)
As Deeli said, unless it looks damp or smells musty I'd leave it. You never know what the paper is covering up. I stripped a room once and found loads of small holes drilled in the walls. Invisible under the paper but not if painted. I took one look and papered it over again! No idea why so many holes, there were hundreds! I painted over the paper in the rest of the house.
Marg from England.
I always think it is better to strip the paper, however, if you are not sure about what is underneath and think that you might have something weird and not just gyprock, you might want to leave it. My sister lived in a house built in the 30's with poorly plastered walls that were very rough. She purposely papered over the walls before she painted.
I painted a room in my house without knowing that the previous paint job was done over wallpaper. The problem is the paper is starting to bubble under the paint. Is there anything that I can do to fix this without redoing the whole room?
Hi, I just went thru the entire process. I ended up calling Sherwin williams and was told that no amt of paint over paper can be guaranteed for any amt of time. I ended up stripping the paper which has the paint on and it took off the actual paper on the drywall.
I don't know what to tell you to do about what you've already painted over, but if you decide to paint over wallpaper in the future, use a base of oil paint and then paint your latex over it. I learned this tip from my best friend who has rental homes.
I did this is in my living room and it works. Three years later and it still looks great. Just make sure you use the oil paint in a well ventilated area and make sure you tape off everything well as it's not easy to remove oil paint.
Wendy
Today I helped a friend paper a bathroom in the most unique way I've ever seen. I'd prefer this over painting any day.Sounds to me like you've got wall problems anyway,and it's going to cost a lot to be able to paint. It took 2 rolls to do this job--(Imagine doing a room with cheap paper-- wouldn"t that be nice?) HERE"S THE PROCEDURE: TEAR medium sized peices dipping in the water and putting on the wall. These will be different sizes and shapes because you are TEARING the pieces.. Continue to dip and paste until your wall is covered. Do not use straight edged except to do the top,bottom and to trim around outlets,etc.You will still tear this paper only leaving the straight edge.This gives the paper a textured look and turns out prettier than painting. However I would not recommend this procedure for floral paper, just a solid or a sort of stone type design. This would be a great cover for problem walls.She learned about this procedure at a Lowes store.
You "might" be able to use Kiltz over it then primier then paint it again. I would ask the local Paint store first,or try looking it up online to see if there is a place you can get PROFESSIONAL tips from too.
I have some "very expensive at the time" textured wallpaper (hung by a professional) that's a light blue color. I'm wondering if I can simply paint over it to update the color?
By Pat from Oak Lawn, IL
If you are going to put on more paste and wallpaper, do you have to remove all the old wallpaper and paste?
By Ray McDowell from Columbus, OH
I don't think anybody ever bothered to do that in the house that I grew up in. I don't know how many families lived in it before we did, but there was wallpaper on the walls when we moved in and my Mother repapered several times after that. We didn't paper real often because we were low income, the old paper had to be really bad before we repapered. If I remember right, my mother made home made paste for the job. My Aunt did the same thing putting it on over the top of the old. My folks moved out of their farm house in 1977 and the place is still standing, I don't know if the current owners have done anything different to the inside or not.
All the Pros will tell you that you are supposed to remove all the old wallpaper before putting up new wallpaper. But what a hassle! I've found that most of the time you don't really have to.
For example: When I moved in to my first home, back in the mid 1980's the previous owner had put up horrible gold-foil wallpaper & we didn't want to spend the time taking all that nasty wallpaper down, so we simply primed the wallpaper then painted over it. Well, several years later I wanted to go with an antique Victorian theme, so I put wallpaper up over the old paint & the previous wallpaper & it turned out perfectly & held up for many years. Of course every case is different!
The worse thing that can happen is, you may have a little of this wallpaper that may bubble or small bits may come away from the wall. But all these can easily be fixed! If you do get a bubble (I didn't) simply pop it with a pin. If your paper starts to come away from the wall, simply use a bit of Elmer's glue to put it back the way it was.
Before you paper over paper I would recommend you first use one of the new "high-adhesive" primers, preferably in a matte sheen (NOT Glossy or semi-gloss!) like Zinsser 1-2-3 or Gripper. The primer will help seal the old wallpaper & it's seams. This is really important if your old paper is dark in color. Make sure you won't be able to see through the new paper.
---> To be extra sure your old paper will hold the weight of the new paper, only paper one wall the first day, then wait overnight or for a day or 2 to make absolutely sure!
* Of course if you old paper is flocked or dimensional, then of course you wouldn't even attempt to paper over it!
I hate wallpaper; it's too hard to remove if you decide you don't want it and I don't see it much in the newer homes. I think it's becoming outdated. If you get tired of the color of a painted wall; no problem painting is easy and cheap. I just painted over wallpaper in my kitchen and in one bathroom. Just last week helped a neighbor paint over hers. The key is the paper has to be glued down really good. The places that were peeling we just re-glued. I used a Kiltz primer on my walls but my neighbor did not but it took two coats of paint and turned out beautifully. Also, the rollers we used gave the walls a little bit of a texture. You may wanna try this; it's way easier that papering.
Yes, you can wallpaper over existing wallpaper. You just don't want the seams from the new wallpaper to end up in the same place as those of the existing wallpaper. The guy at Sherwin-Williams paint store said that as long as there are no loose seams on the existing wallpaper and you put a primer over the existing wallpaper, you will be fine. I re-wallpapered my kitchen after following his advice and it still looks good many years later.
I am repairing a wall that has been brown bag wallpapered and the brown bags are different shades of brown. Can I paint over this and just have textured wallpaper?
Nicole, is there a glossy finish on the wallpaper? Many paints have a hard time adhering to a high gloss finish. I would think that if you use a quality primer first, and then paint over it, that you would have good results. I painted over black, vinyl wallpaper once, using a tinted primer and then a latex paint and it worked just fine. Good luck to you and your redecorating project!
We did the brown bag on my daughters walls and waited until all the glue was dry and then painted the color she wanted...which was a deep chocolate...it looks great.
I say go for it!
Good luck!
Sure can i did this at my farmhouse it was simple and looked like expensive treated walls!
Is it feasible to paint over wallpaper, since there are new paints out there?
I know you couldn't do it in the 1999 and beyond.
I have been trying to remove the backing off an old plaster wall that had not been prepared properly. It is just not coming off. I tried all kinds of glue remover. It takes hours for one little spot. Could I paint over it?
By Carol
I have a room that was painted over wallpaper and because I wanted a change of color I had it painted again. Now I find that most of the edges have lifted. What can I do apart from starting from scratch and probably doing more damage.
By Kathy from New Zealand
I've covered a large cardboard box with wallpaper to make my grandson an army tank fancy costume. My problem is that now that I've spray painted it camouflage colors the paint won't dry. What can I do?
By Iris
Sounds as though you used a vinyl wallpaper-paint won't stick on vinyl wallpaper. Is there time for you to strip off the vinyl wallpaper and use a paper one? That will take paint; your grandson is going to love it!
Can I paint over thick bathroom paper, like tiling on a roll paper? I am looking to use proper bathroom paint. The walls are so bad in my old cottage, I would have to take all the paper off and have the walls replastered otherwise
By Chris from Wales
I am currently painting over a textured vinyl wallpaper. I have cut in the ceiling and edges with a brush. Then I rolled the rest of the wall. After drying, I am able to see all of the spots I cut in at first. I believe it is because in those areas, the paint is now thicker and the texture is not as deep. If I use a thicker roller will this even out the walls or how can I fix? If I brush it will it even out?
By debbiesz4
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
People often ask if wallpaper can be painted over. The answer is yes, if it is smooth with no tears. You might want to give it a good wiping down first with a good sized dry cloth.
Painting Over Wallpaper. We have a mobile home with pre-papered wallboard. Can we paint over it and how?
I'm just wondering if its possible to paint over old wallpaper? Our home is old and there must be 5 layers of wallpaper and we don't really want to have to go through all that trouble of stripping off wallpaper.
