What’s the pitfalls of painting directly over wallpaper as long as the paper doesn’t show through, rather than stripping and replacing with lining paper?

Not a decorator but

We did this in my hall way When we moved in temporary as it was purple , looks bleeding awful as the paper has started to come up at the edges ( magnolia emulsion)

The mrs is away to start taking it off over the school holidays so i can give it a plaster skim and paint onto that, like we did in the living room and bedroom

How ever the bonus of trying the paint over the top is its cheap

you’ll end up doing the job twice… wall paper steamers are £15 from B&Q, just get on with it.

I am a decorator
Yeah what he said 🙂
Try it on one wall see what happens. Let it dry properly before deciding whether or not you can put up with how shit it looks

What’s the pitfalls of painting directly over wallpaper as long as the paper doesn’t show through, rather than stripping and replacing with lining paper?

Depends how good the plaster is underneath – I know that on some of our walls, the wallpaper is the only thing holding the plaster on!

If the plaster is good – just strip and line it, it won’t take long. If you don’t want to hire a steamer just score the walls and use a damp sponge to wet the paper.

Depends on the wallpaper to be honest. If its seriously patterned I wouldn’t. If its one of those indeterminate very small bobbly patterns it would probably work.

Or just put lining paper on top?

Eventually using this method you need less, as the room gets smaller 🙂

Does no one paint on lining paper anymore?

Previous owner did in the kitchen and bathroom

Looks shit.

http://www.brightonpainter.co.uk/blog/lining-paper-do-you-need-it

Basically lining papers a bodge for crap finishes/plasterers !

Ok cheers all. Will commence wall paper removal Monday!

I’ve just finished painting over a vinyl paper in my bedroom with Crown matt emulsion.This is the second time I’ve painted over it, first time was about 4 years ago, and it looks absolutely fine. Again.
Whats the problem with painting over wallpaper? 😐

In fact, now I think about it, I’ve done the same twice in my living room….. .
If the wallpaper is ok and its not loose edged or peeling/bubbled it should be a stable enough base for paint.

Hmmm. Well our walk paper is directly on to the plaster. The tester hs dried nicely with a nice subtle hessian texture under the paint, plus it’s a kids room.

I’m tempted to leave it….

Leave it. More time to think about that road bike you need.

When I did my lounge and hall stairs landing, i stripped the paper so I was left with the ‘snots’ (the blobs of old paint left in patches)

In order to get back to smooth plaster, i then wash the wall well to get the old paint really wet, and paint the wall with a vynal paint. I give the vynal paint a while to get touch dry, but no longer and then attack the not-quite-dry paint with a scraper. Lo and behold the scraper takes you back to bare plaster! (The new paint sscrapes off in sheets taking the old paint with it in the blink of an eye)

Be warned, my plasterwork is in good nick, and if you have carpets make sure you protect them well from semi-dry paint!

Its seems that as a reluctant handyman I’ve struck lucky. It appears we have that magic wallpaper where the top (patterned) surface strips off to leave a base layer akin to lining paper under.

The result then, is that its taken me just 3 hours to strip an entire room.

Painting commences tomorrow 🙂

I suspect what you’ve done is strip the embossed vinyl off it’s backing paper. Is it not a little ‘rough’ for painting straight onto?

shhhhh dont tell my mrs that – shes on teacher holidays and ive tasked her with removing all the hall wall paper since i did the rest of the house on down time between offshore jobs. – was more knackered when i went offshore than when i came on land !

i want all the little shit off – a good quality steamer does make it easy , the tidying up was the worst part – just glad the previous owner didnt just paper over paper as a friend found in her flat – there was paper over paper over paper over wood cladding over bare stone wall ….. she even found a door under the wood cladding. it used to be a pub !

Its seems that as a reluctant handyman I’ve struck lucky. It appears we have that magic wallpaper where the top (patterned) surface strips off to leave a base layer akin to lining paper under.

It is quite likely that, once you start painting over the backing paper you have left, the paint itself will soak it sufficiently for it to bubble & peel off.

wwaswas – Member
I suspect what you’ve done is strip the embossed vinyl off it’s backing paper. Is it not a little ‘rough’ for painting straight onto?

No, its very smooth.

Nobby – Member
Its seems that as a reluctant handyman I’ve struck lucky. It appears we have that magic wallpaper where the top (patterned) surface strips off to leave a base layer akin to lining paper under.
It is quite likely that, once you start painting over the backing paper you have left, the paint itself will soak it sufficiently for it to bubble & peel off.

Tested with an overly generous blob of the tester, on an edge and a join as well, even with 2 coats. Seems to have not risen at all.

Kryton, paint a whole wall with any old matt emulsion, you only need to roll it . Leave it until tomorrow. If it looks acceptable, go for it with the finish paint