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Paint over wallpaper. How to remedy?!

11 years ago

I recently moved into a house with many rooms that have a couple coats of paint over wallpaper. Needless to say, the walls look horrible.

I'm trying to figure out what to do. Should we labor day and night to try to get this stuff off the walls. I can only imagine the disaster under there (FYI the house is from 1963).

Does it make sense to leave the many coats of paint and wallpaper where they are and skim coat on top?

If I realize that this is all beyond my ability, will a professional painter charge me an arm and a leg to make my walls look smooth?

Thank you!

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Comments (5)

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Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
Skim coat over this mess? NO!!!

Get some estimates and see what it is going to cost. It all depends on if the original paper was installed properly( ie, it was primed first)
Jumpilotmdm
11 years ago
It may not be as bad as you think. Try 1 wall somewhere in the house that matters a little less. Try a legit paint store and see what they have to aid in stripping. There is a product out there called a paper tiger that perforates the paper and allows the stripping chemical [which can be just dilute white vinegar] to penetrate and help lift the paper. Sometimes, the fact that it has been painted makes it even easier as the paper is less likely to tear as much.
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I'm not sure if the OP is reading this anymore, but I did want to offer advice. I've been scraping (and scraping and scraping, you get the idea) wallpaper for so long. We're in the process of redoing my daughter's room and there were many many layers of wallpaper on the walls. I assumed the layers started in the 1930's, but on one wall, they put sheetrock over the plasterwall. It's some bizarre cardboard-like substance, so I guess in the 1950's- late 60's they just redecorated a lot. Anyway, long story shortened, when I got to the last layer on that cardbaord wall, it's stuck like glue over it. I got off all I could, scrubbed it, and my husband put a layer of plaster over the whole thing and it's now smooth as glass. I don't think this would work with many many layers, but my father in law has done this in the past, and after 20 years all is still good. I wouldn't recommend doing this in the more public areas of the home, but in the bedrooms it might work for you. It sounds like from your post that you are a thoughtful remodeler. I, like so many on this forum, cringe when thinking of "flippers" and the lack of care for history that many have. However, there are people who remodel who do a great job and do it not only to make money, but to improve their community. Those people are to be commended, because their vision helps create a longer history for that house in that community. I hope that you are able to bring that home to its former glory and find a family to love it.
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Its would be clearly mentioned in every instructions that you have to vital prepare before you paint the wall. you must apply a coat of oil based premier to the entire surface of the walls before posting. These will help to seal the adhesive within the paper, away from moisture and prepare it for paint. Here is a link that might be useful: painters This post was edited by LuisHinkle on Thu, Aug 28, 14 at 8:57
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Wow, Cindi, sounds like a bit of a learning experience. The learning curve is never fun, the pleasure you get after you're up it is really just relief from the pain! Welcome to the club of learning the hard way (I belong to the more exclusive chapter where we have to learn the hard way twice before anything sinks in). If this isn't turning out so well, you might be interested in learning to patch drywall... well, maybe not really. I am going to chime in on the paper tiger to say that no matter how many pinpricks you make, from my experience they don't help much anyway. I use a spray bottle of water (and a towel or two to catch the drips) to soak the glue, which I get at most effectively in one of two ways: either I peel away from one corner or the top edge and spray into the backing, or I rip off the paper surface and then the backing alone absorbs the water quite readily. They key is to wait long enough for the glue to soften so that it comes off easily with gentle scraper use. But my spray bottle gets very little water in through the holes made by the paper tiger. If you couldn't get in behind to get a start any other way, it might be worth it. And I have read where someone said to make so many holes that the paper is hardly recognizable. That might be the trick. And yes, it does damage the wall a bit. As I was just doing a border with it, that wasn't much sweat to fix, but would be annoying on a whole wall. In addition, I would have to say that painting over wallpaper is almost always the wrong thing to do, so kudos to you for trying. But don't over-punish yourself; for the rest of the wall you could always try painting over, and leave full removal for the next owner of your home. KarinL
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Here's a link on skimcoating that might help you if you go that route. Don't use a topping compound but rather joint compound as it has adhesives in the mix that will help adhere along with the gardz. Another tip is to stay with the same brand of compound, don't mix with other brands as the mixes can vary between them enough to show where you stop and start. This is the mud I like to use if available in your area. It's a lightweight mud and although it is a topper, it has adhesives as a joint compound. http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Materials-Drywall-Joint-Compound/h_d1/N-5yc1vZard1/R-100320403/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 Here is a link that might be useful: skim coat.
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otislilly.com
11 years ago
pre 1970 home means your in for a mess, if that is when the wallpaper was installed. good news is you dont know when it was LOL
here is what to expect.
anything!!!
one job will peal off the walls no problem, the next one will require the removing all of the drywall and starting over.
pre 1970 drywall is a gamble of its own, any moisture on some of it will create blisters (paper coming loose from the gypsum) so just the moisture from the solutions to remove wallpaper is enough to destroy old drywall in some cases, depending on if it was primed, or even painted before wallpaper.
also keep in mind that much of the old drywall had asbestos in it/ and many paints before 1978 had lead in them. so any work done to an old house needs to be done carefully. many contractors dont care about the particles that are left in your home for you to deal with.
so when you are looking at estimates, you need to think about the knowledge of contractor, as well as the additional costs that a good one will incure, including test kits for your older home project, and the possible need for air scrubbers, suits, and masks.
User
11 years ago
The problem with "a skim coat" is that the moisture in the coating is often enough to soften the wallpaper glue and you end up with a skim coat with bubbles and separating spots.
tuesday_2008
11 years ago
Are you planning on living in this home for a long time? If so, do it right.

I had a kitchen, dining room, and hall that had paper hung over raw drywall mud (had also been previously skimmed when glued panelling had been removed). It was a mess!!!

My solution: I hung new 1/4" new sheetrock over the mess!
Have never regretted it; I now have nice walls to paint.

Tuesday

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