I could be neutral here, but 1) that’s just not my style and 2) I’m so opposed to painting over wallpaper I can’t even fake that it’s a good idea.
I’ve been hired to remove wallpaper for people a number of times before I painted their walls and I hate it. I really do, but I think it’s important to remove the paper before you paint the walls. In the long run you’ll be glad you did.
The problem with painting over wallpaper is that the seams show. You can prevent this by applying a skim coat of wallboard compound. Which, you’ll probably want to apply to the entire area because most wallpaper has texture. It’s not always evident but apply a nice even coat of paint and those bumps and stripes will really show up.
Then, get ready to work in oils. You’ll need to use an oil-based primer to seal the paper. Latex primers and paints will actually loosen the paper and cause bubbles since they’re water based. You may have vinyl wallpaper, which is more water resistant but remember there are those seams and water resistant doesn’t mean waterproof and you need to make sure your paint will stick and like we said, vinyl resists water, so water based paints don’t adhere as well as oil.
And now, let’s fast forward to the future. Wallpaper is not permanent. And, if it begins to peel and separate, your lovely paint job goes with it. If that’s not bad enough, the wallpaper is now reinforced with paint so it’s much harder to remove from your walls.
Now, removing wallpaper isn’t always easy. I’ve written about basic removal (How to Remove Wallpaper) but there can be problems and I’ve run across them. The biggest problem I’ve found is the wallpaper peels away part of the drywall. This will require a skim coat of wallboard compound. This happens when the wallpaper is very old. In my experience if you have old wallpaper some of it will really have “become part of the wall” and you’re going to need extra time and moisture to remove it without pulling off part of the wall. It also happens if the walls were not properly treated before the wallpaper was applied. I’ve seen this in newer homes where the wallpaper was applied directly to the drywall. (AHHH!).
The lesson? Even though removing wallpaper can be difficult, removing it after you’ve painted over it (egad – imagine if you’ve painted over it more than once) will be even more work and trouble.
And, as a side note, the reason I’m writing this is, as I was repainting my kitchen recently I noticed, with horror, that my soffit had wallpaper under the paint.
The copyright of the article Should I Paint Over Wallpaper in Interior Decorating is owned by Kristin Abraham. Permission to republish Should I Paint Over Wallpaper in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Not only is your finished surface less than desirable, but sometime, when
painting over wallpaper, the moisture in the paints makes the wallpaper
glue let go, so you are essentially painting over a surface that is no
longer attached to your wall. The paper bubbles, and dooen't always
unbubble in the drying process. All that skim coating the seams does is
make the paper even harder to remove when you have to & if you live in
the house long enough, you WILL have to! I'm with you, NEVER do it!
Feb 22, 2007 5:30 AM
Kristin Abraham :
Thanks for echoing my sentiment. I have so many people tell me that they're
just painting over wallpaper nowadays. I shiver at the thought. I've torn
off some horrible stuff that left the bare walls in need of a dry wall
professional but I think this is still better than dealing with yucky
painted over wallpaper in the future.
Kristin
Mar 15, 2007 9:54 PM
Barbara Bell :
If you've ever tried to remove wallpaper from plaster walls, especially
multiple layers, you'll definitely call in the professionals. Most removal
techniques will soften the plaster and the results are worse than with
drywall.
My dining room had ten layers of wallpaper, believe it
or not, and we hired a painting company to come in after we found the first
3 layers. It took them two days to get all of it off down to the plaster. I
don't know how they did it!
Feb 8, 2009 1:55 PM
Guest :
There are two issues to weigh when dealing with wallpaper. A nightmare; and
marriage, if that is in the cards. We have removed paper from our home
over the past 15 years - it was built in 1985. To date, 7 separate
occasions. All prior work has been removal and repaint, remove and patch
and replace, or remove, patch and paint. Horrors, nightmares, pull my
fingernails out if I do it again! And, the Mrs. keeps bringing more paper
home. Her rolls may make nice box decorations, but none will ever again go
on a wall where I live. There is a lot of wallpaper left from the
first owner, which is why I am here. Painting over (covering) wallpaper is
extremely attractive. H. B. McCrory
Feb 8, 2009 2:58 PM
Kristin Abraham :
If you're considering putting up wallpaper - consider using some of the
newer types that are made to be easily removed
http://interiordecorating.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_easy_to_hang_wallpap
er
Apr 6, 2009 10:58 AM
ckerley :
The previous owner of our home evidently painted over wallpaper in our
guest bath. This bathroom is rarely used but after a shower (with fan
running) condensation is visibly streaming down the walls. I believe they
used a flat paint which I have heard was not the best choice for a
bathroom. What is our best plan of attack for fixing this? We want to
renovate and eliminate this issue but we aren't sure where to begin. Can
you remove wallpaper underneath a coat of paint? They also painted the
ceiling with the flat paint so it will need to be addressed as well.
Apr 6, 2009 4:05 PM
Kristin Abraham :
Susan, You can repaint over the wallpaper if it seems to be holding up
well. I'd suggest going with an eggshell finish and an oil based paint and
primer. Or, you can try to remove the wallpaper using the standard methods
but be sure to use a paper scorer (paper tiger is good) so you can get
moisture under the wallpaper.
I wish you the best. I know how
terribly frustrating that can be.
Kristin
Apr 11, 2009 6:56 AM
Guest :
okay I did paint over the wallpaper a number of years ago, and now want to
remove it...how?
Apr 11, 2009 7:08 AM
Kristin Abraham :
This is why I don't typically advocate painting over wallpaper. It's really
a last resort as it can cause more problems and its hard to undo. You can
attempt to remove the wallpaper and paint by scoring the wall thoroughly
and using a product like DIF to saturate the wallpaper and then you will
scrape and pry it off as you normally would. If this doesn't seem to solve
the problem you'll have to use a paint remover and strip the wallpaper of
the paint and then tackle the wallpaper in a standard paper removal
fashion.
