Wall paper everywhere.....
by
Rosemary
+19
Folks I need help. Bought the house in 95' when Santa Fe was all the rage, and well I went a bit nuts with wall paper. It's has got to either be painted over or the dreaded removal. How do you paint over wall paper, or is it better to go for the struggle of removing it. I did hire the best 20 years ago to put it up and well I got what I paid for, he rocked it. Please, please help, I got married after living in the house with my son as a single parent for 17 years, and now as a married Army wife we'll be putting the house up for rent while we move around with the military for a few years. Do we attempt to remove the wall paper, or can it be painted over and how do we do it?
14 answers
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Painting over may moisten it to the point of it falling off. I am afraid you are headed to the dreaded removal. Painting over will still show the seams.
Patty S
on Oct 11, 2015
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Honestly even though you are going to rent the house I do not recommend you painting over the wall paper as the paint will make the paper peel. There are stripp.ers you can apply to aid the process. Try your local home improvement store
Janet Pizaro
on Oct 11, 2015
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It all depends on how smooth the wallpaper is. We have successfully painted over wallpaper. But if you have bubbles,uneven joints (between the strips of wallpaper) or lifts, then you will have to take it down. Good luck.
Liliana Wells
on Oct 11, 2015
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I had to do the dreaded removal but did find an easier way to remove in small sections and found that I needed a little patience. I used hot water with vinegar...then sprayed a workable section...waited about ten minutes and used a putty knife and it slide off in big sections. Hope this helps
Carolyn
on Oct 11, 2015
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How much water and how much vinegar?
Elisangela Siliprandi Radloff
on Oct 11, 2015
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you can drench it with hot water as hot you can stand on your hands let sit for about 5 minutes then the top layer should peel over rather easily then soak bottom layer and use a large putty knife or at the paint store you can buy a large blade with a long handle witch is fantastic its for wall paper you can also put a little bit of fabric softner in your water. painting over wall paper is not a good idea could be very awful if the paint starts to loosen it then your looking at removing the paper any ways and wasting the time and money you just spent on the paint
Cindy
on Oct 11, 2015
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we bought an older house and it only had wallpaper on the walls and at least 3/4 layers at that. While I was able to pull off the top layer I was wrecking the wall trying to take off the other layers. Believe me when I say I tried everything. Then I tried to put a skim coat on the walls. Made a mess of that too. Ended hiring a painter who put a skim coat on,sanded and then painted over it. If you paint over wall paper always, always always use flat paint. I tried using semi in a small hallway. Every seam, every thing showed thru. The painter I hired used flat paint as it showed less imperfections even with the skim coat. It was costly, $1200.00 for two decent size rooms but in the end well worth every penny.
Lynda
on Oct 11, 2015
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If it is going to be a rental, why bother?
Anna
on Oct 11, 2015
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It's my house....that I'll be using it as a rental for a few years while we are traveling with the military. As a home that will be strictly rented to military it has to be in pres-teen condition. Which is why I am asking paint over the walk paper or bust my rear removing it....
Rosemary
on Oct 11, 2015
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Do not paint over, I am a retired paper hanger. You can expect every wallpaper to have a different reaction to remove, they are like fingerprints on a person and no two are alike when you want it to be an easy job to remove. My best tool for removing was a good sprayer with very warm water to melt underlying glue. Be careful not to dig into wet drywall with your scraper tool. Good luck.
Mimi Haywood
on Oct 13, 2015
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I feel your pain. I, too, have removed an entire house of wallpaper. Here is a link to a product called Simple Strip that you might consider. There is a short video which shows the product being used. http://www.simplestrip.com/
Debi53
on Oct 13, 2015
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I am told that fabric softener and water will dissolve the glue. 30 years ago I used specially formulated and expensive remover. Try fabric softener - it's at least a cheap trick.
Vicki
on Oct 14, 2015
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I'm pretty sure you can buy wall paper now that will glue over your existing wall paper if it isn't embossed. Get a profession to hang it especially if it has a pattern. I've learnt to buy plain for everything. It depends if you'll allow the tenants to hang pictures as wall paper can be a bit tricky to fill in the holes left. There are so many beautiful wall papers now, I don't know whether you have Laura Ashley but they make beautiful wall papers and have great sales. At least renting to the Military you will have good tenants.
Lyndal Bruns
on Oct 14, 2015
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If the house was new when you papered it and it wasn't really well primed, you're going to have a really difficult time getting it off without wrecking the drywall and it might be better to at least try painting a wall or two to see how it looks and holds up.
Lori Harmon
on Oct 16, 2015
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