painting wallpaper

T

TitanTim

Elite
For the decorators out there :)

Can painting a patterned wallpaper be successful or is it best to strip it off. The wallpaper is sound but it's on plasterboard which is a bit rubbish if your stripping wallpaper as it will most likely need reskimming to get it nice and smooth for painting. I've bought some Dulux heritage flat matt emulsion but been told I will need to use an oil based primer coat first. Starting to have second thoughts as looking on the net it's generally a no no as you will get crap results.

The rest of the house has embossed paintable wallpaper which is fine but this wallpaper is the thin patterned type.

Cheers,

Tim.
 
Tim, being that the art of wallpaper and wallcovering has been my occupation for the last 35+ years I feel I can answer that with utmost confidence.
The answer is maybe...
It all depends on what you use...what you expect... and how well the wallcovering is stuck to the wall.
 
DNK said:
Tim, being that the art of wallpaper and wallcovering has been my occupation for the last 35+ years I feel I can answer that with utmost confidence.
The answer is maybe...
It all depends on what you use...what you expect... and how well the wallcovering is stuck to the wall.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, will be using a shortpile roller and water based emulsion, the wallcovering is smooth with no lifting. I guess what I need to know is do I use an oil based primer first.

Tim.
 
If it was me (and I'm pleased that it's not) I would remove the wallpaper. I find that the steamer things help a lot and I have never damaged a wall.

If you paint over the wallpaper then one thing's for sure - you will never remove it thereafter.

Have fun!
 
I have just painted my first house with the Dulux Heritage Matt trade paint Tim and it covers great and is a pleasure to work with.
Two coats gives excellent coverage and a nice thick layer of paint and I'm sure it would work great on your wallpaper, give it a try on one part of the wall to see if you get the desired result before doing the whole room. :)

Good Luck
 
Thanks guys, think I will just try it and see, luckily its only one wall in the hall that has the patterned paper, if it doesn't work out then I can always strip it off. Just that I can't wallpaper to save my life so will mean getting someone in to repaper. Would be a shame not to use the paint anyways as it was 35 quid for a tin :?

Tim.
 
TitanTim"... said:
That will take about 10 times longer than if you do before you paint.
Then there all the damage to do to the wall scraping it off.

Take RickRob's advice. Do it first.
But I wouldn't do it with a steamer.
Way to much work and your arms will ach for a week
Click to expand...
 
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