Painting over Wallpaper - do or don't?

Note from a customer:

A friend of mine recently bought a “fixer upper” home with dreadful wallpaper that lined the interior of his beautiful living room. If you’ve ever removed wallpaper, you’ll know it can be a major hassle. It can cause some damage to your walls with its adhesion and you risk chipping into your wall trying to get the stuff off! So the question is - how to paint over wallpaper? Can I paint over wallpaper? 

 

Paint your wallpaper to keep intact the current condition of the wall and jump into your project sooner rather than later and after some major preparation work.

Follow these quick tips for painting over wallpaper and ensure that you, like my friend, will have an easier painting process and create the beautiful room of your dreams!

1. Minimize risk

Minimize the risk of damage to your walls by replacing any loose sections of wallpaper with adhesive to give you a smoother and more easier wall to work with. A little tape to hold any loose paper to the wall will do the trick.

Apply some clear caulk along the bottom and edges of the wall to prevent your wallpaper from creasing and peeling long after you’ve painted.

2. Take the right steps

Spackle walls to help smooth out the surface which will prevent the texture of the wall from showing through the paint that you’ve worked so hard on. A thin coat of joint compound is the easier way.

Some slight sanding along the wallpaper seams can be very helpful too.

3. Protect against moisture

The biggest problem with wallpaper is how it reacts to moisture, and that doesn’t go away after you’ve coated it with paint. Apply some oil-based primer to the walls before painting to seat the wallpaper and protect it against the moisture that’s inside the paint you’ll use.

Next step, get to work! It’s only a matter of time until you can enjoy a room you’ll love.
Or, forget all that and call Village Professional Painters, we will take care of that nasty wallpaper and provide you with a beautiful wall!