Problem with a layer under removed wallpaper

Piotro

Hi, can anyone help me please?
Recently I had to remove a wallpaper, which got damaged after removing dido rails. As the wallpaper was painted over, it was difficult to remove it without damaging a very thin (~0.3mm) brown-yellow-ish layer of paint(?) underneath.
Can anyone advise me what can be the mentioned layer? Is is mistcoat, paint or skim coat?
As a new forum user, I cannot post a picture link so I will try to post it later.
Most of the wall is still covered by this layer, but in many places the bare brown plaster is exposed. Removing the mysterious layer may be very difficult as it does not peel off easily in most places.

How do I prepare the wall for painting? Should I just use a Base Coat (e.g. Polycell) to cover the irregularities? Or do I need to mistcoat it to seal the bare plaster? I was also thinking to use the Smoothover from Polycell but was not very pleased with the results when I used it previously.

Your advise will be very appreciated as I am stuck and don't know what to do.

Piotr

McKneff

hello Piotro and welcome to MSE

Are you sure that it is not the backing off the wall paper. If you just peeled the wall paper off then this is what it will be.

As a test, just wet a patch, wait for a minute, wet it again and wait for a minute. The scrape Gently, if it comes off like wet paper then that is what it is and the whole lot has to be removed. this takes lots of patience, lots of wetting and waiting makes it easier, or you could hire a wallpaper stripper.

Just take this one step first, see how you get on and post back again.

Sorry if this sounds patronising but i get the impression from you that you are also new to decorating.;)

Just for you the name of the rail is a dado rail, dido has a different meaning altogether.

Piotro

Many thanks McKneff.

I just realised that from my description it may look like backing off the wallpaper. But it is not, as the wallpaper was removed completely and the concerned layer is quite sticky as it must be covered by wallpaper adhesive.

The picture of the wall can be found at the following link:
hxxp://img263.imageshack.us/img263/332/wall.jpg
I had to change http with hxxp in order to display the URL, so please change it back after pasting in your browser.

As for being a newbie in decorating, you are partially right, I have a little experience in this field. Though I did remove wallpaper in past, that time it came off easily and it didn't damage the layer underneath.

English is not my native language so sorry for spelling mistakes. The word "dado" now landed in a secure place in my memory and I won't remove it from there.

Any other ideas?

Thanks
Piotr

McKneff

hI piotro, i see what you mean. I havent any other ideas but unless someone comes along this afternoon to solve it i will have word with my OH tonight and show him the pic. he was a decorator for 40 years so will probably have some idea. So i will post later.
Dont apologise for your English, i think it was brilliant, the grammar and the spelling and you wouldnt believe how many English people get dido and dado wrong even in the speech as well as in the spelling.

The image http came up automatically so i didn't do anything in case i messed it up.

regards
Anne

McKneff

Hello again Piotro,
My husband seems to think that it is old paint. The only way to deal with it is to sand it down well, fill any holes, dents and rough edges. Apply gluesize.
Apply good quality lining paper from ceiling to floor, then apply lining paper sideways around the room so you will have 2 layers of lp to give an even finish.
(he says that even plastering over the walls may not work as the new plaster may not stick to the old paint)
Maybe you could get a decorator in to give an estimate and ask what it is. Asking for an estimate is normally free and you dont have to go ahead and have them do it

Hope that helps.
good luck - its going to be very hard work.

dander

could the layer be the glue that the paper was stuck on with? I've sometimes found that when people use the thicker glues for woodchip/blown vinyl type papers, the glue can kind of sit there as a layer.

Ebe_Scrooge

Looks like old paint to me - i.e. the wall was originally painted, then papered over the top. I've had this situation many times myself.

For a really proper job you need to remove all the old bits of paint. But in my experience sanding it off is usually OK. What I did was start off by using a paint scraper to scrape off the worst of the flaky stuff, then go over the whole lot with coarse sandpaper to remove most of what's left. Finally give it a rub over with finer sandpaper to get rid of any obvious scratches left by the coarse paper. Then wash the whole lot down really well to get rid of any dust.

My reckoning was that any paint that's left there has now been roughened, and is pretty well stuck to the wall, so you should be able to paint over it OK. Having said that, the coarse sandpaper did actually remove pretty much everything that was there, leaving bare plaster.

Be warned, this is an 'orrible job ! Very dusty, so make sure you wear a dust mask and keep the door closed and windows open when you're doing it. But, in the true spirit of these forums, it's going to save you a packet compared to getting a decorator in - really the only cost is a big pack of sandpaper and plenty of elbow grease.

Piotro

Many thanks to you all for your advice.

I am thinking to scrape/sand the flaky bits off and, since the paint layer is very thin, I should get fairly even surface.

As the bare plaster is exposed, do I need to seal it first by plaster sealer / mist coat? :undecided

To hide any remaining roughness I am thinking to paint it by a Polycell basecoat prior to applying a final layer of emulsion paint.
I know this is gonna be time consuming task, but I as a diy addict I will tackle it myself

Let me know what you think about this idea.

Many thanks
Piotr

McKneff

try the lining paper route and paint over that, it will be worth it in the end.

Piotro

I will certainly consider the lining paper route too.

The wall with the problematic wallpaper is very large, as it is a common wall for my living room and dining room. So far I have removed maybe 5% of the wallpaper only (which I didn't mentioned in my first post), so this weekend I will try to remove more wallpaper as carefully as possible (including scoring it first then using a steamer) and see the results. If the underlaying paint is untouched, I will wash it with a sugar soup and paint it with an emulsion.

Otherwise, I will probably follow your advise of sanding off the old paint or just applying the lining paper.

McKneff

good luck, i would offer to come and help but Wales is a long way away,
(thank goodness) lol