Textured wall paper - paint or peel?

ibz75

Hi all,

Would you strip thick textured wall paper (patterns) or paint over it? The wall paper looks dated (victorian). There is no sign of peeling/dampness and the wall paper seems to be stuck solid. Don't know if I should remove the paper and deal with the consequences (re-plaster/fill) or just paint over it in a neuteral colour. Is it more difficult to remove later if you paint over it?

Any suggestions/preferences?

olly300

It is more difficult to remove later if you paint over it.

The previous owners of my flat painted over the textured and wood chip wallpaper in visible places to sell it. The extra coat makes it harder to remove.

The worse thing is that the walls underneath are fine and would have been completely ok if I didn't have to find lots of different ways to get the dammn wallpaper and various coats of paint of the wall. The wallpaper where there is one coat is easy to remove there as the parts with 4 coats are nightmare.

mazza111

Depends on the type of wallpaper it is too. Woodchips etc are always a nightmare to remove. Blown vynil is a bit easier. Do you have any idea of the condition of the walls underneath? What's the other walls in the house like?

Really depends on whether you're doing a complete make over or a quick freshen up for the time being.

olly300

mazza111 wrote: »

Depends on the type of wallpaper it is too. Woodchips etc are always a nightmare to remove. Blown vynil is a bit easier. Do you have any idea of the condition of the walls underneath? What's the other walls in the house like?

I have just had a month of removing bits of both. (Yes some people thought it looked good to use both in a room together.)

Though to be honest with the OP if the paper is in the hall then I would just paint over it preferably with a light colour. The reason being is that in hallways you want something that can withstand knocks.

ibz75

olly300 wrote: »

I have just had a month of removing bits of both. (Yes some people thought it looked good to use both in a room together.)

Though to be honest with the OP if the paper is in the hall then I would just paint over it preferably with a light colour. The reason being is that in hallways you want something that can withstand knocks.

That's a good point, I never thought about that. Only reason why I was unsure is because I did a similar removal job at my dad's and bits of plaster came off with the paper. So a job that should have taken 2/3 days ended up taking a week and costing a lot more. I am thinking of letting the spare bedrooms, but didn't like the look of the dated wall paper. Not sure if I should just paint for now, and re-decorate once I am the only occupier, or do it now and risk having to do it again depending on the tennant!

poppyolivia

keep it up....its probably holding your walls up!!!

ormus

all depends on your time and budget. i "always" remove any wallpaper before any painting.
some plastering and or filling will normally be required.
in the past when time/money was tight, (first house) i have painted over the paper. it wasnt too bad but it was not a great looking job.

Imp

You could paper over the wall paper with a suitable thickness lining paper, and then paint the lining paper.

olly300

Imp wrote: »

You could paper over the wall paper with a suitable thickness lining paper, and then paint the lining paper.

And who ever has to remove that will feel like going round to kill the person who did it.

Either paint it if it's in a place that will take a lot of knocks, or remove it.

Imp

I decided to remove the textured wallpaper from my flat as I didn't much like it. I ended up having to remove 7 different layers of wallpaper and a lot of the plaster came away too. Had to spend a few hundred quid replastering. If I had to do it again, I'd just cover or repaint. Unless you really hate it, I'd leave it until you HAD to do it.

pineapple

Well I've gone for the easy and quick option before. But the result has been a growing irritation every time I looked at it - and I ended having to do it anyway. It depends how much you dislike it!