Painting over wallpaper?

bananacakes

Hi all,

Looking for some advice, moving into a new house tomorrow (renting) and one of the bedrooms needs some attention! Can't afford to pay someone so we're going to have to paint it ourselves but to be honest haven't got a clue what we're doing.

The room is currently painted bright yellow and from what we can see it's previously been papered and then painted over. The wallpaper is coming off the wall and beneath this is an uneven wall.

Do we stick the paper back to the wall and just paint over it (again)?
Rip the paper off the wall and paint the wall? (could get messy) And if we do this do we need to fill the bumpy bits?
Or should we rip off the old paper, put some new paper over bumpy wall and then either leave it like that or paint it?

It might also be worth noting that there is an area of damp so we're planning on getting a splodge of that anti mould painty stuff to attempt to fix this?!

Decisions decisions! How can we do this quickly, easily and cheaply?

Suggestions from anyone who has ever handled a paint brush before very welcome

Thanks

KateLiana27

First question is - what will the landlord let you do? Make sure you get permission to do anything in writing, even something as simple as painting.

If it was your own house, I'd advise you to strip everything off, re-skim if the walls were really terrible, and re-paint. Much better finish in the long run. However, for a rented property I'm guessing you won't want to invest that time and money. Just how uneven is the wall? How easily is the wallpaper coming off? If it's easy to strip and the wall can be evened out with a bit of filling and sanding, I'd do that. But if not, painting over the wallpaper will be quicker and easier. Just be aware even more wallpaper might peel off with the weight of another coat of paint.

flashg67

Agree with Kate, re-stick the paper on then repaint for a quick job but I'd get the landlord to look at what's causing the damp?

martinthebandit

flashg67 wrote: »

Agree with Kate, re-stick the paper on then repaint for a quick job but I'd get the landlord to look at what's causing the damp?

Seems the sensible answer to me

bananacakes

Thanks!

Yeah we checked with the landlord when we viewed the property as not keen on the peeling wallpaper or the shade of yellow She said to go for it and we can paint it any colour we like (we're boring and will stick to white though!). But excellent point to raise.

I've had a google about re-skimming and I'm actually terrified, I think we'd be getting in way over our heads and so far painting over the paper is sounding the most appealing option...but as you say I am a bit worried the paper will just collapse under the weight! However we are only renting and will most likely only be in this house for 2-3 years. The paper isn't coming off that easily but a good foot of it has separated from the wall from the floor up and this is where the damp/condensation type thingy patch is. I think my biggest worry is we strip the wallpaper and find all sorts of problems underneath and actually cause damage trying to fix it! The wall really doesn't look that healthy...it's very dark and patchy and a wee bit crumbly too.

bananacakes

flashg67 wrote: »

Agree with Kate, re-stick the paper on then repaint for a quick job but I'd get the landlord to look at what's causing the damp?

Thank you. Sorry I'm showing my ignorance here, I called it "damp" but the landlord has assured us it's condensation. I am not sure on the difference. It's lots of little black spots on a patch of wall. I'm thinking perhaps there was once a piece of furniture up against the wall here?

dibuzz

bananacakes wrote: »

Thanks!
I think my biggest worry is we strip the wallpaper and find all sorts of problems underneath and actually cause damage trying to fix it! The wall really doesn't look that healthy...it's very dark and patchy and a wee bit crumbly too.

We just painted over all the paper when we moved in here as a temporary measure.
A few years later we decided to fully strip the living room, as we started to peel the paper off most of the plaster came with it and we had to get it skimmed
If I were you I'd just patch up as well as you can.

tanith

If the room suffers from damp/condensation then make sure that its well ventilated, i.e. open the windows every day to exchange the air even in the Winter.. otherwise you will just get the mould back..

flashg67

Condensation should be easy to get rid of - I'd recommend using a mould killer to kill any mould spores first - I use Hagesan mould spray (try ebay or Amazon) and let the area dry thoroughly and keep the room ventilated if poss. If the plaster is crumbling, you could be opening up a massive can of worms by stripping the paper off, and I guess the landlord wouldn't be too happy! Any plastering above filling small holes needs a professional to give a good finish.

Edit - tanith beat me to it...

bananacakes

Thanks Titch, that's my biggest fear! Really don't want to bite off more than we can chew. OK, so we're just patching and painting then, excellent. Thank you all!

Any ideas what kind of paint we should use? and how many coats? Will we need a few to get rid of the bright yellow or should one be enough? And what's better brushes or a roller? We don't have any kit so don't want to splash out on the wrong stuff. What's cheapest? Sorry for all the questions just got no idea what we need to buy to do this and don't feel confident asking B&Q staff as worried they will make me buy more expensive things than I need...

bananacakes

flashg67 wrote: »

Condensation should be easy to get rid of - I'd recommend using a mould killer to kill any mould spores first - I use Hagesan mould spray (try ebay or Amazon) and let the area dry thoroughly and keep the room ventilated if poss. If the plaster is crumbling, you could be opening up a massive can of worms by stripping the paper off, and I guess the landlord wouldn't be too happy! Any plastering above filling small holes needs a professional to give a good finish.

Edit - tanith beat me to it...

Ohh thanks for that, will have a look for the mould spray. Would you use this in addition to the anti-mould paint or on its own?