wallpaper or emulsion?

terrierlady

fed up with wallpaper maybe emulsion is my answer but once iv stripped all the old paper off, what preparation do I need to do?

divadee

it depends on the state of the walls.

If they are in good condition prob just light sanding and filling.

If the wallpaper is holding the plaster on then re-plastering. That is why some people paint over wallpaper.

It is something you wont be able to tell until the paper comes off :-/

Unbelievable_2

I have removed wallpaper from all the rooms in my house and emulsioned with no problems except in two bathrooms and the kitchen. Here I have had no end of problems with bubbling, flaking paint. The only solution I have found is to sand the walls back to plaster and use kitchen and bathroom paint.

MATH

Is this wall paper you have put up in the past?

Stripping previous owners paper particularly anaglipta and wood chip can often uncover a multitude of sins. That's why it was hung there in the first place.

We stripped our previous house (Victorian) and set ourselves up for a lot of work but have had no such problems in our new home.

Having said that I would always strip walls because I dislike wallpaper. Prepare for the worst and you won't be dissapointed.

terrierlady

no only one coat of wall paper on but we don't decorate often so i thought that emulsion would be easy for me to do myself.

scattycat_3

Terrierlady, why strip.

We just paint over the wallpaper,especially vinyl, as it acts as a lining paper. Modern emulsions are so good now, they even fill cracks and are excellent on wood, nearly as hard as gloss and less likely to crack.

Scat

terrierlady

need to strip wallpaper as grandchildren art work includes torn areas and seams of wallpaper opened up.

MisterT2

I am just painting my first room after years of wallpapering. I am amazed at how quickly it can be done.

My advice, if you want to do it quickly, spend out on decent filler. Screwfix do something called "one strike". This is very expensive but exceptionally good. Doesn't shrink and if you are gentle, can be painted in under 5 mins!!

I used a paint pad and 3" scraper to get the paint out of the tin and spread onto the pad (lots quicker than using a tray (which I didn't have anyway)). I have a big sheepskin roller, but its a bit drippy.... so didn't want to use that.

My only problem is cutting in. I never used to bother, but I have found a quick way. Get a scraper 12" wide, put it flat against the ceiling and push against the wall. Paint with a brush roughly parallel to the scraper. Whizzes round and you get a pretty good finish. When you move the scraper, pull it off the wall at 45 degrees. Then, if any paint leaked onto the back edge (cause the wall wasn't straight), then wipe it on your partner's clothes (the one who is holding the can of paint) and carry on with the next bit. ;D ;D

Its not perfect, but it is a lot better than my freehand. It took less than 20 mins to cut in a bedroom of 15' x 14' approx.

Not an expert but being disabled thats only 20 mins of pain compared to hours cutting in by hand. Personally I would never paint over wallpaper - at least not after helping a buddy get his off years ago.

Unbelievable_2

To make cutting in easy - paint the ceiling the same colour as the walls - works a treat unless you're using midnight blue or something!

loveabargain_6

Paint anyday over wallpaper!  I have repainted our whole house - taken absolutely ages - but I have picked up a few tips along the way:

No order of importance:

1.  Buy good quality brushes - Harris (blue handle) are excellent - beleive me cheap ones give you poor finish and you have to keep picking bristles off the wall.

2. Get a roller with a shield - Wilkinson's £2.79 complete. Saves loads of splashes and saves paint as you can scrape it off the inside if you need to.

3.  Get an extension rod for your roller - to help you reach high up without having to get up and down on a ladder.

4.  Now Roller first then cut in - this means that you can roller as far as you can and you can see how far the cutting in  needs to be (see 5.).  Trust me this is far easier this way round, otherwise you cut in a little and realise that you have to go all the way round again after you have rollered, becasuse you haven;t cut in far enough.

5.  Use a radiator roller to roll up to the corners of walls as the end also has fabric on it - big ones have metal and can scratch the wall.

6.  Take time to mask the floor and window frames.  Use some kind of floor covering .  PVC table cloths from the Pound Shop are fabulous - heavy enough to stay down and waterproof.  Believe me - if you don't cover that is where the paint will land.  Few minutes saves you a lot of heartache and painful work to clean up.

7.  Make sure you buy match pots - nothing worse than buying paint, painting it on and then realising you hate the colour and have to do it all again.  Paint stripes of different colours on the wall (big stripes, tiny patches is useless!) and then live with it for a few days - try to see it at different times of the day - colours look different in different lights.  

8. Use gloves when glossing - saves your skin and nails from white spirit!!

Good Luck and think of the end results when your arm feels like falling off and you are bored senseless!!