Painting a wallpapered ceiling

Biggles

sn1987a wrote: »

I am in the same situation. The wallpaper is on the ceiling only... Impossible for us to remove it. I found a paint for painting over wallpaper. I am going to try one coat of this paint before painting it over. I read that the first coat should be with an oil based paint so the wallpaper wouldn't bubble.

In theory it can sometimes bubble a little in places if it wasn't applied too well in the first place, but it won't be really noticeable and, as Norman Castle said, a little wallpaper paste will fix it. But buying special paint is an unnecessary extra expense, and emulsion might not go too well over oil-based paint afterwards. I just use the same emulsion as the walls, quick, easy and cheap.

frankie

I've recently done a textured wallpaper ceiling, couple of dabs of Zinser 123 where it was badly stained, fixed some seams with caulk and pressed with seam roller, applied 2 coats of white matt. Jobs a good un. No bubbling.

onomatopoeia99

FreeBear wrote: »

Also a real pain to do if working off a stepladder if one is even slightly vertically challenged. For this type of work, a small scaffold tower is an advantage (you could run a plank between two ladders, but it isn't particularly safe).

I used a "step up platform" from Screwfix to strip the paper on my ceilings, was about £30. My ceilings are only the modern 8' height though, it wouldn't be any good in a house from the Regency period.

anto164

I thought i could do a simple, strip wallpaper, sand and paint job. On removing the wallpaper from the ceiling revealed a multitude of cracks, loose plaster, and other holes which the paper was covering up. Needed to give the ceiling a complete skim in the end.

Lesson learned - Expect the worst when removing paper, and you won't be shocked. Don't think it'll be as simple as remove the paper and paint - you may need more work than that!!!

But other than that, if your paper is fine and you're happy with it, go ahead and paint. Just take your time with a roller so you don't splatter paint EVERYWHERE!