Painting over painted wallpaper

d0nkeyk0ng

The previous owners in our house lined a room with paper and painted the walls. One wall was painted dark blue, the others were painted white.


I've no idea about paint types and suitability but just want to paint the whole room the same white colour (no feature wall as it's a small room).


Can I paint over the existing paint?

Do I need to prep or key the existing paint in any way?
Do I need to use some sort of stain block eg Zinsser cover stain or BIN on the dark blue wall prior to painting?


Any advice for a numpty who has never painted would be welcome.

Working_Mum

hi there,
This is from a purely layman's point of view but I have always just painted over existing emulsioned walls - never had a problem. You'll be able to tell if it is a matte, satin or hard-wearing/washable paint I am sure just from looking at it.

Can you do a little test in a corner - if there is an issue you'd have to strip and re-paper the wall anyway.

I think with the dark blue "feature" wall it maybe a case of simply painting it until you can see the colour you want.

Make sure you follow the instructions and put down a big dust sheet so that you protect your flooring. Using a roller may help save some time but make sure you cut in or paint a border around the edge of the wall and ceiling so you have a buffer and don't end up catching the ceiling in the new colour!!

I find painting is a mindful practice and can save you loads of money and gives you loads of flexibility for freshening up your home.

Good luck!!

Slinky

If it's particularly dark, paint it first with a couple of coats of cheaper white emulsion before applying your more expensive coloured topcoat. We painted our walls with a minty green that wasn't particularly dark then decided we didn't like it; it took about 4 coats of cream to cover it up.

getmore4less

Is it lining paper?

What will the wall be like underneath?

Frank99

I know a few people who have done this as it saves having to steam all the paper off, i did it with our backroom wall however, i think it's anaglypta which is paintable.

d0nkeyk0ng

Working_Mum wrote: »

You'll be able to tell if it is a matte, satin or hard-wearing/washable paint I am sure just from looking at it.

Pfft! I'm rubbish with paints and having never painted before, I doubt I could tell anything. But any suggestions or tips would be welcome.

The previous owners painted the walls, ceiling and coving in the same colour (apart from one wall).

getmore4less wrote: »

Is it lining paper?

What will the wall be like underneath?

At a guess, it's paintable lining or wallpaper. Feels reasonably thick. Solid brick walls that have been plastered over and then papered.

Frank99 wrote: »

I know a few people who have done this as it saves having to steam all the paper off, i did it with our backroom wall however, i think it's anaglypta which is paintable.

It's not anaglypta (didn't know it was called that but certainly knew what it was when I googled it). It's smooth untextured paper.

Does anyone have recommendations for brushes, rollers and paints?
I vaguely recall Wooster brushes being good but that was when I was reading up on how to apply woodstain.

Ectophile

If the paper might be grubby - for instance grease in a kitchen or nicotine stains - then it could be worth washing it down with sugar soap first. If it looks clean, just wipe off any loose dust and cobwebs.


For flat paper, I'd use a short pile roller. Cleaning a roller takes vast amounts of water, so it's often easiest to wrap it in plastic whenever you take a break, and chuck it away at the end. The mini rollers don't work as well as the full sized ones.



For the edges and corners use a decent quality brush. Cheap ones shed loads of bristles, and the really cheap ones use nasty plastic bristles. I find a 1" brush is good for edging, maybe 3/4" or 1/2" for the fiddliest bits.

getmore4less

With painting it is all about the preparation.

I would wash the walls anyway with a sugar soap solution(weak if they look ok) and then clean water.

do any repair work flat and smooth to get a good look.

Not gone over a dark wall before but as said above I would use something that gives good coverage in a much lighter shade to bring it in line with the rest of the walls first.

I find you get a better flatter finish is you don't try to cover in one coat of the final paint.

for the roller(min 9") I have a short and a long extension pole for doing the higher bit of the walls and for cutting in finish the ceiling joint a good step or platform makes the job much easier.

If you can completely clear the room that helps a lot even if you are doing over a couple of days.

Is this just a wall refresh or are you doing the ceilings and woodwork?


the first cover coses of the blue wall will be good practice to see how the roller finish looks.

my walls had (1/2 wall) paper removed and patched so were light but quite different shades top and bottom and where the patches were.

My first coat did not look good the finish was OK but some patches had a different shade you could see , but the second looked fantastic.

We found some Craig and Rose chalky emulsion at a good price.

REGENCY WHITE MORTLAKE CREAM, and I really liked the way it went on, better than the white on the ceilings from Dulux.

For the woodwork I went for Dulux Diamond White Matt as I had seen matt used in a house and liked it for living spaces(hall got gloss), so far on the walls and skirting it is holding up.

getmore4less

This thread from a while back has some ideas

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4467543/painting-over-bright-very-dark-painted-walls