My ceiling has wallpaper on it which has been painted, why?

SneakySpectator

All the walls are painted without any wallpaper but the ceiling has wallpaper on it which has clearly been painted over. Here's a few images of the seams and an air bubble.







I've poked around the areas with a knife and it's completely dry but it's definitely wallpaper. Underneath it appears to be plaster. 

Would it be better to just put up thin sheet of new plasterboard and paint over that or should I scrape off all the older wallpaper and sand / paint the original plaster?

grumpy_codger

How old is the house? Very often wallpaper is used on lath&plaster ceilings and walls to hide imperfectnesses and to keep together cracking lime plaster falling apart. Quality re-plastering is difficult if not impossible. Much easier to replace it with plasterboard.

That said, textured wallpaper can be used for aesthetic reasons.

Section62

Wallpaper on a ceiling usually means the plaster underneath is rough and someone has tried covering up the nasties.  If the existing ceiling is plasterboard then the easiest is probably to board over and get it skimmed.  If it is lath and plaster then you may need to get that stripped out so the ceiling can be reboarded and skimmed.... but that is a filthy job, and you may decide you prefer to have wallpaper on the ceiling instead.

Chickereeeee

Section62 said:

Wallpaper on a ceiling usually means the plaster underneath is rough and someone has tried covering up the nasties.  If the existing ceiling is plasterboard then the easiest is probably to board over and get it skimmed.  If it is lath and plaster then you may need to get that stripped out so the ceiling can be reboarded and skimmed.... but that is a filthy job, and you may decide you prefer to have wallpaper on the ceiling instead.

If you have the head height, you can plasterboard over lath/plaster, if it is not actually falling down.

SneakySpectator

grumpy_codger said:

How old is the house? Very often wallpaper is used on lath&plaster ceilings and walls to hide imperfectnesses and to keep together cracking lime plaster falling apart. Quality re-plastering is difficult if not impossible. Much easier to replace it with plasterboard.

That said, textured wallpaper can be used for aesthetic reasons.

It's a council flat built in the 1930's... So yeah it's old.

Chickereeeee said:

Section62 said:

Wallpaper on a ceiling usually means the plaster underneath is rough and someone has tried covering up the nasties.  If the existing ceiling is plasterboard then the easiest is probably to board over and get it skimmed.  If it is lath and plaster then you may need to get that stripped out so the ceiling can be reboarded and skimmed.... but that is a filthy job, and you may decide you prefer to have wallpaper on the ceiling instead.

If you have the head height, you can plasterboard over lath/plaster, if it is not actually falling down.

It's not falling down it seems pretty solid. But there could be significant cracks or other wear underneath the wallpaper which is why I'm kind of anxious to strip it off and see.

DullGreyGuy

Using lining paper or a textured paper to try and hide imperfections in the plaster was seen as a cheaper option and in particular with older construction methods that were more prone to cracking etc over time. 

Or, if you are like the pub that used to be opposite our student digs, because someone broke in from the flat above and its cheap to staple the wallpaper back in place whilst debates over who's responsibility it is for fixing the broken concrete floor/ceiling is is being argued out. I went back circa 4 years later and the paper was still stapled in place, no idea if the hole above was still there. 

twopenny

I've seen people paper over perfectly ordinary plaster cracks that just come with age because they don't know what to do about them.

I used to make good very simply and easily on my old house. Needed doing about when decorating occoured.

Start with removing a small bit to see what's under. You may get away with cutting a patch with a small knife and peeling off well enough to replace while you think how to deal with what you find.

Wonder if it's to cover up Artex which was fashionable at one time.

I remember back along that it was a 'thing' to wallpaper ceilings.

Just doing a quick search it seems to be a thing again. You could be bang on trend

ButterCheese

We've had lots of rain lately - if it does not leak then I would leave it.  As others have said, it was very common for people to use lining paper to cover up uneven surfaces and then paint over it.  If you start trying to take it off now, you could be in for a hefty bill to have it re-done.  I do not think that new plasterboard over the top is the way to go unless you are sure that the second picture (slight browning and peeling) is not water damage.  Even then, plasterboarding the whole ceiling and then skimming over it, then preparing and decorating will probably cost more than you think. 

If you're going to do it yourself then you'd need a few people helping or a plasterboard lifter to keep it in place whilst you secure it.  And you need to know what's underneath so you can secure it properly to a baton.  All things that I would not consider doing myself unless I had a lot of money and time

SneakySpectator

ButterCheese said:

We've had lots of rain lately - if it does not leak then I would leave it.  As others have said, it was very common for people to use lining paper to cover up uneven surfaces and then paint over it.  If you start trying to take it off now, you could be in for a hefty bill to have it re-done.  I do not think that new plasterboard over the top is the way to go unless you are sure that the second picture (slight browning and peeling) is not water damage.  Even then, plasterboarding the whole ceiling and then skimming over it, then preparing and decorating will probably cost more than you think. 

If you're going to do it yourself then you'd need a few people helping or a plasterboard lifter to keep it in place whilst you secure it.  And you need to know what's underneath so you can secure it properly to a baton.  All things that I would not consider doing myself unless I had a lot of money and time

Maybe I could use some kind of special polyfiller to bridge the seams, give it a light sanding down and then paint over. My goal here is to hide the seams basically. The part with the little air bubble I could completely remove that patch of paper and use polyfiller to cover over? 

Sarahspangles

About thirty years ago we had an Edwardian mid terrace that had partly been restored. The vendor told us the upstairs rooms which had only been partly refurbished were painted with lead paint, so we should take care. The advice was to cover if possible and if not then we needed to mask up and strip then skim. It was a horrible job.

FreeBear

SneakySpectator said:

ButterCheese said:

We've had lots of rain lately - if it does not leak then I would leave it.  As others have said, it was very common for people to use lining paper to cover up uneven surfaces and then paint over it.  If you start trying to take it off now, you could be in for a hefty bill to have it re-done.  I do not think that new plasterboard over the top is the way to go unless you are sure that the second picture (slight browning and peeling) is not water damage.  Even then, plasterboarding the whole ceiling and then skimming over it, then preparing and decorating will probably cost more than you think. 

If you're going to do it yourself then you'd need a few people helping or a plasterboard lifter to keep it in place whilst you secure it.  And you need to know what's underneath so you can secure it properly to a baton.  All things that I would not consider doing myself unless I had a lot of money and time

Maybe I could use some kind of special polyfiller to bridge the seams, give it a light sanding down and then paint over. My goal here is to hide the seams basically. The part with the little air bubble I could completely remove that patch of paper and use polyfiller to cover over? 

Get yourself a syringe from the local chemist and inject some Solvite wallpaper paste in to the bubble - It would help to moisten the paper first with a damp sponge. A roller can then be used to flatten it all off.

No need to use ans "special filler". Regular Polyfiller or Easifill will do the job just as well.