Painting Over Wall Paper – Do I Need to Remove Old Wallpaper?

When you are planning to paint over your old wallpaper, there are lots of things that you need to consider. The most important question homeowners ask when painting over wallpaper is whether they need to remove the old wallpaper before painting.

However, you don’t essentially need to remove the old wall paper to paint your interior walls a new color. Removing wallpaper, especially when you have a very old paper on your walls, is a time consuming and a messy task. It may even cause unexpected damage to the walls if not done properly. Hence, if you have wallpaper in good condition and shows no signs of adhesion failure, there’s actually no reason to invest a lot of time and labor to remove it before painting your walls.

Mentioned below are some of the most important things that you need to keep in mind when painting over wallpaper.

Preparing the Surface:

You should start by checking how good the wall paper is affixed to the walls. If you find that there are loose areas, you need to remove them by using a utility knife. You also need to remove all the nails and switchboards from the walls. It is the best use masking tape to protect the baseboard. It is also important to put a piece of cloth at the base of the wall to catch paint. Lastly, check whether your room is well ventilated since it is very important. Actually, the fumes from the primers and paints can be dangerous if inhaled.

Applying the Primer:

Priming is essential when you are painting over your old wallpaper. You need to make sure that you use the best primer that is oil-based. You can use water-based primer, but it can take off the wallpaper or cause it to bubble in the long run. On the other hand, oil-based or shellac primer bonds very hard and dry quickly.

Repairing the Walls:

Once the primer is dry, the primed surface will still show all the damages in the wall. You need to hire the professional painting services in Andover MA to fix all these errors with a good quality drywall compound. This will even cover the seams between wallpaper.

Applying the Paint:

When it comes to paint over old wallpaper, it is the best to use an eggshell or a washable flat paint. These types of paint give a much lower sheen than other types of paint.