O.T: replacing wallpaper with paint?

Jun 29, 2005 22 Replies

Interesting - "Tom" on This Old House said the same thing - saw that segment just yesterday! They also had some fabric sheets - about 18" X 24" that you could soak in the remover solution (like DIF), then place on the wall, and just keep them damp, took about 20 minutes, and the paper just peeled off really easily.

Ellice

just adding my ditto really. We've painted over wallpaper twice now and in both cases the results were very good and very sturdy. You'd have to look close to see that it was done and IMO the paint job has stood up better overall. All depends on the prep and what your goal is. The first time - it was to cover hideous wallpaper from the original owners that was in a very piecemeal room (lots of nooks and crannies). The second, to cover old wallpaper cheaply and easily in prep for putting our house on the market. there are rules of course - checking seams, etc. but all in all it can work very well.

Thanks for all of the good advice. I ended up just using a damp sponge and a scraper (DH got annoyed when he saw I was using a pie server & found the scraper in his shop) :-). It all came off beautifully except for the part behind the toilet, which I'll deal with when we remove it right before we're ready to spackle & paint. Fortunately, we have two bathrooms but the floor in the back one has dry rot & we always half expect to fall through the floor when we use that one. :-)) Liz from Humbug

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