I am admittedly lazy and do not want to strip off wall paper. It's on good, no bulges, bubbles, tears, etc, so I was hoping to apply joint compound in a thin glaze to texturize, then prime, then paint.

Question is: can I do all that ON TOP of wall paper? It's a paper, not vinyl/plastic paper, and maybe if I sand it lightly or perf it some, would the compound and paint layers "stick" okay???

Thanks.
MLJ

mels mom

its been done. but i wouldnt advise it. it could peel and just get bumpy and look real bad

ChihuahuaMomma

If you are too lazy to remove the wallpaper before painting hire someone to do it for you. A teenager perhaps. It's summer, teens are summer job happy!

columbr

If your paper is in generally good shape make sure you paste down the paper wherever it bubbles or peals from a seam. Give it 24 hours to dry. Prime the walls using two coats of a tinted oil/alkyd based primer sealer that compliments your paint color. Afterwards you can use a latex based paint for your finish coat.

SnakeBite

I recommend cutting loose paper out rather than pasting it down and then priming over the wallpaper (oil base.) Once the primer dries, spackle imperfections as needed and spot prime spackle once it dries, then apply your finish coats.

pattyg2

I painted the wallpaper in my bedroom. It was in great condition. I got primer tinted close to the paint color to prime the walls and then painted away. It looks great and has been on for about 5 years. I did have to get an exacto knife and trim along the ceiling and I pulled the base boards away from the wall a little before painting. I did remove the wall paper in the bathroom before painting though. I didn't add any texture since the texture from the walls showed through the wallpaper after I painted them.

Clough

You can paint over wallpaper, but I wouldn't advise it. But, it does depend on how you want the finished product to look. If your not really picky about the final results, then doing it would be okay as long as the existing wallpaper was on really securely.

Sometimes the wallpaper isn't on really securely, and any moisture of any kind, applied directly to it can cause it to bubble or come away from the wall at the seams. But, then again, it depends on what you want the finished product to look like.

It doesn't take all that much time to remove wallpaper if you do the proper preparation and use the correct tools.

As ChihuahuaMamma said "It's summer, teens are summer job happy!"

Just my take on things here...

pattyg2

I sized my walls before putting up the wallpaper and you can't tell I painted over it. If you are going to go through all the trouble of putting joint compound on it then I suggest you find a place that won't be noticeable and try removing a small piece by dampening it first. See what the condition of the wall is under it. If it is bad then I would paint over the existing. My sister-in-law had wallpaper professionally removed and since is wasn't sized first it peeled off the layer of paper from the sheetrock. Room looked horrible and took alot of work to get it looking good again. My bathroom wallpaper came off easily since I had the sizing under it. This picture doesn't give my wall justice-it is a solid gold color.
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SnakeBite

Every wallcovering has a different personality “so to speak” therefore
the approach and method of remove will vary. In addition, some wallcoverings WERE NOT installed properly using industry standard conditions and procedures. I have seen many wallcoverings installed directly over “bare drywall” and quite frankly, this is one of the worse “wallcovering removal” case scenarios.

The most common types of wallcoverings I see today are as follows;
1) Vinyl coated paper.
2) Paper backed Vinyl.
3) Fabric backed Vinyl.

Wallcoverings - 2 & 3, I would NEVER recommend painting over. However, Vinyl coated paper is an exception.

My motto is: “if you can remove the wallcovering without severely damaging the walls - remove it” and if you are up against one of those extremely difficult papers to remove - plan to paint over the wallcovering using the following procedures;

Remove any loose paper with a single edge razor and feather areas with spackle, then cut or shave down any protruding seams - then apply spackle to all seams (from the ceiling to floor) and any other areas where needed, then thoroughly sand. Step 2 - apply (2) coats of an oil base primer (brush & roll.) Step 3 - apply two finish coats.

Wallpaper paste is a water based product and ONLY a water based paint/product can chemically cause bubbling or loss of adhesion.
Applying two coats of an oil base primer over top of the paper, will create a vapor barrier and prevent any bubbling or loss of adhesion and give adequate surface for a latex finish to be applied.

FACT: Some papers are a nightmare to remove and there isn‘t a tool in the world that can save you.