painting after wallpaper removal

17 years ago

Help! We were attempting to update our bathroom by removing the old, peeling wallpaper. Our plan was to paint the walls a neutral color. The wallpaper peeled off quite easily without any chemicals or tools, but it appears that the adhesive or backing to the wallpaper is permanently stuck to the walls. We thought we were working with bare drywall, until we noticed a deep rose peeking through spots in the "drywall." With a razor blade, we scraped, and it now appears that most of the wall in the bathroom is covered with some residual backing from the wallpaper, and it is on to stay. Parts of the residue are peeled and cracking, and other parts are yellowed with age...but for the most part, the walls look like drywall, except for the spots where we've scraped, and the pink shows through. My question: Can we just use a high quality sealer, like Zinsser Gardz to prime the walls, without removing the stuck on backing...and then go on to paint. Or, do we have to remove all the residue, wash the walls, prime, then paint?? We are looking for absolute shortcuts here, as we are just wanting a quick-fix cosmetic update. We are novices, so any help is appreciated!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

weed30 St. Louis
17 years ago
I suggest skim coating the walls. It is not terribly difficult, just a little messy (the sanding part).
Then you can prime (2 coats) and paint.

Here is a link that might be useful: clicky
cat_ky
17 years ago
Have you sprayed that backing good, and tried scraping it off. It is normal for the top layer to come off and leave the paper backing. Usually once it is good and wet, it will peel off easily with a scraper. Cat
Related Professionals
Fresno Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Springfield Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Cloverly Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Beaverton Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Niles Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Pico Rivera Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Clinton Township Interior Designers & Decorators · Arizona City General Contractors · Brighton General Contractors · Mashpee General Contractors · Muskogee General Contractors · Perrysburg General Contractors · Seal Beach General Contractors · Vincennes General Contractors · Woodmere General Contractors
Faron79
17 years ago
I agree with Cat...
It's always best to get the backer off. Less prob's down the road!!
** "Quick-fixes" now often mean $$$-fixes later...
** Let TIME work for you on the backer removal. Soak with stripping product, let work, soak again, and scrape.
** Rinse, Rinse,....& let dry.
** Prime with a good stain-blocking primer after any repairs.
** TWO topcoats!!

Faron
andrelaplume2
17 years ago
I would pick up some of Sherman Williams wallpaper remover. Put some into a small squirt bottle and fill with warm/hot water. Spray an area maybe 22" wide and the length of the wall. Spray it well, dab with a sponge to keep it from running. WAIT 15 MINUTES! Just walk away. Spray again. WAIT 15 MINUTES---do not be tempted to peel. Spray again and start to life a corner. it should come off fairly easily. Use a putty kife to assist but be carefull not to take chunks out of the walls. Once done, spray again, sponge down to get residue off. Move to another section. Once you have a feel for how well its going you may want to do more than one section ata a time. When its all removed, clean the walls with a TSP solution and prime before painting. It sounds like a lot of work but once you are in a rythym its not too bad.

I think if you had used one of those 'wall claws' to puncture a million little holes through the original wall paper, most of the backing would have come off with the top layer. The key to the wall claw is making the holes. Once you think your done...go back and 'claw'it again. I have also found tapping a knife blade along the ceiling or anywhere the claw can not get to, to be a help.

Say a little prayer that your walls are in good shape once you hit drywall. We found ours were neither painted, primed or sized and needed to be skim coated in one room and patched in another. Thats where it gets messy with dust.

You may also use a garden sprayer to soak the walls but I have found the spray bottle to be more controlled and less messy. Plus keeping the solution WARM assists in the removal process.

GOOD LUCK!
talley_sue_nyc
17 years ago
did you WASH them w/ wallpaper remover?

my DH didn't, bcs he was able to just steam the paper off the wall, and we ended up sanding off an entire coat of paint to get down to something that would hold, finally.

It was awful!

I will never again try to remove wallpaper WITHOUT using a wallpaper remover, and maybe a wall claw..
bklyn71
17 years ago
I just want to add, make sure you let the wall dry for plenty of time before skim-coating and then again before priming. Oh, and I think it supposedly best to use an oil-based primer after the skim-coat. We removed wallpaper and painted and our paint is all peeling off now. : (
huonglexus_yahoo_com
12 years ago
My wallpaper is so old it peel off by itself. I pulled it all out but somes of the sport is peel of part of the wall. What do i need to do to fix the problem. I don't want any of the wall paper and want to repaint the wall. Please help.