Prime or not?

A long story, short -- I am doing a major overhaul to a house I am renting from my Dad. He buys supplies, I do the work. I am simply trying to bring the house up to a modern look and feel but I do not know how long I will be staying in this house.

The hallway is covered in wallpaper (I feel like more than just one coating of wallpaper, in fact). On top of the wallpaper is disgusting pink gloss paint.

My questions -- do I risk wallpaper removal becoming a 2-month chore, or do I sand and paint over the gloss paint, or do I sand, prime, and then paint over?

Thanks for the advice. I really don't want to remove wallpaper and I don't want to prime either if sanding will do the trick.

 

What type of paint is on the wall? http://forum.doityourself.com/painti...latex-oil.html

Generally it's a bad idea to paint over wallpaper because it raises the difficulty level of removing the paper later. It's also possible that the moisture in latex paint can wet the adhesive under the paper causing it to lift in those areas.

It might be ok to sand and paint but we need to know what type of paint is currently on the wall and how well the wallpaper is stuck.

 

I would remove the wallpaper, I would not like to feel that I am doing a botch repair.

 

Or have to do it over later. I second the wallpaper removal, although if it was me I would probably be looking for an "out", too.

 

Well, I did indeed remove the wallpaper -- or so I thought. The final layer of wallpaper seemed to be smooth and glued well...and sure enough the latex paint I used just lifted the paper right up in various locations. I was sick when I saw the wall.

Will painting over this paper with an oil-based primer remove the existing bubbles? The walls look good because I did a lot of mudding...I don't know if I have any more paper-removal in me after the first layer.

Thanks!

 

So you removed some of the wallpaper layers but left one that seemed to be firmly attached and painted over it and then that got unstuck?
I would remove all the wallpaper layers, sand the wall to remove any glue, apply some putty to make it flat, sand the putty to remove any putty knive lines and then paint with a primer and 2 coats of paint.

I dont know if an oil-based primer will remove the bubbles but some of the oil-based stuff have lots of VOC's and might not be too safe for indoor use unless the room is well ventilated...

Maybe you can pierce the bubbles with a needle and roll a weight over them, like a heavy brick, but that might create wrinkles on the wall. Or you can also cut the swelled areas of the wallpaper out and make the wall flat with some putty but I really would not think of this to be a good solution, can you find some contractor to just remove all the wallpaper from the wall?

 

The bubbles are where there is loose paper. They should be removed! I suppose you might could insert some glue and reattach those areas to the wall but removal would be better. The moisture in the latex paint has dissolved some of the adhesive causing the bubbles.

A solvent based primer or Zinnser's Gardz can prevent the lifting of the paper but it has to be applied before any latex coatings are used.

 

The proper solution here is a lot of work but it will be less work overall than trying to cut any corners now

Remove all the wallpaper
Seal any exposed gypsum with Zinnser Gardz
Skim coat the wall with joint compound to get a smooth surface (some sanding might be necessary)\
Prime and paint with materials from a paint store, not from a paint department

 

Thanks, guys. I did use a primer (Kilz odorless) to seal the wall. I'm a wimp but after removing the first wallpaper layer and mudding/sanding I just didn't have time or motivation to do it all over again. I have the rest of the house to paint.

Actually, after the latex paint dried I couldn't find any of the bubbles. Anyway, I'm hoping it lasts with the Kilz on the wall now.

 

While the paper will often lay back down after the moisture from the paint dries, it still doesn't have a bond with the wall..... but it might be ok for awhile. The kilz will help prevent more moisture from being introduced but won't soak thru and adhere the loose paper back to the wall.