hey guys-

just removed some hideous wall paper using a steamer 'pig' and now the paint underneath is showing unevenly.  the paint coat under the wall paper was green and the paint under that is beige.  with the steam and the scraper the paint released at differnt colors.

now the wall is two colors and not smooth.  what to do next?  i was thinking of using a power sander and try to smooth it out best as possible and then apply a primer coat of paint before painting it the final color.

am i on the right track or is there something else i should do first.  want it to look right -but as it is a rental and not mine - don't want to kill myself over it either.

thanks in advance
steve

Something that used to work for me, remarkably
well, was something called BIN primer/sealer.
No way any of the color would bleed through
after a coat of that.  But, perhaps there is
something new (as of the last 25 years) that is
as good or better.
DanM

Hey Steve,

We actually couldn't remove the wallpaper when we bought our house because they sealed it straight to the sheet rock.  We got some of it off but then hired a professional.  He tried and said to just give up. So...

We put sealer over it and then textured it with mud and painted.  You would never know that there is wallpaper under there.  You buy the mud in a bucket and use a trowel to quickly wipe it across the wall.  This lets it leave the texture.  Give it a shot.  Good luck.

I see you need lougotzz here!!! I am a professional house painter. In business for 15 years. What you have to do first is make sure all the glue is off the wall. If you have a glue residue wet the wall with a spray bottle or pump sprayer and wash the wall down will a scouring pad or if it is stubborn use steel wool. Make sure you get all the stell wool fibers off the wall. Clean the wall nice.
Next you have to prime with an oil based primer,BIN can be used but it is not oil and smells terrible. Going to kill some brain cells if you use it. The oil based primer must be able to take latex paint over it.Only if you decide not to skim.  Read the label. Now comes the hard part you must skim coat the wall. I can't tell you how to do it cause it takes years of practice. If you can get someone to do it then you can continue. After it is skimmed you must prime with a latex primer. After this, paint as normal. I will monitor this thread if you have any questions post them. Lougotzz

lougotzz is right, you'll have to remove anything loose with a putty knife, then seal the wall surface with something.  You may want to try shellac as a sealer, it's alcohol based and almost nothing bleeds thru it.  Skimming the wall with drywall joint compound is not that hard, if you do it wrong you'll just have to sand it a lot (makes a LOT of dust), and use a long sanding block so you don't get dips and uneven spots.  If you do it right, the wall will look like it was professionally plastered.  If you do it wrong, sand the compound as smooth as possible and skim it again.

Make shure all the glue is off the wall.I think you mean some of the paint came off on some areas and not the others.I think the best idea would be to get some bids on lightly texturing the wall.Call around and get some bids by the squre foot.You can rent the equipment but its a lot less hassle and cheaper if you count your time.You could hand skim it but it is an art.I have been in construction 18 years and I sub out the drywall finnishing.

skim it-have a good drywall/plaster guy do it-will have done in no time-  you may want to have a texture put on-we did a light knockdown finish on our basement-it hid a lot of imperfections in my attempted rywall job.  Ended up paying a drywall dude 500 bucks to tape/sand/texture the basement-I hung the drywall.  It was well worth not having to screw with it.

Sounds like you would be better off using double back tape and covering the wall with dollar bills!

thanks to all for the detailed replies.. as i feared this is not going to be an easy task

i already have removed any loose bits with scrapper and am prety sure the glue is off.

now - to lougotzz, if i go with a textured look as ratters suggested, what do recommend?

or if i hire someone to 'skimm' the wall how much would the fee be its a 18x8 foot wall

my concerns are mostly enviromental and of course cost associated.  since i'm living here and have two cats - what is the best low mess low cost low smell way to get it done - or am i dreaming?

thanks!
steve