Is it possible to use some Kilz on old wallpaper and then paint it? I have a couple layers of wall paper on a rental house that looks pretty bad and it has been up for several decades. Would it be worth my time to remove it or cover it up?

Quoted: Is it possible to use some Kilz on old wallpaper and then paint it? I have a couple layers of wall paper on a rental house that looks pretty bad and it has been up for several decades. Would it be worth my time to remove it or cover it up?

The moisture from the paint could likely soften the wallpaper's glue.

As soon as you are finished priming and painting...  the wallpaper will come off in sheets.

Then you get to start all over after cleaning the walls.

Do it right.  Score the wallpaper.  Use hot water or a steamer, and remove the wall paper.
Clean off the residual glue.  Wipe the walls with a TSP solution.
Then wipe with a clean sponge a couple of times.
THen prime/paint.

Quoted: Quoted: Is it possible to use some Kilz on old wallpaper and then paint it? I have a couple layers of wall paper on a rental house that looks pretty bad and it has been up for several decades. Would it be worth my time to remove it or cover it up? The moisture from the paint could likely soften the wallpaper's glue. As soon as you are finished priming and painting...  the wallpaper will come off in sheets. Then you get to start all over after cleaning the walls. Do it right.  Score the wallpaper.  Use hot water or a steamer, and remove the wall paper. Clean off the residual glue.  Wipe the walls with a TSP solution. Then wipe with a clean sponge a couple of times. THen prime/paint.

ugg, that sucks

I've painted over wallpaper before with great success. If the paper is intact, the glue underneath should not be affected. This isn't ALWAYS true, but generally. You may need to test an area, first. Also you can texturize your paint by adding joint compound...this thickened mixture of paint will hide seams in the wallpaper too.

I add 1 gallon of mud (JC) to 4 gallons of paint and mix thoroughly.




roy d....not a pro...just slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night



ETA: If the original wallpaper was applied to an unpainted or unprimed wall, then you will catch all sorts of hell if you try to remove it. Expect to rip up the paper surface from the drywall. Even the "tiger" and wallpaper removing solution won't quite work in that case.

Quoted: Quoted: Is it possible to use some Kilz on old wallpaper and then paint it? I have a couple layers of wall paper on a rental house that looks pretty bad and it has been up for several decades. Would it be worth my time to remove it or cover it up? The moisture from the paint could likely soften the wallpaper's glue. As soon as you are finished priming and painting...  the wallpaper will come off in sheets. Then you get to start all over after cleaning the walls. Do it right.  Score the wallpaper.  Use hot water or a steamer, and remove the wall paper. Clean off the residual glue.  Wipe the walls with a TSP solution. Then wipe with a clean sponge a couple of times. THen prime/paint.

Not as easy as it sounds here.  We removed the wall paper from a couple of rooms in our last house and we will never do it again.  The stuff was on the walls for 10-20 years and it was way more trouble than it was worth.  We painted over the paper on the other three rooms.  We bought a special primer from Sherman Williams that is made for painting over wall paper.  The paper did not start coming up in the 4 years we lived there.

So there is hope then. I tested a few areas by wetting the wallpaper and peeling it and the paper came right off but the glue looked like it was staying on short of scraping the crap out of it. It is applied to plaster walls if that makes any difference in the situation.