Painting wallpapered walls - to strip or not

[halfajack]

Decided to finally redecorate the flat I've lived in for almost two years. I decided I wanted a really smooth finish on the walls in the living room so I started stripping the wallpaper. It's turned out to be quite a job. Took two of us about six hours to do one wall and we're not even bothering going above the picture rail. That's using a steam stripper. It's a tenement in Glasgow around 100 years old and I don't know how far back the layers of wallpaper go! The plaster underneath has some cracking and holes which I've managed to fill - although there are gaps where the wall meets the skirting board and picture rail which were previously hidden by paper - hoping I can just fill these over with polyfilla too. My point is, I'm thinking of not bothering to strip the wallpaper on the other walls as I'm not sure the finish is worth all the time and effort. If I apply a primer all over then paint, will the colour on the non-stripped walls look different to that on the stripped wall?

Also, around the light switch and plug points on the stripped wall there is some plaster work which is proud of the main wall - obviously mess made when installing new electrics - do you think it's OK just to sand this down?

I'd appreciate any advice! Thanks!

 

[sparkwright]

Strip it all off if you can. Painting over it will make it even harder to get off in the future.

What kind of paper is it? Vinyl paper usually needs the top layer pulling off by hand, then soak the backing for a good while, then strip. Woodchip needs the nobbly bits scraped off, some light scoring, and a good soak then strip.

It may well be noticeable if some walls are papered and some aren't. What's another 18 hours?

 

[Pigeon85]

Agree with above, you will probably find you do the other walls quicker as your technique will have improved by then.

 

[halfajack]

Thank you for your advice. We decided to go ahead and strip all of the walls, above the picture rail too. The fireplace wall was a mess with chunks of old plaster coming off with the wallpaper so we got a plasterer in to repair and skim all the other walls.

We were on holiday while the work was done and a family member sent word that the job was a good one. However, some fine cracks have appeared. Can I just fill these in or is it a sign of the plaster being fragile?

Also, there are a lot of plaster smears over the wood surrounds and original plaster picture rail. I'm thinking of sanding gently to get rid of that. After that, we'll prime the walls, paint them then I'll want to repaint the surrounds and picture rail. Any tips on repainting? Should I just sand slightly and paint over existing paint?

 

[emilybronte]

Yes you can fill the cracks. You don't need to sand plaster residue, just wipe it off with a damp cloth.

Or get the plasterer back and tell him to clean up after himself! Plasterers are a pain like that. They always assume the decorator will clean up for them.

 

[halfajack]

Yes, my dad has said if I got a painter in they'd clean it up and tidy the ragged edges. I'd rather stop spending lots of money though! Sanded the walls a bit today and wiped surrounds (had to scrape some bits). Going to paint this week. Based on what I've gleaned from research I'm going to dilute matt emulsion with about 20% water and paint it on, then do a further coat of white above the picture rail and a coat or two of colour below it. I want to repaint the picture rail and surrounds white with a matt finish. Can I just use the same paint as the wall above the picture rail? Also want to paint the bare wood door white as it doesn't look right - another daunting job for me!