Paper on top of paper

Hi
I am going to decorate my daughters new flat. Two walls have already been papered by the previous owner and although not to my daughters taste the walls are really smooth. Will I be ok papering over the existing paper. The flat is really old and I expect the wall may be made from lath and plaster ?

Many Thanks

So long as the old paper is soundly stuck on you should be fine. For walls that are so old that they are lath and plaster I would say it is wise to avoid using a steam stripper should you did decide to remove. The risk of the skim coming off with the paper is not worth it when you are a tenant. Also consider simply painting the paper.

I am currently doing a hallway in a big house. Rather than stripping the paper I am sanding the vinyl top layer off and just leaving the backing paper. Where there are highspots in the plaster, I just sand through the paper and plaster. I will then line then.

Paper sands quite nicely, particularly if you are using sanders connected to dust extractors. If you need to do any filling, apply Zinsser BIN (or oil based undercoat) to the paper first and then fill/sand. That will prevent the glue on your new paper from reactivating the old glue and possibly blowing the filler. I also hit the woodwork with a coat of OB UC in the hope of preventing the new glue from causing the edges of the old paper to lift.

A big advantage of sanding the existing paper is that you will soon discover any sections that were not glued down properly.

Years ago a mate convinced me to line over his old wallpaper (without sanding). There were a few air bubbles that would not shrink back of their own accord.

Make sure that none of the new paper joins coincide with the joins in the old paper and apply the glue to the new paper and not the old paper.