Couple of decorating of walls questions

[halesowenmum]

Hi all

Couple of questions, the first one about papering.

I had wallpaper on which was white background and huge black stylised flowers. The texture of the wallpaper is that it wasn't flock or anything like that, it was flat, but there is a weave pattern and before I put up new wallpaper, would I need to use lining paper? I'd uploaded an attachment which I really hope shows the finish. This paper's since been painted over but you can still see the weave indentations. What I don't want is for the new paper to go up and the weave indentations show through as it would look awful. The new paper is Wild Fern in the colour of parlsey so it's got some white ferns slightly raised on it but the surrounding areas are just plain unpatterned total smooth paper. What do folk think - do I need to line first? Would lining paper show through??

Then it's my bathroom where I've got my other issue. I'm in what would about 11-12 years ago have been a new build. Built with the absolute minimum of quality at every stage such that I believe all the walls after plastering were simply given on single coat of the cheapest emulsion available, no sealing of the bare plaster. This is no problem in most of the rooms but my bathroom is flaking and looks a state. I've literally sanded off huge areas back to bare plaster then put sealant on and painted over, but when it gets damp in there (despite lots of strategic window opening and turning on of the extractor fan), you can smell damp plaster so it's clearly not done the trick. I've re-sealed and repainted it twice now and once again the paint is flaking off and looks awful. Because of the different forms of attack I've used each time, I've got varying depths of paint coverage so even the bits which I've 'fixed' which don't flake off now, some of them are at a thinner depth than the surrounding areas. Is the only real solution to have the bloomin' room skimmed from scratch because I can't figure out how to resolve the problem unless anyone has any other ideas.

Thank you!!!

 

[Glasgow painter]

First i would recommend you strip wallpaper and never paper on top of a finished paper. Only line walls if your plaster isn't as smooth as you would like. Remember to size (paste) the wall about 24hrs before you paper. That seals the wall and makes papering a bit easier.


The bathroom in my opinion needs re-plastered as it sounds like you have tried everything else.

 

[halesowenmum]

Poopy. The bathroom can wait for a bit then; guess I'll be working the steam stripper at the weekend then! I must say, that does sound like the only solution that would give me confidence that the new paper would go on totally smooth.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Glasgow painter]

Don't hold steam stripper on 1 bit yoo long as it softens your plaster. The paper you have uo just now should be a vynal and have a backing paper. I would try taking the face off first then just use a sponge to wet the backing paper with warm soapy water . Once you have wet it all go back to start and it should come off really easy

 

[halesowenmum]

I guarantee there will a. Be no lining paper and 2. These walls too will also not have been sealed after their being plastered.

I painted over the paper with silk vinyl so I'll have to see how easily it comes off.

Cheers.

 

[halesowenmum]

Oooh, couldn't resist picking a corner and seeing what happened - the paper is just peeling straight off, no steam or stripping tools required - yay!

I'll need to fill a few tiny nail holes from where pics were put up before and a light sand on any very slightly flaky bits from the underlying paint. Should I PVA + water or just wallpaper straight onto the emulsion painted walls (I know that if you get emulsion wet it just bubbles and I'm wondering if I'll create more problems than if I just get it wallpapered as it is, but basically smoothed out only).

 

[JohnD]

no PVA, please!!!!!!

IMO an emulsioned wall gives a good surface to paper onto. It has a regular colour so no patches show through light paper, and it highlights to the eye any defects that you should repair before papering. It is also quite easy to clean and strip when the time comes.

Vinyl wallcovering includes a thin paper backing that can stay on the wall when you peel off the vinyl.

 

[halesowenmum]

Brill! I'll be stripping at the weekend then!

 

[misterhelpful]

Brill! I'll be stripping at the weekend then!

Any tickets still available?

 

[halesowenmum]

You couldn't afford 'em!