Emulsion over previously wallpapered walls

[Sarie]

Hey everyone, I'm after some advice from anyone with experience of painting over previously wallpapered walls as, despite a lot of digging online, I'm finding a lot of conflicting information so I need clarification.

My walls were lined with lining paper and then wallpapered. I have removed the wallpaper but as the paper was so badly applied it just peeled off without the use of a steam stripper. The result is good for me as it has left the lining paper on the wall intact with no blemishes or damage to the wall whatsoever.
What I'm left with is lovely smooth wall with lining paper and some residue on the surface from the wallpaper paste. I've got some Farrow and Ball emulsion to go onto the walls but I need to prepare the walls first.

My intention is to wash the walls with sugar soap to remove the paste residue and let it dry for a day or two (or as long as it takes). This is the point at which things become confusing. A number of things I've read suggest that the next step is to seal the wall to prevent any remaining paste from sucking the water out of the emulsion, resulting in flaking/cracking. That makes perfect sense but what do I use to seal it?

Some articles suggest to use oil-based primer, others suggest acrylic primer. Which is it? A few articles seem to suggest that painting emulsion over oil-based primer is a nono as the emulsion won't adhere properly so I should use acrylic but others suggest that if I don't use oil based then it won't seal properly. I'm thoroughly confused.
My mum also told me to use a PVA mixture as a sealant but everything I've read online says absolutely DON'T do that so I'm not keen to take her advice.

Any help would be much appreciated in clarifying this for me so I can make sure I do the job properly. I don't want to be redoing this later down the line and F&B emulsion isn't cheap stuff so I really don't want to get it wrong.

Better yet - if anyone could tell me EXACTLY which product to buy to prepare the walls I'd be incredibly grateful as if it's not obvious on the tin I certainly don't trust the numpties in B&Q/Homebase to point me to the right stuff. Last time I trusted them I ended up with completely the wrong product.

Thanks in advance

 

[dcdec]

Zinnser gardz, its designed to seal old wall paper paster (amongst other things).

Its not best practice what your suggesting but the above answers your question

 

[Sarie]

Super thank you! That sounds like exactly what I was after as I'm sure painting emulsion over an oil based primer can't be a good idea...

What is best practice? I'm no decorating expert so I'm open to any pointers; the info I've posted is only based on what I've already read online and that's never really reliable given it's the internet; thus me trying to find an expert opinion

There's so little wallpaper residue (due to the paper being badly attached by a previous DIYer) and the remaining lining paper is in such perfect condition it seems daft to strip the lining paper off and risk opening up a potential can of worms underneath so I assumed as long as I could get rid of the wallpaper residue I could paint it as it stands but obviously if it's just going to look horrendous and/or require redoing then that's not ideal Whoever did the initial lining paper in the house did a fabulous job of it as it's totally immaculate.

The only bonus is that this is only one wall as they'd only papered a "feature wall" and it's only below the dado rail as I re-papered above the dado. So all in it's only a small area in the whole room which makes life a little easier.

 

[Robbie uk]

If you do as dcdec states then you wont go far wrong. If the lining paper is still nice and tight you will probably get away with it. Good luck.

 

[Sarie]

Thanks I've ordered some Gardz so I'll sand off as much of the paste as I can without damaging the paper and then give it a good wash down with sugar soap before I coat it. Apparently Gardz is awful to apply too due to it being watery - are there any tricks to it or just be careful and use it sparingly?

Do I need to use anything else over the Gardz or is it OK to just paint right over it with the topcoat? It's F&B estate emulsion if that matters; I've read a few topics about people moaning about this paint hehe, oops.

Thanks again, really appreciate the pointers

 

[dcdec]

I wouldn't wash it down with the sugar soap as you risk blowing the LP. Gardz is made for the job, some light sanding would be OK to remove any dried lumps. Gardz is very thin, sheet up well, eye protection may be a good idea and apply sparingly. I've always found F&B ok

 

[Sarie]

OK I'll skip the sugar soap then and just lightly sand. There aren't any visible lumps and very few patches of visible paste in general but I guess it'll help the final finish if the surface is as smooth as possible.
Relieved to hear you've found F&B ok - maybe just some grumpy folk on other forums then! A few stating that it's no better than Dulux and people just buy it for the name but I put a colour matched version of Dulux up alongside the F&B tester and there was no comparison in the finish - the F&B won hands down so I went with that

I've ordered a 1/4" nap microfiber roller sleeve for the Gardz to try to cut back on spray and get it on smooth. I'll make sure I get the sheets and goggles out too then Thanks so much for all the advice!

 

[emilybronte]

I think the problem with F & B emulsion is its inconsistency (some colours go on beautifully and cover solidly with 2 coats; other take up to 5; three is typical)... and the fact that some of the claims they make about it are patently untrue.

For example, they claim the estate emulsion has no vinyl in it. I have it on good authority that since 2012 this has not been the case. You can tell by the way strips of it will peel off certain surfaces in a stringy patch, e.g when low-task masking is applied, that it contains a plasticiser of some kind.

The other claim which is self-evidently untrue is that it is environmentally friendly. Any paint which requires three, four or five coats to achieve opacity is clearly not environmentally friendly - you need more than twice as much of the stuff!

I rang F & B to complain out that most of their colours needed 3 coats for an acceptable finish, only to be advised by their 'technical advisor' that as long as I used their recommended undercoat (with emulsion ffs!) I would only need 2 coats of the top colour...ever felt like banging your head against the wall?

All of this explains why I am so in love with the infinitely superior Little Greene paints and why I try to dissuade customers from making me using F & B whenever I can. I heard someone on the radio once describe F & B as 'the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the middle classes of Harrogate' and I am inclined to agree.

 

[dcdec]

I rang F&B tech once and the woman that answered the phone who i'd presume to be no more than a receptionist asked me my question and felt qualified to answer it..... " ooh i should think that would be ok" she said. I don't think they have a tech dept.
I think the vinyl content is about 3% in estate emulsion and around 9% in the modern emulsion. I actually really like the ME, never had a problem but still prefer LG.
I believe the price tag reflects the natural pigment and the grinding process which gives the unmistakeable finish, is it worth it? i've used it at home and like it but wouldn't pay their prices for creams and off whites as you just can't see the quality, blues and greens look great but again my first choice is LG. Never used the undercoat, never will.

 

[Sarie]

So just an update on this

The Gardz was superb! I did a quick light sand on the walls and the Gardz went on very easily, no splashing or dripping and as it was clear it was dead easy to cut in as I didn't have to worry too much about being really neat with it.
I let it dry overnight and then applied the first coat of F&B Estate Emulsion. It went on fine but I was a bit concerned it wasn't covering too well but I needn't have worried as a second coat covered it all completely and the finish is lovely. Took 4 hours per coat though as I'm not very good at cutting in so had to be really cautious and use different sizes of brush... doing this project on my own was a challenge as the room is quite big!

I had no issues whatsoever with coverage in the end (thank god as a 3rd coat might've killed me off) and only required the two coats of F&B and you'd never know that there'd been wallpaper on there previously. No signs whatsoever of paste residue or cracks. Absolutely perfect, thanks so much for the tips! Very glad I didn't waste a load of time on unnecessary prep.

The F&B looks great, I used Elephant's Breath as the colour and it looks lovely, has a really nice depth to the finish compared to other paints I'd tested - I've had loads of compliments on it already. It's a lovely shade and the chalky finish sets it apart from Dulux and other emulsions I tested out which had a more rubbery appearance (I guess the higher vinyl content). Very pleased with the results - thanks again for the advice

Before:

Before

• Sarie
• 20 Apr 2015
• 1

After:

After 1

• Sarie
• 20 Apr 2015
• 1

After 2

• Sarie
• 20 Apr 2015
• 1

 

[dcdec]

Glad it went well for you Sarie, looks a nice job, well done.

 

[emilybronte]

Thanks for the update and glad the F * Balls behaved itself for you!