I’m a professional decorator of almost 22 years. Over the years I’ve often been asked about painting over wallpaper, whether it can be done and what procedure you should take.
It isn’t an ideal solution to be honest, but it can be done and it is less work than removing the wallpaper and prepping the walls. I thought I’d take a little bit of time to explain the positives, negatives and the process involved. I’m also going to talk about the best primer to use when painting over wallpaper.
How to Paint Over Wallpaper
I’ll start in the same way I do all these blogs and list the tools and supplies you need, then touch briefly on each step. Once we’ve got through the basics, I’ll go into more detail about the important things you should consider when carrying out the task.
If you’ve never painted over wallpaper before, then it will be worth reading to the end. Otherwise, you may encounter problems.
I’ll link to a merchant for each of my product recommendations, however, you can get all this stuff from any good trade paint counter. The two websites I usually buy from are The Paint Shed (click here to visit), and Decorating Centre online (click here to visit).
Supplies
Cloth or sponge
Clean water
Primer
Filler
Good quality trade emulsion
Tools
Paint brush
Paint roller
Steps
Clean the face of the Wallpaper
Paint will not stick to dirt and wallpaper can be a tricky surface for paint to adhere to begin with. I generally give the face of the wallpaper a quick wipe down before I paint.
Caulk the Edges
Run a small bead or caulk along the ceiling line, the internal corners, and the top of the skirting board. It may look nice and neat before you start, but if you don’t caulk, then it won’t look tidy when you’ve applied paint.
Prime the Wallpaper
Priming helps adhesion, blocks paste, and prevents moisture from your emulsion penetrating the paper and causing it to lift or bubble. Oil-based primer is best really, but I’ll go into more detail further down.
Tidy the Seams
Once you’ve primed, you’ll be able to see if there are any imperfections. You can glue back seams (make sure you remove excess paste). You may be able to apply filler to hide the seams completely.
Paint
You should choose a good-quality emulsion, ideally something with a little bit of flex. Trade vinyl or durable matt paint is perfect, as is acrylic eggshell. Apply two coats but allow plenty of time between the first and second so the paint can tighten up.
Possible Problems When Painting Over Wallpaper
There can be issues!! After all, most wallpapers are not designed to be painted over. In fact, most vinyl wallpapers are manufactured so dirt and other impurities won’t stick to their surface, so coating them in any product is going to cause complications.
The first issue you have is the overall look once you’ve finished painting. You will probably see the seams and the texture of your paper. Fair enough really, you know your finished wall or ceiling isn’t going to look perfect, but as a quick freshen up, it’s fine.
The next issue you may have is bubbling!! I say “may,” because it isn’t a problem you’re guaranteed to encounter. I suppose it depends on how well the wallpaper was installed and whether the correct adhesive was used. Bubbling is caused by the moisture of the paint penetrating the paper, which then expands. If the wallpaper isn’t stuck down well enough, this expansion will lift the paper away from your wall in localised patches (bubbles). Even if you do encounter bubbling, 9 times out of 10 the bubbles will dry back sound as the paper contracts again.
The last issue you should look out for is your seams opening!! This too is caused by the wallpaper expanding. Unlike bubbling, opening seams can be easy to fix. Just get a knife full of wallpaper adhesive in each of the open seams as you go (remember to wipe off the excess adhesive).
Preparing a Wallpapered Wall for Painting
This is actually quite an easy step. If your wallpaper is smooth enough, give it a wipe down with a moist (not too wet) cloth and clean water. This will remove any film of dirt and allow your primer to adhere to the wallpaper.
IF (and it’s a big if), your wallcovering is completely smooth, you could try and hide seams by filling them. I often do this after the primer for adhesion issues. Plus you can see whether you’re going to have issues with seams opening.
The only other thing you need to do is caulk around the edges (between wallpaper and ceiling / wallpaper and skirting etc). This will help tidy everything up and mask the fact there’s wallpaper on your wall. Use a good quality decorators’ caulk.
The Best Primer to Use When Painting Over Wallpaper
As previously mentioned, most wallpapers are not designed to be painted over. So, often you need a “problem solving product” to counteract this. To emulsion straight onto wallpaper is slightly reckless and you will likely encounter problems.
Water-Based Adhesion Primer
A good quality water-based adhesion primer such as Bullseye 123, Dulux Super-grip or Crown PX4 is ideal. This simply acts as a bonding coat, meaning it will stick to problem surfaces such as vinyl wallpaper and provides the perfect base to paint over. A water-based adhesion primer is the easiest product to use by far, but you are adding water to your surface which could cause your wallpaper to bubble, so it is safer to opt for oil-based. You can buy Bullseye 123 online by clicking here, and you can even have it tinted to a colour to match your emulsion.
Oil-Based Adhesion Primer
You could go one further and use an oil-based adhesion primer such as Zinsser Cover Stain or Crown PX3. These products are not very nice to use, give off a lot of odours and are not very good for the environment, but they do come with a couple of advantages over water-based alternatives.
The first being, the oil will not penetrate your wallpaper as freely as water would, so you can avoid potential issues with bubbling (however it can still happen in some cases). Plus, it acts as a barrier coat to stop water from your emulsion reaching the wallpaper and causing a problem. The other advantage with an oil-based primer is its stain blocking capabilities. Without it, you might (although it is a rare problem), get seepage through your seams which may discolour your emulsion. You can buy Zinsser Cover Stain online by clicking here.
Zinsser Wallpaper Cover-Up
This is a step further still!! Available online by clicking here and other stockists, Zinsser Wallpaper Cover-up is a specialist product designed specifically to prime wallpaper ready for painting. It absolutely stinks, so keep your room well ventilated!! However, it is fast drying, blocks ALL stains, sticks to any wallcovering, gives a solid barrier coat between wallpaper and emulsion, will not penetrate your wallpaper and is even less likely to cause bubbling than anything else out there. After all, Zinsser Wallpaper Cover-up is a specialist product designed for use when painting over wallpaper. This is the best option in my opinion, and the one I use on my own decorating jobs.
The Best Emulsion to Use on Your Wallpaper
Wallpaper is likely to expand and contract as you paint it, so you need a paint which will stand up to this. Avoid retail paints and cheap contract matt emulsions. These do not contain much in the way of polymer binders, so will not be flexible enough to deal with the movement. A good quality trade vinyl matt emulsion will be much better. Or you could go down the softsheen or eggshell rout.
The Alternative – Stripping the Wallpaper and Prepping your Walls
OK OK, I know this is a lot more work, but it is an option. You could remove all your wallpaper, prep your walls so they’re perfectly flat, then emulsion them. Thus, avoiding all the pitfalls that come with painting over wallpaper.
I could write a full blog on this section alone, but I’ll keep it relatively brief. Scoring the surface of your wallpaper then applying hot water and washing up liquid will help when removing the wallpaper. Or you could pick up a steamer off the internet to make life easier.
Once you’ve removed the wallpaper, you need to remove excess wallpaper paste. The easiest way to do this is by wiping your walls with hot soapy water.
Then, seal your walls with a coat of Zinsser Gardz. This will act as a barrier coat between anything that is still on the wall, and the emulsion you intend to apply. Available online by clicking here.
Once you’re at this stage, you can fill and sand your walls as needed, then you’re good to go with your painting.
FAQs
Is painting over wallpaper a good idea?
Painting over wallpaper is much quicker and easier than stripping it off and prepping the walls. The only downside is that the seams may show when you’ve finished.
What kind of paint can you use on wallpaper?
You should use an oil-based primer first, and then you can apply any good-quality emulsion.
How do you prep wallpaper for painting?
You might need to clean the surface to aid adhesion, stick seams back, and caulk around the edges of your wallpaper before you apply the primer.
Do you need undercoat when painting over wallpaper?
You should use an oil-based undercoat or primer over wallpaper as your first coat. This will aid adhesion and prevent your wallpaper from bubbling.
Can you paint over wallpaper without sanding?
Sanding is not required when painting over wallpaper.
Final Thoughts
I think I’ve given you all the information you need when painting over wallpaper. Don’t let this blog put you off too much. I know it isn’t perfect, but I have done it many times as a decorator to save my clients money.
The best bit of advice I can give is use Zinsser Wallpaper Cover-Up before painting with your emulsion. Available online by clicking here.
The wallpaper cover up excellent product . No blisters unlike rest…
Merchant will stick a tint in to help coverage
I have to agree with Zinnser wallpaper cover up. It’s an oil based product and quite thick. But it works very well in sealing wallpaper.
Excellent blog thanks. Clear and balanced
Thanks for this have always wondered about the pros and cons of doing it. I have a couple of glitter paint walls to paint over, what prep would I need to do?