How To Paint Over Wallpaper

Here are the steps to painting walls with textured wallpaper to achieve a smooth finish:

1. Protect all trim with painter's tape.
2. Apply an odorless, oil-based primer to the walls. Make sure the room is well ventilated and that you wear a respirator. Do not use a latex- or water-based primer, as it will deactivate the glue under the wallpaper and create bubbles.
3. Once the primer is dry, apply the joint compound. Roll the joint compound onto an 8-by-4-foot area, then smooth it out with a trowel. Continue working around the room in sections until all the walls have been coated.
4. Allow the walls to dry for 24 hours.
5. Scrape the walls with a scraping tool to smooth out the joint compound.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for a second coat.
7. After the second coat has dried, it needs to be sanded using a 180-grit sandpaper or sanding sponge. Have a lot of light in the room during this step so you can see fine lines, scratches and nicks, which can easily be sanded out. Again, make sure the room is well ventilated and wear a respirator.
8. Clean up all the dust created by the sanding.
9. Now you apply one coat of primer and two coats of paint or more until full coverage is achieved.

Things you'll need for painting over wallpaper:

Ladder

Plastic

Drop cloths

Drywall pan and blades

Patching compound

Plastic snap off razor blades or utility knife

Odorless oil base primer

Blue tape

Sandpaper or sponges

500 watt Halogen lights

Paint brushes

High quality non shedding solvent resistant sleeve for priming

About Author:
Matt Jaworski
Jaworski Coatings, Inc
41735 Oberlin Elyria Road
Elyria, Ohio 44035
http://www.welovepainting.com/
866-874-2114
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Jaworski

WallDreams Paint Ideas! Sometimes wallpaper removal is just not worth the bandwidth. Some older papers are a horror to remove and of course, how many layers are under there is a treasure hunt in pattern styles. Faux painting over wallpaper is a great choice, time and work saver when that worn out wallpaper has to go!

Other points to consider when painting over wallpaper include:

Condition of the wallpaper - if good, seal the edges, seams and surface. If not too bad, reglue, sand and seal any bubbles or lifted areas.

How new the paper is - wallpapers that were applied in recent years may just pull off more easily with some Dif and a paper tiger (a little rolley claw thingie that perforates the paper). Follow the manufacturer's directions and be patient. Let Dif do its job.

The design texture of the wallpaper itself may influence what needs to be done to correct it - total removal and/or the finish over it.

How dark the print of the paper is will influence how many coats of primer and/or paint to cover it.

Clean the surface before priming.

Remember : Painting is far easier to change than wallpaper when you have decorating fever!

Enjoy All the Spring Colors,

Donna of WallDreams