Can you paper over wallpaper?

[Deleted User] · 30/01/13 - 19:22

I want to decorate my bedroom and the paper on the walls is in quite good nick ie it has no bubbles or anything, as the paper I am buying a quite thick (its an anaglyptia type of wallpaper) can I just paper over this?

[Deleted User] · 30/01/13 - 19:26

Yes you can but I would strongly recommend remove the old wallpaper first. It may seem like a easy quick option but in reality it isn't.

mickmars · 30/01/13 - 19:27

Only if the existing wallpaper is very flat - but I still would recommend the old stuff is stripped off :-)

felixrex · 30/01/13 - 21:05

You can. I have dodgy walls in my house and can't stand the textured wallpaper you normally have to use to cover up faults in the plastering, so I was advised to buy thick plain wallpaper and apply two layers. I wallpapered it and left the heating on to dry it out for a couple of days and then wallpapered over it again.

It turned out well, but it was pretty tricky. If you don't have to do it; for reasons such as mine, for instance; then I wouldn't advise it. It'll be a lot easier for you to strip the old paper and start with fresh clean walls.

Susan_A1951 · 30/01/13 - 21:26

I may not be the best person to give advice, as my decorating skills in the past has often included using sellotape

I live in a 70s semi and when we first started to decorate, we started to strip off existing wallpaper - and half the ruddy plaster came off with it. Had to call in a plasterer.

Personally - if your existing wallpaper is flat - I would paper on top of it.

simon40 · 30/01/13 - 21:26

Your old wallpaper may not have bubbles but i guarantee if you wallpaper over it you will have lots of bubbles and greases.
Always best to remove the old paper first, remember preperation takes time but the results will be worth it.

alsmama · 30/01/13 - 23:03

You definitely can. I remember stripping the walls in one place I lived and discovering no less than SEVEN different layers of wall paper. We used to joke that getting rid of them all made the room a couple of inches bigger all round.

[Deleted User] · 31/01/13 - 01:50

You can but if you ever have to remove the paper yourself, you will really regret it.

I moved into a new house and stripped the wallpaper off only to discover about five layers underneath - and it was the same in every room. It was an absolute nightmare to get it all off.

jra · 31/01/13 - 04:57

Removing wallpaper has to be the world's most soul destroying job.

Any wallpaper removed here doesn't get replaced. I just paint over the bare walls.

spanglerokapi · 31/01/13 - 06:54

Eventually your rooms will get smaller but you won't have to buy so many rolls of paper.:D

[Deleted User] · 31/01/13 - 06:59

jra wrote: »

Removing wallpaper has to be the world's most soul destroying job.

Any wallpaper removed here doesn't get replaced. I just paint over the bare walls.

Actually, if my walls are in good "nick" that is what I will be doing, I just want to do a quick job to clean my bedroom up, hopefully I will have good good walls

codeblue · 31/01/13 - 09:53

Of course you can paper over wallpaper - thats what lining paper is

susie-4964 · 31/01/13 - 11:08

codeblue wrote: »

Of course you can paper over wallpaper - thats what lining paper is

Lining paper is thin. You can't paper over something like textured wallpaper, you'd get a lousy result.

If the wallpaper's in good nick, and you want to paint the walls, just paint over the paper. It can save having to make repairs to the plaster, especially in an older house.

jra · 31/01/13 - 12:43

susie-4964 wrote: »

If the wallpaper's in good nick, and you want to paint the walls, just paint over the paper. It can save having to make repairs to the plaster, especially in an older house.

I just used some filler to make good any wall dents.

fainéant · 31/01/13 - 13:19

If the existing wallpaper is vinyl then the new stuff is unlikely adhere properly without sanding down and applying a coat of diluted PVA. Probably easier to remove it.

callmediva · 31/01/13 - 13:49

I hate papering, I can never get a good result, so now we strip the walls, call in a plasterer who is good but cheap, get the walls skimmed and just paint them.

pinkyponk34 · 31/01/13 - 14:08

DON'T wallpaper over wallpaper that has got years of nictotine reek on it.

We tried that as a quick fix, the reek mixed with the wallpaper glue and slowly seeped through the new wallpaper as a brown sludge, like summat out of The friggin' Exorcist.

[Deleted User] · 31/01/13 - 17:09

At the price of todays decent wall paper, it would be as cheap to strip the paper off and have it skimmed and painted. You will save yourself a fortune and a lot of hard work in the long run.

I have a 23ft by 11ft living room, £350 for skimming the walls AND ceiling, as the ceiling had poly tiles on it from the previous owners, and £30 of paint.

Next decorating time, another £30 or so of paint in stead of hundreds of pounds in wall paper and the hassle of removing it.

callmediva · 31/01/13 - 17:59

Whitey_GRN wrote: »

At the price of todays decent wall paper, it would be as cheap to strip the paper off and have it skimmed and painted. You will save yourself a fortune and a lot of hard work in the long run.

I have a 23ft by 11ft living room, £350 for skimming the walls AND ceiling, as the ceiling had poly tiles on it from the previous owners, and £30 of paint.

Next decorating time, another £30 or so of paint in stead of hundreds of pounds in wall paper and the hassle of removing it.

I'm with you on that one, but £50 seems a lot, at least compared with the bloke who did ours.
Hall, stairs and landing, walls and ceilings for £150

Mind you, we did all the prep, made sure there was no paper on the walls and ceilings etc. Took him 2 days to do and the only drawback to it was the amount of moister in the air for days afterwards. worth it though

Welsh-lad · 31/01/13 - 18:08

Stripping wallpaper is 'soul destroying'... really?!

It is if you just have a washing-up bowl, a sponge and a scraper.
I have a very inexpensive steam stripper. It's basically a kettle-type tank with a pipe coming out of it. You just push it against the wall, and scrape off the paper: comes off in sheets. Easy.

scott789s · 31/01/13 - 18:12

Do the job properly and strip the old paper.

Mt new house 3 layers of different paper on every wall,

jra · 31/01/13 - 19:25

Welsh-lad wrote: »

Stripping wallpaper is 'soul destroying'... really?!

It is if you just have a washing-up bowl, a sponge and a scraper.
I have a very inexpensive steam stripper. It's basically a kettle-type tank with a pipe coming out of it. You just push it against the wall, and scrape off the paper: comes off in sheets. Easy.

Maybe it depends on the underneath wall surfacing and the wall paper itself. It certinly was very hard work for me.

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