home improvement do it yourselfers - need some advise

[KG]

ok here's the deal - i am stripping wallpaper in order to paint a bedroom - but under the wallpaper was a coat of cheap paint with no primer that coming off with the wallpaper, exposing the wallboard in some places. :grr:

:wtf: do i do now?

[jmowreader]

1. See if you can get all of the cheap paint off...

Anything that won't come off on its own is probably going to stay there. Whatever you do, DO NOT use water-based anything on the wallboard!

A good tool to use for that is a sharpened paint scraper--you've probably got one already for stripping the wallpaper.

Next, apply a coat of good primer. I like Zinsser BIN, but Kilz is good too. (If you've had any water leaks, Zinsser Cover Stain is The Stuff To Use.) If you're using Behr paint, you must use Behr primer to keep the warranty intact, and probably any other high-end paint manufacturer says the same thing--our paint, our primer. In my store, most of the associates push Kilz because that's what their daddies used and it's what the customers' daddies used. Besides, it's cheaper.

Get a sanding block and some 220-grit sandpaper. Feather the edges of any area that had old cheap paint stuck to it; this will make the old paint blend into the new primer.

You can then apply another coat of primer if you like. Follow that with your topcoat.

[KG]

2. trying to avoid taking all the old paint off

did that on one wall but ended up with 100 knicks in the wallboard that i gotta repair.

at first i thought it was the steamer that was pulling up the paint but switched to DIF and the paint still came off in sheets.

steamers suck.

[DemoTex]

3. Before the primer: Sand; sand; sand. Take your time.

Said wall should be smooth as a baby's ass. Then KILZ it. Check out the internet for tips. I did. Google all of your specific questions. The answers are there. My mountain house looks like pros painted it! But it was DemoTex.

(BTW: Tape. Tape all edges. Period.)

[KG]

4. i'm a taper

seems this cheap ass paint was the base all over the house. a couple other places new paint came off with the tape all the way down to the wallboard. was especially frustrating when it happened where i painted a bunch of 6 in vert. stripes.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. Yep...sand and putty to even it out or the wallpaper

will bubble and look like shit

[KG]

14. all the wallpaper will be gone. it's whats left behind that looks bad.

think i'm gonna recommend mudding it. there are some other bad spots on the wall from some minor water damage. might as well do it right.
besdies, she's got the dough.

[radwriter0555]

18. Yeah, a new coat of plaster will really give it the BEST appearance

for the longest time.

I had to do that in 3 rooms last year, but the fellas did a FANTASTIC job and it was totally worth it. Not ONE single hairline crack in a year in this 1923 craftsman cottage, from the plaster work the 'vattos' did. We did walls and ceiling.

[draftee]

5. Put up new wallboard

over the old. You only loose 1/2 inch of room space.

[KG]

7. seem like overkill

and way expensive.

[sendero]

6. Ok, forgive me....

... but you have just bitten off the home improvement task from hell. :)

Here's some advice for next time.... pros don't strip wallpaper unless they are sure it was put on "right" and will come off. Most of the time it won't. What happens is pretty much what is happening to you. You will have a bunch, a veritable boatload, of little dings and holes to fill and sand. It is truly a PITA.

What the pros I've worked with do is tear off any paper that is loose, and then float the whole wall with tape (drywall) mud. Sounds like a lot of work? It's nothing compared to what you are doing, because you are going to wind up floating that wall by the time you are done, or even worse sanding until your hands are raw meat.

I will never put up wallpaper again. It is fun while it lasts, but it is just too damn hard to replace.

[KG]

8. yes, my friend that i'm doing this for recognizes the nightmare

she already had a small bathroom floated. but this is the master BR. we are considering just floating it also.

[sendero]

9. I'm pretty sure...

... that is the best solution. A good mud man can lay down a layer that is nice and flat and needs little sanding.

Sanding is to be avoided. Just way to much work/achievment ratio :)

[sendero]

15. I realized...

... I forgot to mention a crucial step! After you pull off all the loose paper, you have to prime it thoroughly, preferably with 2 coats of kilz or a coat of kilz and a coat of latex.

Because if you don't that wet mud will sure lift some more paper!

I'm sure you knew that, but in case you didn't things would sure get ugly!

[KG]

16. all the paper will be off the wall anyway.

almost done stripping it last night.

there's some other damage to the walls too. i'm gonna recommend we get it mudded. plenty of people willing to do a little side work in the area.

[Le Taz Hot]

17. "Mudded?"

I'm doing the exact same thing and am reading intently. What is "mudded?"

Just to piggy back onto this thread, I've stripped two rooms (so far). Behind the first was straight sheet-rock. Behind the second was more wallpaper (3 layers in all). It was not problem removing them with the steamer but underneath was wood -- not paneling, just wood, almost like a plywood. My plans are to use the rotary sander to sand the large areas and a block sander for the edges/corners. Next, to spackle any holes, then sand. If I'm going to "mud" is the spackling necessary?

I thought I understood this process but I'm reading all these suggestions and now I'm not sure if I'm doing it right.

[KG]

21. mudding the walls

is applying a very thin coating of joint compound. it will give the walls a nice smooth 'like new' finish to put your paint on.

not sure if it can be applied to the wood walls in your case, but i don't see why not.

[radwriter0555]

19. Wallpaper is truly the incarnation of the devil..

it's nasty, bad, evil stuff.

[KG]

20. it ought to be outlawed!

but then only outlaws would have wallpaper. :)

[prolesunited]

10. Would you like my advice?

:hi:

[KG]

11. go ahead.

i'll ignore it, like you do mine! :)

[prolesunited]

12. All I can say to that is

:P

[Beaker]

22. use sand paint on the walls-

that way you don't have to be quite so fussy about sanding the joints over and over and over...

when I do it, i use sand paint, and then cover it with a coat of semi-gloss.

I'm currently doing an even more involved project, using tapeless joint compound, applied with a broad spatula, to give a 3-D venetian plaster effect to the living room and dining room(I never liked the "faux" look that people do by layering the paint).