# Paint Over Wallpaper, Yes Or No? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891 "2001-11-17T04:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/21 "2001-11-18T22:02:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\* > > It is my penurious landlord that wants to paint over the wallpaper and not me. \*\* [sub]Must . . . not . . . make . . . bad joke . . . can’t resist . . . [/sub] If that’s the choice, then paint over the wallpaper. Or have you not seen Goldfinger? [sub]sorry . . .couldn’t resist.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/22 "2001-11-23T21:01:36Z")
Most of the bubbling has subsided once the paint dried and the moisture underneath was allowed to evaporate. I still think it looks cheesey. One thing is for sure, I’ll be hanging a lot of pictures in this room. Thanks again, everybody, for your input. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/23 "2001-11-24T00:55:55Z")
[Tardy Moderator Hat ON] Moving to IMHO. [Tardy Moderator Hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/24 "2001-11-25T01:36:03Z")
::hands on hips:: Well, finally! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/25 "2001-11-25T01:50:17Z")
No. Paint is hard on your monitor. Just right click your mouse, hit “properties”, & change your wallpaper. Simple. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Deej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@Deej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deej)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/26 "2001-11-25T02:26:06Z")
No. Don’t you dare. After 14 years of living in this house, I’m finally tackling the last of the walls that have multiple layers of painted wallpaper. The stairwell to the second floor, and I’m admitting defeat on the interior wall. We’ll pull the existing drywall off and hang new; there’ll be alot less taping and sanding if we do. I bought my own steamer shortly after we moved in. There were even multiple layers of paper and paint on the ceilings. There wasn’t a single square corner in the entire house, they were all rounded from all the layers of wallpaper. The room that holds the record for the most layers is the dining room: 6 layers of wallpaper interspersed with 4 different layers of paint. Oh, but the living room and the downstairs hall…thinking about those walls makes me sob. There was a nifty layer of some sort of green texturing material under the topmost layer of paint, and the steamer turned that stuff to mush instantly. I think I’m still digging it out from various body parts, and I stripped those walls 8 years ago. I think I’m the only person on the face of the earth that has stripped wallpaper from their home and lost R-value in the process. If the moisture in the primer is causing it to loosen and pucker, it’ll steam off very quickly. If it’s a newer paper it’s probably got a vinyl coating…pull that off and you’ll be left with the paper backing stuck to the wall. You won’t need to score it at all, it’ll be porous enough to take up the Diff or the steam. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/27 "2001-11-25T02:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\* > > Paint is hard on your monitor. > > Just right click your mouse, hit “properties”, & change your wallpaper. > > \*\* Dang, **Bosda** , beat me to it. And **Zen**? Smack your landlord upside his chintzy head. If the painted-over test patch looks dubious now just wait until time and atmospheric moisture inevitably wreak havoc. The bubbles may have smooshed down for now but they’re symptoms of basic adhesion problems. The quickest fix is to just strip off the wallpaper and do it right the first time. Since the paper bubbled so easily I’d venture it’d strip off pretty handily. (Very old lacquer-like glue is a nightmare, so you’ve truly lucked out there.) It’s kinda fun in a slash-and-burn way. Have a pal or two you could persuade to help if plied with good beer and a geunine Zensterish home cooked meal? Good luck! Veb ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/28 "2001-11-25T03:30:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVeblen \* > \*\*…Have a pal or two you could persuade to help if plied with good beer and a geunine Zensterish home cooked meal? > > Good luck! > Veb \*\* That would be a TRUE friend, a very stupid friend but a friend indeed! Even beer and the promise of Zensters succulent ribs would not be payment enough. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/29 "2001-11-25T03:37:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bare \* > Even beer and the promise of Zenster’s succulent ribs would not be payment enough. \*\* HAH! Fools, I’ll kill you all! Whoa, wait… er, em… did I think that out loud? ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891/30 "2001-11-25T03:47:27Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Zenster \* \*\* > [@](#): > > HAH! Fools, I’ll kill you all! Whoa, wait… er, em… did I think that out loud? \*\* Yep. ::tosses aside scraper:: You’re on your own, big guy. Oh well, slumping on the couch, nibbling olives and watching _Iron Chef_ reruns sounds more relaxing anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-over-wallpaper-yes-or-no/93891.md?page=1)