Painting - Help - Painted walls problem

I want to paint a room that is currently wallpapered. When I strip off the wall paper the wall underneath it will be rough. Is there a product that I can apply over it before I paint that will smooth it out or do I have to sand it down. If possible I'd like to avoid the latter.

I painted 3 rooms with 3 different paints manufacturers. Rooms A and B with a Satin latex sheen, room C with an eggshell finish.

The problem is that if I, for example, take a paper towel and gently rub a small piece of the wall, that area will all of a sudden be glossy and stick out like a sore thumb. Same thing happens if I touch the wall with my finger tip. To make matters worse, I lightly wet a towel with the intention of blending the "spot" into the area around it and now there is a 2-sq foot "glossy area".

I don't think paint should act this way (obviously), so what is happenning? Do I just have to pray that no guest or kids EVER touch my walls so this doesn't keep happening?

Could this be the result of a not having primed? One wall had been previously painted so I assumed it had been primed at some point. The others may not have been primed.

Thanks.

ecoplnd,

Is the wall rough from wallpaper paste or is it textured walls? If it is paste them cleaning them with warm water or a DIF solution (wallpaper remover) should do the trick, if it is texture and you don't like it, well, they will probably need to be skimed with drywall compound to smooth and in my opinion the use of mud tools and skimming walls is not the ideal DIYer job, most people without the experience will make a big mess, you can have some pro's come in and do the skimming for you and you prime and paint.

Without seeing it, I could be way off, if the DIF doesn't work, try the sanding, if it sands smooth to your satisfaction then you can buy a sanding pole for about $14 that would make it easier.

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azzurri,

Usually you would start a new thread for unrelated questions, that is done by clicking the "Ask a new question" button at the begining of the painting board :)

The eggshells and satins are finicky paints to begin with and most latex paints will change there appearence when wetted, but will go back to normal when dry, after the spots dried did they still appear more shiny? Also the eggshells and satins require primer and 2 coats no matter how well they cover with 1 coat, to accomplish the proper sheen. If you only have 1 coat up then I think there would be part of your problem, 1 more coat should do it. If some of the walls were not primed then 3 coats may be nesasary, no need to prime now, the first coat took the place of the primer and would do little good. For future reference, most all bare surfaces need to be primed before painting, there are few exceptions. No primer needed for wall paint on top of wall paint, unless there are stains that need to be sealed.

Thanks, Chip. Yes, the aggravating thing is that days after I wet the wall they remain "glossy". Again, it is not just from wetting, but even from just rubbing the walls that they become glossy.