Wallpaper and Wallcoverings - Painting wallpaper

Can you paint over wall paper?????

Yes.

Would I do it or recommend it? No.

Wallpaper can sometimes be hard to remove, painted wallpaper is always hard to remove and can further be your worst nightmare.

Do yourself or the future owner a favor and use proper stripping techniques. (http://www.wallpaperinstaller.com/wallpaper_stripping.html)

Wallpaper....If they do indeed strip the paper and then need to line the walls or hang anaglypta and repaint...will they still not have the same problems you suggested in future years??
I do agree that it is preferable to strip the existing paper first to provide a top class job,but if all that is required is to quickly freshen up a room then as long as the paper is in good condition ,stuck down firmly and hung correctly,,,,Then I dont see a problem..

Hey Top....I totally agree with you. In the context of this forum though, it is my opinion that that advice cannot properly be dispensed. I have recommended painting over paper, but there are too many variables to be discussed here. In my experience, about 10% of wallpaper jobs can be painted over successfully. Catering to those percentages is counter-productive because the other 90% who read this forum may think the rule applies to them.

I would say to you and anyone else reading this that firmly adhered, unproperly prepared wallpaper should be painted over. There may be a few other examples, but I refuse to perpetuate the myth that wallpaper can be painted over. Yes it can! You can also drive a car with your feet but that doesn't make it right! :) Perpetuation of the "painting wallpaper is OK myth" is one of the reasons that wallpaper sales have been declining over the last few years. This is because the same or future homeowner has a real bear of a time stripping the paper. Wallpaper properly applied with proper prep is actually easy to remove. Bad prep advice and painting over paper willy nilly gives the consumer the impression that wallpaper is too much of a hassle.

Since this is my career, I am here to dispel these myths and assist people with proper techniques, prep, and advice. If someone wants to paint their paper, they can go ahead and do it but in the long term, it is almost always a bad idea.

Since my post is addressed to you I want to end with again my agreement. You are totally correct, however there are far too variables to discuss with posters here and most are unwilling to engage is back and forth information exchange, from what I have seen they want a one stop solution and that is what I gave in this case. If the original poster wants specific advice, they can email me back at this forum for a more tailored answer. My thanks to you for offering your view on this, because I know that like mosts arts, there is no perfect answer only views.

Perpetuation of the "painting wallpaper is OK myth" is one of the reasons that wallpaper sales have been declining over the last few years. This is because the same or future homeowner has a real bear of a time stripping the paper.

People are painting out wallpaper because it is no longer fashionable.. The minimalistic look is in vougue right now..
Paint has made a massive comeback...
6 years ago I was hanging 20 to 30 rolls a week....Now?? ...Its been a while since I hung ten....

The point I was trying to make was that a £10.00 roll of wallpaper can be as affective as a £1.50 roll of liner....
Plain lining paper is not treated with anything special to provide an excellent surface to decorate over....Its just paper..

There is only one reason to paint over wallpaper; it makes the wallpaper musch easier to remove from a plaster wall. Of course, it does destroy wall board.

there is only one issue here; is it nasty and tacky, or not?

Of course it is. Only a landlord would do it.

Remove the wallpaper; replace the wallboard if you have to.

Remove the wallpaper; replace the wallboard if you have to

Why rest at that?? Lets just redesign the whole friggin floor plan,knock down some walls and start again..