I’m having a bit of a decision making battle with myself. I’m looking to paint my living room and as I was laying tape down on the trim I saw a piece of wallpaper coming up in a very tucked away spot. I figured not much harm done in pulling it off.
Underneath is what I’m assuming is both another layer of wallpaper (the lower vertical stripes) and something else entirely that doesn’t appear to go all the way up.
My question for you all is, should I risk removing this for the whole room? I heard it might be a pain to remove and it might damage the wall underneath which could make it become expensive. However you can see seams under the current paint layer in spots so I don’t want this to all peel off over time.
The house was built in 1950 and I’m planning on painting with Sherwin Williams Emerald type Matte finish.
Best Answer
Oh boy!!! You definitely want to remove the wallpaper. Paint over wallpaper just doesn't work. You'll never know when it will just start to bubble up. I just removed all the wallpaper in my living room and used hot water in a spray bottle with some "DAWN" dishwater soap squirted into the bottle. Sprayed the walls, let it soak for 5-10 minutes and peeled it off the walls. I had no damage to the walls. Then had to go over it a few times to get all the paste off the walls. It's a messy job but you really need to do it. You really need to soak down the walls.