Unpopular opinion: painting over old wallpaper is fine if you do it right

I overheard a guy at the hardware store last weekend tell his friend to always strip wallpaper before painting, but I've done it twice in my 1920s bungalow and it held up perfect for 3 years now. I used a quality primer and took the time to fix all the bubbles first, so maybe that's the real trick. Has anyone else here actually tried this method and had it work long term?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_sam8d agoMost Upvoted

Start with fixing any loose seams or bubbles first. I learned that lesson when I skipped a few spots on a hallway wall and they showed up again after a humid week. A good oil based primer is the real game changer - it seals the paper so moisture can't get through. If you use water based primer on old wallpaper, it'll probably bubble up within a year or so. The other big thing is making sure the wallpaper is firmly stuck everywhere before you start, because any loose spots will be problems later. So yeah, it works but you gotta be picky about the prep work or you're just asking for trouble.

gavin2281mo ago

Three years is nothing. That wet 2023 summer proved wallpaper glue is a ticking time bomb under paint.

drew_hart41mo ago

Man, tell me about it. I once painted my bathroom and thought I was clever by slapping new paint right over the old wallpaper glue without stripping it first. Big mistake. That glue basically turned into a sponge during the next humid spell, and the paint started bubbling up like it was trying to escape. Looked like some kind of weird reptile skin in there. I spent a whole weekend scraping it all off and swore I'd never cut that corner again. Did you end up having to strip the whole wall or just patch the bad spots?

claire8721mo ago

Gavin, what kind of glue are we talking about here? The standard stuff from the hardware store or the heavy-duty paste some people use? I've seen both fail in different ways, and a wet summer like that one really separates the good from the trash. My place had peeling paint near the window frames after that same season, but it turned out the installer had skipped the primer step entirely. Just trying to figure out if the glue was the real problem or if the paint job was already doomed from the start.