I am looking into getting the wallpaper off in one of our bathrooms and getting the walls painted. The walls underneath the wallpaper are not textured. Is it necessary to texture the walls? Since the cost for texturing the walls is almost twice the cost of painting them, I am wondering if I can get away without texturing them.
Also, if I do need to get them textured, do I need to get all the wallpaper off before texturing them? The painter is planning on texturing over the wallpaper. Would that be OK? Thanks!
It is usually not a good idea to texture over wallpaper. The texture is wet, so the whole time it is drying, your wallpaper is going to be soaking up the moisture from the texture and peeling away from the wall. Then the weight of the texture can make the "paper" and of course texture start falling off before your eyes. Wallpaper is notorious for hiding/growing/encouraging mold.
It is totally fine to texture over the paper. Yes, I think you need texture. My husband is a homebuilder and gets this question a lot from friends doing the same. Good luck with your project!
I wouldn't texture over wallpaper, but I'm not an expert. Depends on what kind of texture you want, but I just went through this and simply bought a box of texturing at Lowes and added it to the paint. Unless your walls are perfectly smooth under the wall paper, (and most are not), you probably want some texture. It's not expensive either.
Good luck!
C. S.
My kitchen was wallpapered when we moved in, it was hideous. I took a spray bottle filled with water and fabric softener and a spatula and took it off clean.Then the next day i painted right over the wall and it looks great. I even used a glossy black paint that would easily show lines and it sits flush. However i did my daughters bathroom the same way and there were irregularities in the wall, I went to home depot and bought my own powdered texture to add to the paint. It was a little tricky to put on, i recommend pouring the paint out into the roller pan then adding some texture, rolling it on the wall, but have a paintbrush nearby to dot in the inconsistencies. Whatever you do don't texture over the wallpaper, the moisture will get in there and it will peel.
I am a texturing queen I have done it a whole bunch. I would pull all the wall paper that you can get off then paint the whole wall with Kilz 2 primer. I can explain how to texture if you want me to it is really easy. You can paint over wall paper but you will need to do the same thing and kilz it first but do not pull any off. the wall will be really flat after.
Go ahead and take the paper down yourself and clean the wall with bleach water. There has to be moisture behind there. I let the painter talk me into texturing over wall paper in the living room and then my husband and I decide to do the boys' room ourselves and removed the paper because it was starting to peel and there was mold under the paper. Now I wonder if there was any under the paper in the living room. The black spots came right up with tilex, then I ran out of tilex and used bleach water. After you clean the wall and let it dry, make sure you use KILZ as your primer. That kills and mold the might be hiding. I didn't add texture, I just used a paint roller and the wall lookd fine. Good luck
No texturing over wallpaper!! It can't happen. As the glue on the wallpaper ages and no longer adheres, the moisture and temp. changes will allow the wallpaper to come off. With the weight of the heavy texture, it's going to fall that much easier... possibly on whoever's using the restroom! Not worth it! The easiest thing to do... get a wallpaper scorer and score the paper (this puts tons of tiny pinholes so your wet solution will work). Then either steam the wallpaper with a steamer you have on hand or buy a fertilizer pump sprayer... about 18$ at Home Depot and they are HANDY to have around... they even come in handy when you want to remove the popcorn from a popcorn ceiling and throw a little anaglypta (textured designs in wallpaper that you can paint over) on the ceiling to make it look like old tin tile ceilings/historic effect. Anyhow, then your paper should peel nicely. At this point you CAN paint on it, as long as you realize that any imperfection in the wall now will be completely highlighted. You can purchase joint compound at Home Depot and do your own texture with a scraper. It's crazy easy! Just play around. I did a spanish hacienda looking texture in my master bath once. There is so much fun to be had with joint compound... go with the Sheetrock brand by the way. If your bathroom is big, just buy the cardboard box of it. (It's in a plastic bag inside the box.. just be sure to tie it up well when you're done or it will be like hard, dry play-doh. Then when it's dry, you can prime it with a little Kilz since it'll be in a moist bathroom and then paint. Another fun thing to do... especially in newer cookie-cutter homes with drag texture (common) or orange peel texture (most apartments have this type) is to take a plastic stencil, like a texas star or hearts or whatever tickles your fancy.... non-intricate always comes out better. Then tape it to the wall, and scrape just enough texture over the shape to cause a 3-D effect in the wall. My son's room has 3-D stars I've done all over the wall. The good news is that if you first use a light layer of petroleum jelly on the wall before you do this, it can be sanded down to the original texture when you get tired of it. If you glaze the 3-D shape with a slightly deeper color than the wall color, they just pop so beautifully. In my son's room, I glazed the tan walls with a light brown and finished off the stars with clear glow-in-the-dark paint. He has a nice 'night-light' in his texture that doesn't use an extra cent of electricity.
It's not necessary to texture the walls, but the paint will look flat in the room. Since it's in a bathroom, it may not matter much, but if the room is fairly large, it might be worth it. Just make sure any holes and nails are covered with spackle and then sanded smooth.
I would not recommend texturing or painting over wallpaper. The wallpaper will eventually crack and start to peel and that will affect your paint.
If the painter is going to charge you to have the wallpaper removed, I would do it yourself. Go to DIY.com or even Home Depot/Lowes and you can find inexpensive ways to remove it without hassle.
I absolutely would not texture over wallpaper especially in a bathroom. Wallpaper is notorious for hiding/growing/encouraging mold. If you've ever had water leak (e.g., a toilet overflow) in that bathroom there could already be mold between that wallpaper and baseboard. I really depends upon the size of the room and whether it's one wall or the whole room as to whether you really need to texture and what color you paint the room. We did not texture in one of our bathrooms as it was just the walls closest to the shower and above the shower and we painted a medium blue - you really don't notice.
Yes you can texture over wallpaper!!!!And Yes it will last a lifetime if prepared properly.
In most peoples eyes it is believed that texturing over wallpaper will be bad....Bad things can happen!!!
Heres the best method.
1. Remove any loose paper- paper that comes off the wall easily.
2.Use oil based primer/sealer from Sherwin Williams and paint the entire surface of the walls one coat with the OIL PRIMER.
3. Approximately 3 hrs it will be dry and the surface will be hard. Nothing will be able to penetrate this hard coating!
*Think about this()+ Sheetrock has an outer layer of paper on it. The wall paper is thicker & more durable than the original layer of paper on the sheet-rock. When anyone tries to peel of the first layer of Wallpaper the second layer (like a paper sack) only will come off in tiny pieces. Terrible choice!
4. After the oil based primer has dried. Skim or float the walls with a very thin layer (add water) of joint compound over the areas where the loose paper was peeled and over the seams. It will most likely be dry before you finish the remaining walls.
5. Texture, prime, and paint and you will have amazing walls.
Experience in this method or technique and many years of practice with absolutely no Complaints should convince almost anyone with common sense that this is the preferred method instead of difficult to remove paper. Remember this...You never know how difficult it will be to remove paper that is glued to paper, but hardening the outer layer will allow you to choose to what extent you texture or paint!
P.S. Untextured walls are typically unattractive! Take a paint roller in some watered down joint compound and roll it on. Now you've got texture and it will cover most holes etc..
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I am an interior Designer and woud not texture over wallpaper. If the wallpaper is 20 plus years old than you probably could paint over it, but recommned removing it. Do as one other mentioned, just add the texture to the paint, if its a small area, and yes use kilz. I would texture because more than likely the walls are not level and/or smooth - just depends in CA. they do not texture there walls. Hope this helps.
It is usually not a good idea to texture over wallpaper. The texture is wet, so the whole time it is drying, your wallpaper is going to be soaking up the moisture from the texture and peeling away from the wall. Then the weight of the texture can make the "paper" and of course texture start falling off before your eyes. My friend did this and I learned from her mistake. Good Luck!!
Hi DD,
It depends on the condition of the wallpaper. If it is adhered well to the wall, then texturing over would be fine then painting. I recommend priming before painting as well. If the wallpaper is peeling off then it should be stripped (a messy job) then the walls textured. Texture helps hide imperfections in the wall. Texture should not be an extremely expensive part of the process. I suggest getting several bids for texture and painting if possible. Where are you located?
