Preparing a Wall for Painting or Wallpapering

Question

Hi there everyone,

I recently bought a new apartment and I wish to either paint or wallpaper my living room.

If you kindly take a quick look at these photos, you'll get a good idea as to my situation -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26691832@N06/

There were 5 layers of wallpaper on the wall - going back to the 40's when the building was built! I'll need to hire a steamer to finish the job.

As you can see in the photos, there was originally an entrance into the adjacent room, which was later replaced with a doorway, and later again blocked up entirely. Plaster board was used to block up the old door. It wasn't done very well and cracks had formed in the wall tearing through the wallpaper layers. As a result, I shall block-up (with plasterboard), this old entrance into the adjacent bedroom again.

The rest of the wall in the living room is concrete. If I rub my hand on the wall, sand comes off on it. As you can see in the photos, this wall is a little damaged around the entrance into the adjacent room. This has been caused by the hammering of nails into the wall in this area when the door frame was installed. How should I fix this?

What options have I for create a surface in this room which will allow me a) to paint or b) to wallpaper.

Thanks for your help,

Barry.

Answer 1

Hey Barry,

I have removed alotof wall paper in the past. Never on plaster or concrete walls though. I have noticed in some cases removing it is more work than priming over it with this shelac primer by zinzer( bin )red lable. Home center available.  then mud the seams with drywall mud.  Texture walls if wanted.  Then prime with latex primer tinted to color of top cote. then paint..

Answer 2

I am a painter & paper hanging contractor , I would strip all of the old paper off and do it the rightr way .Take very hot water and some mrclean and put it in a sprayer , spray the walls a few times ,one wall at a time let the water soak in .repeat this prosses and the paper will be easyer to scrape off .This will take some time but it will be worth it in the long run .There are plenty of wallpaper styripping tools at you lowes or home depot .After all the paper is off the walls make sure you wash the walls down good and get all the glue off .Fill in any hole or cracks with compound and sand . Then prime if you are going to paint .Put wall grip ont the walls if you are going to hang paper .Some paper calls for a liner before you wallpaper .check the specs on the wallpaper befor hanging .  GOOD LUCK