See my pretty new French doors, installed in May to replace an ugly, drafty patio door? Look at the green wall. That's not wallpaper. THAT is my wall. The picture doesn't give you the whole sense. Think '70's trailer walls. This stuff is funky, and it doesn't take paint. Granted, it's better than the inch-wide green and white vertical stripes that on the wallpaper I ripped down. That stuff made me motion sick. I would wake up in the morning and grab the edge of my bed to make sure I wasn't moving.
So I thought it would be a relatively easy summer project to remove the old wallpaper (eliminating the cave effect) and put up new textured wallpaper I can paint whatever color I want. I bought the textured wallpaper-- all eight rolls at Lowe's. (I hope it's enough.) I read the directions, which said that I might need to prime the walls first. Off I went to Lowe's to make sure.
I got two different stories. The wallpaper person said that if I'm going to cover paneling (the one wall that's not covered in this funky green stuff is dark paneling), I need to 1) prime it 2) put up wallpaper liner, which by the way, comes without any adhesive and therefore needs to be pasted and 3) THEN put up the textured wallpaper, which I can then paint when it's dry. Besides adding $50 or so to the cost of the project, I didn't relish the idea of TWO sets of wallpapering. The wallpaper person also told me I need "special" primer for paneling (I didn't when I painted the paneling in the sunroom . . .).
Option two: prime the paneled wall and just paint it after that. That option looks much better.
Then, when I was cutting wallpaper to fit the other walls, I thought, "Hey, why don't I put a scrap of wallpaper on the paneling to see if it sticks without any priming at all?" Thirty minutes later, the wallpaper seems to be sticking. It's a bit dark behind it from the paneling, but since I'm painting a whole different color anyhow, does that really matter?
And thus the suspense: to prime or not to prime? Do I wallpaper that paneled wall? I'm thinking yes. The worst it can do is fall down and then I have to paint anyhow. Or maybe I'll need to paint primer over the wallpaper once it's up.
Why couldn't the original owner have just used normal drywall instead of this funky plasticky trailer stuff? And why doesn't HGTV have shows dealing with such issues? Where's the Design on a Dime team when I need them?
2 comments:
Wow, I didn't read this post before I read the next one. I didn't realize that you had to wallpaper before painting. What a pain in the you-know-what. Good luck with that!
Yup, big ol' pain. But by the time the wallpaper's done, painting will be a cinch. I'm hoping to finish the last of the wallpaper by the end of the week. Emily Cairns and I just got most of the biggest wall done this afternoon. Yay!
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