Wallpaper hides what is underneath it.
Sometimes it comes off clean. Sometimes it takes the face of the drywall with it, and then the wall gets skimmed before anything else happens.
Why painting over it goes wrong
Paint on wallpaper is a short term answer that creates a long term problem. Water based paint puts moisture into the paper and into the paste behind it, and the seams start lifting within weeks. Once a seam has curled, the only fix is taking the paper off anyway, except now it is stuck under a coat of paint.
Vinyl paper is worse, because paint sits on the surface with nothing to grip. Textured or embossed paper is worse again, since the pattern telegraphs straight through however many coats go on and everybody who walks in can still see it was wallpaper.
There are a few cases where paper is genuinely better left alone and skimmed over instead, and they are rare. We will tell you which one your wall is after we have tested a corner, rather than before.
- A corner tested first to see how the paper is coming
- Adhesive taken off, not painted over
- Torn drywall face skimmed and sanded flat
- Walls primed before any finish coat
- Furniture covered and the floor protected all week
Getting it off without wrecking the wall
The paper comes off in whatever way that particular wall allows. Some peels dry in full sheets and it feels like cheating. Most needs scoring and soaking so the water can reach the paste, then patient work with a broad knife rather than force.
Force is what damages walls. Pushing a blade too hard gouges the drywall, and pulling too fast strips the paper face off it. Both mean more repair afterwards, which costs more than doing the removal slowly in the first place.
Bathroom borders and kitchen backsplash paper are their own small headache. They are usually stuck with something stronger, they are usually in a tight spot to work in, and they are usually the last thing anybody wants to deal with. They come off the same way, just slower.
The adhesive, and the wall it leaves behind
Paste left on the wall is the reason a lot of wallpaper jobs fail after the painting. It stays slightly tacky, it reacts with fresh paint, and it shows up as shiny streaks or as lifting a month later. All of it gets washed off, and the wall gets rinsed rather than just wiped.
Where the drywall face has torn, the wall gets skimmed. That means compound over the damaged areas, feathered wide, sanded flat, and checked with a light held against the wall rather than by eye from six feet away. On a badly papered wall that can mean a full skim across the whole surface.
Then it gets primed. Bare drywall and old paste both drink paint at their own rate, so a wall that goes straight to finish comes out patchy no matter how good the paint is. Priming is the step that turns four different surfaces into one.
What you get at the end
A wall that looks like it was never papered. That is the whole point, and it is why the repair work matters more here than the painting does. One customer wrote that Nick removed wallpaper from her main living quarters, then spackled and painted to perfection, and had us back years later for the outside of the same house.
How long it takes depends almost entirely on the paper and the wall behind it, which is why nobody can price this properly over the phone. We test a corner when we come out, and then the estimate reflects what we actually found rather than a hopeful average.
If the removal turns out worse than the test suggested, you hear about it that day, with the wall in front of you. Finding out at the end of the job is how people end up feeling ambushed by a number.
Got a room that has been papered since the nineties?
We will test a corner and tell you what is under it.
What 404 homeowners said
Every quote below is a real review, word for word, from our Google profile.
We recently hired Sunrise Quality Painting, Inc. to repair and paint our ceilings a flat white as you could see blemishes and the seams from when we first removed the popcorn ceiling before we moved in, plus we’d moved some fixtures in the ceiling that needed patched. We also asked to add the repainting of our kitchen after doing a whole remodel last year. We couldn’t be happier with the results!
I had a great experience with Nick and Sunrise Quality Painting! They painted my condo bathroom, and I was super happy with how it turned out. What stood out the most was the attention to detail. Nick took his time to make sure everything looked great, and the finished result turned out awesome.
Several years ago I had Nick remove wallpaper from my main living quarters he then spackled and painted to perfection. I just had him back again this week with his crew to paint the exterior of my home. He's scraped plastered sanded and painted again to perfection. He also did my driveway. Nick is kind honest and perfectionist I highly recommend him
Nick was referred to me by one of my neighbors, and I’m really glad that I contacted him and hired him! Nick and his crew were professional, neat and courteous. Their cleanup was immaculate and they took all of their brushes rollers, etc. home with them to clean so there was no mess at my house!
Nick and his crew were very professional. I had them change a color for me on my shutters because I didn’t like it after they were painted. Nick told me no problem and changed it. They did a fantastic job pressure washing, caulking and sealing before they painted. The job was completed in 4 1/2 days even with the color change.
From Nick, the owner, to his crew, they have been a professional and helpful group of quality-oriented contractor in the Tampa Bay area. Their work has been top-notch in the details for repairing and matching the original appearance and the quality level. Their price certainly was not the cheapest, but it was reasonable, especially for the quality of work performed without having the need for corrections.
Free written estimate on wallpaper removal, wall by wall.
Sometimes. It depends on the paper, the paste and whether the drywall was primed before the paper went on. We test a corner when we come out and price from what we find rather than from a guess.
Then the wall gets skimmed, sanded flat and primed before any finish goes on. On a badly papered wall that can mean a full skim across the whole surface, and it goes on the estimate as its own line.
We would rather not, and on most walls we will say no. Water based paint gets into the paper and the paste, seams start lifting within weeks, and any texture in the paper still shows through the finish.
Yes. Borders and backsplash paper are usually stuck with something stronger and they are in an awkward spot to work, so they take longer per square foot than a whole wall does.
It depends almost entirely on how the paper is coming off. A room that peels dry is a different job to one that needs scoring, soaking and a full skim afterwards, and we will tell you which one you have on the day.
It gets washed off and the wall gets rinsed. Paste left on a wall stays tacky, reacts with fresh paint and shows up as shiny streaks or lifting a month later.
Almost everybody has us finish the walls while we are already there, because by that point the paint is the cheap part of the job. We can also stop at primed and leave it ready for you.
Wet paper and paste, so yes while it is happening. Floors get protected and furniture gets covered before we start, and the room gets cleaned at the end of every day rather than at the end of the job.
Get a free estimate.
Tell us what needs painting. We will come and look at it and put a real number on it.