The wallpapered walls of my home were painted over with latex paint by the previous owners. Now the seams are showing through the paint. They feel like hard ridges. How can I fix this problem and make the walls smooth enough to repaint — without first having to remove the wallpaper?
You might be able to make the walls smooth enough for new paint without stripping the wallpaper, but you won’t know for sure until you can test whether the wallpaper between the seams is securely attached.
It’s best to remove wallpaper before painting, according to Cyndi Green, a longtime board member and former president of the Wallcovering Installers Association and owner of Cyndi Green Wallcovering Sales & Installations in Monroe, La. But because earlier owners didn’t do that, she suggested you start by cutting out one raised seam. Use a sharp utility knife and a straightedge, and slice tidy strips about one-fourth inch out from the seam on both sides. Pry out at least some of the raised material with a thin putty knife. Then, using a broad putty knife, test whether the wallpaper lifts easily.
“It is entirely possible that the paper is not stable now at all and would just strip down completely with the paint,” Green wrote in an email. “It just depends on what kind of wallpaper it was.” You might find that the wallcovering has a top layer of vinyl that’s easy to pull off, or that the whole strips come off easily. In that case, you’d be better off removing the wallpaper and starting over, even though it isn’t your preferred solution. But if the wallpaper is 100 percent paper, with no vinyl, the paint may have penetrated it enough so it can’t easily be removed, and getting rid of the ridges might indeed be the best option.
