Do you have a room in your house that needs to be updated from the 1990's wallpaper trend? If you watch HGTV, some of the design shows suggest that you just paint over the existing wallpaper. This is a terrible idea for multiple reasons.

Painting over existing wallpaper will lead you to trouble down the road. When a corner of the wallpaper comes loose or a panel peals up, your fresh paint job will be ruined. No matter who awesome your paint job turns out, you will always have wallpaper seam lines showing.

If you happen to paint over wallpaper before realizing how terrible it actually looks, the paint will make it much more difficult to remove the wallpaper. It will prevent any wallpaper removal aids from actually seeping through to the wallpaper.


Bottom line, no matter what, before you start to paint, all of the existing wallpaper must go!

Here is the best way to remove wallpaper before adding paint to a wall:

**Use a wallpaper scoring tool and a wallpaper stripping solution to remove

The trick is to get moisture under the paper to allow the water-soluble glue to release.

Use the wallpaper scouring tool (pictured below) to create small holes through the paper.


Next, apply a wallpaper stripping solution that will soak through the holes to release the glue.


Fortunately, many of today's wallpapers are fairly easy to remove. If you are restoring an older home, and the wallpaper refuses to let go, you may need to take another route.