This is the current wallpaper, and I’m to put a new paper in this powder room. For various reasons, this paper cannot be stripped off the wall , so I’m prepping the walls to be able to hang the new paper on top of it . Normally, my favorite Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime will seal this effectively enough. But – hard to see in this photo – but this existing paper looks dirty to me. Some of that is due to the mottled look of the pattern / colorway . But I’m seeing tan discoloration , and I think it’s coming from under the wallpaper . This home was built in the early ‘90’s , and in a neighborhood where , through stripping off many old wallpapers in order to prep for new installation , I’ve noticed that someone working in that area and era used what we call clay-based paste . This paste is made using actual clay – i.e. dirt – and has a reddish color . I believe that this red clay paste is able to work its way through wallpaper, and creep onto the surface, causing a subtle “dirty” cast to appear on the wallpaper. Once you strip the old wallpaper off the wall, the wall can then be washed , and hopefully you’ll get all the clay paste off . But usually, no matter how much you scrub, residue will remain. I fear that that residue will work its way through the new wallpaper, as well. Additionally, the most severe stains are in the vicinity of the toilet – housekeeper splashing cleaning agents? or little boys with bad aim ?? Yes, most homeowners will never notice this, especially since it can take years to show up. And the paper I’ll be hanging is black , so it’s highly unlikely that any discernable stains will become visible . But I get a little anal about wanting jobs to look perfect. So I like to use a stain blocker , which will ensure that no discoloring elements will work their way through . My two favorites are KILZ Original , oil-based primer . KILZ is wonderful, unparalleled stuff. But it does have strong fumes , so you have to ventilate the room thoroughly and also wear a chemical respirator while applying it, to avoid becoming “high.” i.e. “sick” My other option is BIN , which is shellac – based . This is also an excellent stain blocker , and has a strong smell , but nothing that will kill your brain cells . Since my current clients have little kids, I opted for the BIN . Unless you want to go through a LOT of paint thinner and mess , you can’t easily wash oil-based or shellac-based liquids out of your roller cover or brush es . So I plan to use disposable rollers and brushes. This doesn’t mean cheap rollers and brushes – it just means that I factor in that these will be used once and then thrown away. Speaking of factoring in costs – the gallon of BIN was $70 (and that was a reduced price due to dented can). The KILZ was $40 , but I would have had to purchase a new respirator and cartridges , which would have added an additional $40 – some of the respirators went up to $70. March 2023 prices . All this needs to be considered when figuring up the price for doing a wallpaper job. I’ll also note that these products can be difficult to source – my local hardware store, which typically has stock even when larger outfits are out , had only one can of KILZ and one scratch-and-dent can of BIN . Whichever I would have chosen, I sure got lucky. Note that these stain blockers are formulated to block lots of nasty stuff – water stains , blood , rust , wood sap / knot holes , ink , tar , grease , crayon , lipstick , cooking stains , marker , Sharpies , etc. Back to BIN…. It’s very watery and runny and drippy . So you really have to cover the floors and baseboards , as well as countertops , toilets, etc. Microfiber roller covers help a lot to minimize splatters . Roll slowly and in an upward motion . Oh – additional plus … both BIN and KILZ dry quickly, so you can apply it and then move to your next step in less than an hour. Besides the shadow-y paste residue , this room has other issues . Here, someone used ink pen to mark placement of the hooks for the powder room mirror . Eeek! Ink will bleed through paint and wallpaper even faster than clay paste residue will. Here you can see one coat of the BIN applied – but the ink seems to have been “resurrected” and is actually enlarging and spreading, and bleeding through the stain blocker . Here I’ve spot-primed with a heavier coat of BIN , and that appears to be holding the nasty ink at bay . Note that wallpaper paste will not adhere to oil-based products like KILZ , and probably not to shellac , either, because it dries kind of glossy. So whichever of these primers you choose to use, you will need to top-coat with a primer formulated for use under wallpaper – and that will adhere to the stain blocker. Tomorrow, I’m going to follow up with Roman Pro 977 , as mentioned above .
This window had leak issues ( rain , sprinklers ) some years back, which have been solved by replacing the window, and doing other repairs. In the photo, I’ve applied my light blue wallpaper primer to the top half of the wall but not yet the bottom portion, so that’s why the color differenceEven though the leak has been stopped, vestiges of it are still appearing. Water that entered the wall left vertical streaks on the drywall . All these years later, after the paint and texture have been removed , the stains remain.Water stains , along with some others, such as blood , rust , ink , marker , grease , oil, cosmetics , and the like, will bleed through joint compound , primer , paint , and wallpaper , creating new stains on the surface . It may take a couple of months , but they will make an appearance . In this photo, I’ve already applied my blue primer. It only took a half an hour for these stains to work their way through. This is the top right corner of the window , where the bracket for the mini-blinds is attached to the wall. Note the stains on the underside of the window . To prevent these stains from working their way through the new coating / paint / wallpaper , it’s imperative to thoroughly cover them with a stain blocker . And – trust me – water-based products won’t work, despite what the label claims. You need an oil-based product like this KILZ Original , or a shellac-based like BIN by Zinsser . Both are prone to splatter , so be sure to cover your floor and baseboards with dropcloths . KILZ has strong fumes and can make you high , so ventilate or wear a respirator mask . It’s a hassle cleaning the liquid out of the brush , so I use a cheap-ish disposable “ chip brush ” from Home Depot or Sherwin-Williams . The products usually dry pretty quickly. Note that wallpaper paste won’t stick to most oil-based primers , and shellac is too glossy for good adhesion , so I’m going to go over the stain blocker with my usual Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime wallpaper primer , which sticks to just about everything , and creates a good, matt finish surface for the wallpaper to cling to.
The top photo shows a stain on the wallpaper that is probably related to a rain or hurricane event a few years ago.
Water stains (and also other substances, like rust, blood, ink, oil, tobacco, tar, cosmetics, and more) will bleed through wallpaper. So, before patching the area, it is imperative to use a stain blocker to seal the problem. My favorite is KILZ Original oil-based.
KILZ will seal off the stain all right. But wallpaper won’t stick to it. So, in the third photo, you see where I have primed over the KILZ with a wallpaper primer (tinted light blue, for visibility). It’s not necessary to prime the entire wall area to be patched, because this type of wallpaper will stick to itself with just plain old adhesive.
The striped pattern made for an easy repair. I took a straightedge and sharp razor blade and trimmed along the striped design, creating a long skinny patch. See fourth photo. You can also see the strip pasted and booked (folded pasted-side-to-pasted-side).
Once that sat and relaxed for a few minutes, I took it to the wall and appliquéd it over the damaged area, going the full height.
There was a very slight color difference between the paper that had been on the wall for 20 years and the paper that had been in a dark closet. Had I placed the white area of the patch next to the white area on the existing paper on the wall, the color difference would have been noticeable. But trimming along the blue stripe gave the eye a logical stopping point, and so the color difference is not detectable.
In the finished photo, you would never guess there had been anything amiss with this wall.
I used this same technique to patch over the bug-bite holes in yesterday’s post.
And another good reminder that it’s always best to order a little extra wallpaper, in case of the need for repairs later. Store the paper in a climate-controlled space … not the garage or attic.
The wallpaper is by Schumacher, and appeared to be an old-school pulp paper material.
Look to the right of the can. Notice the tiny spots of red. This is rust, and rust is bad because it (along with certain other substances, like ink, tar, oil, tobacco, water stains, wood sap (knots), mold, mildew) will bleed through wallpaper. Maybe not immediately, but, over time, it will work its way through the primer and the paper and to the surface, leaving a spot that cannot be washed off.
Actually, there was a whole lot of rust along the entire height of this wall’s corner. An air conditioning leak had kept the drywall wet for a period of time, and rust had formed along much of the metal corner – called a “bead.”
I skim-floated over the affected area with joint compound, and that buried the rust … for a while. But rust (and other substances), will eventually work their way to the surface, leaving spots on the wallpaper.
So a stain blocker was called for, which will prevent any stains from bleeding through. For this I love KILZ – but only the “Original” oil-based version. The water-borne products just don’t measure up
Some reasons I skim-floated over the area was to provide a buffer space between the rust and the sealer in hopes that the rust would not make it all the way up to the surface, to create more material over the very corner itself that could soak up the sealer, and because the stain blocker would soak into the porous smoothing compound more so than to the sharp corner of the metal bead.
The owner of this newish home in the Woodland Heights (Houston) had her handyman remove the powder room mirror and its surrounding built-in wooden frame. Mirrors are often adhered to the wall with mastic, a tar-like substance. When the mirror comes off, some of the tar residue invariably remains.
In the top photo, you can see where removing the mirror took the blobs of mastic along with it, as well as round sections of the drywall. But there are small smudges of tar still remaining on the wall.
The problem is that tar (among a lot of other substances) will bleed through wallpaper (as well as paint, and a lot of other materials).
There are stain blockers like my beloved KILZ Original Oil Based, BIN shellac based, or others, that are designed to block these stains. But I don’t trust them. For water, rust, blood, wood sap, etc., yes. But for oil-based substances like tar, I want more assurance. The best way to prevent bleed-through is not to cover the stain, but to remove it.
So I take a Stanley knife and cut into the drywall and then peel up the top layer of drywall, taking along the offending tar residue.
So now the dangerous tar is gone. But you’re left with torn drywall. This is bad for several reasons. For one thing, you have an uneven surface that will look bad under the new wallpaper (or paint). And since the top, protective layer of drywall is gone, any moisture (such as from wallpaper paste or from latex paint) will penetrate into the torn paper layer – which will swell and cause bubbling.
All of which looks pretty bad under wallpaper or paint.
So I used the product Gardz to seal the torn drywall. It is formulated to soak into the paper; then it dries hard and acts as a sealer and moisture-blocker. It won’t block stains, but it will prevent moisture from penetrating the paper and causing bubbling.
Once that was dry, I skim-floated over the entire area with joint compound. It looks rough in the photo, but once it’s dry, I’ll sand it smooth. Then I’ll give it another coat of the penetrating sealer Gardz. See last photo. Once that is dry, I’ll cover it with a coat of Roman’s Ultra Prime Pro 977 wallpaper primer, when I prime the other walls in this powder room.
All of these various products do take a while to dry, especially the joint compound as thick as I applied it. So I went to this job site a few days before the install date, to do the initial prep, so it would have plenty of time to dry before I come back for the final prep and wallpaper hang.
See the green vertical line to the right of the paint can? The previous wallpaper installer probably had a little white wall showing at a seam, so used ink that matched the color of the wallpaper to disguise it.
Ink (along with other substances, like blood, rust, water stains, oil, tobacco, mildew, wood sap, and others) can bleed through joint compound, paint, and wallpaper. Sometimes it takes a few months or years.
So it’s important to discover these stains, and to treat them with a stain-blocking sealer. Water-borne products simply don’t work, no matter what the label claims. Shellac-based sealers like BIN are good. But I like KILZ Original, the oil-based version.
This is a recently-finished home in a brand new development out Hockley way – far northwest Houston. Like most new construction these days, everything started out white or vanilla.
But the homeowner – who is also an interior designer – likes things to feel both livelier and cozier. She has beautiful stained wooden furniture to warm things up, and she displays a number of treasured items and collectibles to add personality.
For the walls, she’s added color. Not hit-you-in-the-face brights, but comfortable colors like “Peanut Shell” paint on the great room walls, and this deep rust colored wallpaper in a paisley print in the adjoining open kitchen area.
The room looks much better in person than in these photos. And the wallpaper working its way around the white cabinets and pantry door was striking!
The wallpaper pattern is named Driskill and is by Thibaut, one of my favorite brands. Thibaut makes lots of types of paper, but this one has the feel that I call “satiny.” The paper is quite malleable, which was good because this room had wonky walls and rounded corners that can throw things out of plumb and out of square. It also resists shrinking, so even when I needed to twist or stretch it into position, it held tightly to the wall, so no worries about teeny gaps showing white at the seams.
The interior designer for this job is Leona Rossy Interiors.
This is the same bathroom that showed the curling / delaminating wallpaper seams, probably caused by humidity.
This photo is of the base of an over-the-mirror light fixture. See the little dots? I believe these are specs of rust starting to work their way out through the finish. Most likely also caused by humidity.
Keep heat and A/C systems running, limit steamy showers, keep the exhaust fans on, and keep doors open!
What an unexpected surprise I got when I arrived at work to discover that the chair rail in this entry had been removed (top photo). Not only did I need to figure how to get enough paper to cover the additional wallspace, but I needed to smooth over the damaged wall area where the molding had been torn off. (See previous post)
I skim-floated the wall and sanded smooth. It looked great. But brown coloring from the torn Sheetrock had worked its way through the smoothing compound (second photo). Torn drywall is not something that I would normally worry about bleeding through wallpaper (you are concerned mostly with things like grease, ink, water, tobacco, rust, and the like), but this stuff was 60 years old, so who knows what its properties and characteristics were back then? And besides, it had already worked its way through a layer of joint compound – in just one night! No sense in taking the chance that it might bleed through this nearly-white grasscloth natural fiber wallpaper.
The Gardz penetrating primer / sealer (not pictured) I planned to use on the wall would be fine to hang wallpaper on, but could not guarantee that that brown stain would not work its way through the primer and through the wallpaper.
I applied the Gardz, because it’s a great penetrating substance that seals new smoothing compound, and also provides a good surface for hanging wallpaper on. Once that was dry, I followed that with a coat of KILZ Original, an excellent oil-base stain-blocker. But wallpaper paste will not stick to the new KILZ formula (required in order to comply with current EPA requirements.
A little 3″ width around the lower center of the room with wallpaper not sticking tightly to it probably would not be problematic. But you never know, and I didn’t want a “hula hoop” of delaminated wallpaper circling the room. So once the KILZ was dry, I followed up with a coat of a wallpaper-specific primer, Romans Ultra Prime Pro 977.
Now the room is ready for wallpaper, without fear of a band of tan bleeding through the new surface.
Today I was prepping a room in a home in Kingwood (far northeast Houston) that was damaged during the flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Look at what some contractor did – he went and wrote on the wall in INK!
Most EVERY workman of any type knows that you NEVER write on walls with ink – nor crayon, Sharpie, lipstick, or other.
Reason being, that these substances will work their way through wallpaper (and paint, joint compound, and other substances, too). It may happen quickly, or it may take a few years, but these materials will show themselves eventually, as ghost-like stains on the wall.
Other things will cause staining, too, like blood, water, rust, oil, grease, food, wood sap (knot holes), and more.
Luckily, there are dependable stain blockers on the market that can be brushed on. I like oil-based KILZ Original, but shellac-based BIN is good, too. Water-based products don’t perform as well, no matter what the label or salesman says.
I like to be extra sure, so, when I can, as in this case, I will take a knife and cut around the stain, then dig into the drywall and remove the top layer, taking the ink with it. This way it is GONE, not just covered up.
Of course, the remaining exposed / torn drywall needs to be sealed, skimmed over, sanded smooth, and then prepped for paint or wallpaper.
But all that is worth it, when you can be assured that no stains will bleed through the finish coat.
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