Dark Cornflower Pattern in Small Powder Room

Powder room before.  The original paper dates to the ‘90’s , and was a popular theme at that time.  Fast-forward 30 years and add a young family with active kiddies = time for an update .  For various reasons, the existing wallpaper could not be removed .  So I’m prepping and will hang the new paper over it.  Here I’ve skim-floated over the seams, so there will be no ridges showing under the new paper .  Next I’ll seal with a stain blocker (see previous post) and follow that with Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime wallpaper primer .

Primed and ready to for wallpaper .

Such a pretty pattern , full of movement and cheer .  The homeowner wanted something dramatic , hence the dark color .  Dark works quite nicely in a small room like a powder room . 

The homeowner also wanted the ceiling papered .

Close up .

From a distance .  A large , sculpted mirror with a heavy white frame will be hung over the sink.  This will contrast against the dark paper , and really stand out .  I like to think that the wallpaper is the star attraction , but I really think the mirror will take center stage

The pattern is Cornflower and is by Rifle Paper , made by York , one of my favorite brands .  This is a non-woven / paste the wall material .  It’s relatively easy to work with , and is designed to strip off the wall easily and in one piece without damage to your walls when it’s time to redecorate .   This was purchased from Dorota at the Sherwin-Williams on University in the Rice Village .  Excellent help in tracking down your perfect paper , and discounted prices , too.  Wed – Sat .  Call before heading over (713) 529-6515 . 
The home of this install is in the West University / West U area of Houston .

Stains Bleeding Through Wallpaper and Primer / Stain Blocker – Continuation to March 9 Post

Re my post from two days ago … I do think my fears were correct, and the mottled look was not part of the pattern , but was from discoloration from some substance in or under the wallpaper . Even after applying the BIN stain blocker , and my wallpaper primer Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime , today I found a couple of specks like this, which had worked their way through . Some of them I spot-primed with KILZ , and some I just took a razor blade and cut out of the wall. If not treated or removed , stains like this can work their way through the surface of both paint and wallpaper . The paper I’m hanging today is black with a busy pattern, so you’ll never notice a 1/8″ speck of brown . But I still like to give my clients a pristine job . So was happy to apply the additional coat of stain blocker .

Stains Bleeding Through Wallpaper

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 . 

Treating Water Stains

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 difference

Even 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.  

Teeny Dots Could Stain Wallpaper

Top photo … my razor knife is pointing at pin point-sized specks on this wall. I found similar in multiple spots around the room. What’s interesting is that I have seen these exact same size, color, and configuration of specks on at least one other job.

What’s scary is that I fear these are made of something that will stain the wallpaper. There are lots of substances that can bleed through – through paint, through primer, and through the wallpaper and appear on the surface.

These could have been splashed onto the wall. But my feeling, especially since I have seen it in other homes, is that they are coming from within the wall surface. Maybe something contaminated the painter’s materials, or something inside the drywall.

There are stain blockers that can be used to seal these dots. My favorite is shown in the second photo. Oil or shellac-based work best. The problem is, wallpaper paste won’t stick to them. If just daubing onto a teeny dot, I wouldn’t worry about it. But when a larger area needs to be treated, you have to let that dry, and then follow up with a wallpaper primer.

Actually, depending on the stain, I don’t always trust the blockers. For these very tiny specks, I used my razor blade to dig into the wall and actually remove the affected area. The resulting holes were small enough that I didn’t worry about dents showing under the wallpaper.

In some instances, I did go back and cover them with KILZ.

Stains on Wall Around Crib

Look carefully and you’ll see an oval-shaped dark area on this wall. Stains have soiled the high areas of the textured wall. This is where the crib was up against the wall. Probably the child ran her hand or feet across the wall. Over time, oils from our skin can cause stains like this.
Before smoothing the wall, I applied a stain blocker to this area, to prevent anything from bleeding through the new wallpaper.
I like oil-based KILZ Original best, but there are others out there. BIN by Zinsser is another good option.
The smoothing compound and / or wallpaper primer then goes over the stain blocker.
Additionally, once the new wallpaper is up, it’s important to protect the wall and take steps to prevent new stains from developing.

Preventing a Stain from Bleeding Through

See that oval ring on the paint? That’s from someone lying on the bed and letting his head rest against the wall. Don’t know whether he used hair tonic or not, but even a clean head of hair will contain oils, and those oils will wick into the paint and cause a stain.

The bad thing about this and wallpaper is that certain substances will bleed through wallpaper, staining the surface. Oil and grease are sure contenders.

To prevent this bleed-through, I painted over the stained area with a stain blocker. My favorite is KILZ Original Oil Based. It stinks to high Heaven and breathing too much will make you high, but it is outstanding at sealing all sorts of nasty substances.

Wallpaper paste will not stick to this, so, once it’s dry, roll your usual wallpaper primer over it.

Whoops! Someone Painted Over Old Wallpaper

Just looking at the walls, I had not noticed . But when I removed the light switch cover, it was clear that someone didn’t bother to remove the old wallpaper, and just painted over it.

Actually, they probably did do some prep, because you could not see seams under the paint. They must have taken steps to cover the seams.

And there was no flashing … difference in texture between paint over wallpaper, for instance, and paint over smoothing compound that was used to disguise those seams.

And there were no bubbles (caused by latex paint on top of wallpaper that absorbs moisture from the paint and swells) and only a few tiny loose areas.

Still, it would have been better if the previous guy had put some effort into removing the wallpaper, and then washing the paste off the wall and then sealing with a stain blocker, to prevent paste residue from causing the new paint to crackle and flake off the wall. Then the room would be adequately ready for paint.

Mirror Tar – Bad For Wallpaper

Mirrors are commonly attached to walls with mastic – a sort of tar adhesive. When installing this new mirror, the workmen got some of the tar smeared on the wall below.

This is bad. Tar, like many other substances, will bleed through paint and wallpaper.

So this stain will need to be sealed over with a stain blocker. Or, better, cut out of the wall entirely, and then the damaged wall will have to be repaired. Learn more on this by doing a Search in the upper right corner.

Doing the Opposite Today – Removing Wallpaper

The large medallion on soft lavender on all walls of this large bedroom worked well for this gal for many years – but now that she’s an older teen, it was time for an update.

So instead of putting wallpaper up, today I took it down.

Most people think that stripping wallpaper is difficult. But if the walls were prepped properly, and if the paper was hung properly, and if the proper removal steps are followed, it should all go well, with minimal damage to the walls. See my link at right, on how to strip wallpaper.

The most important thing is to separate the top, inked layer of paper from the backing / substrate layer. I find that wetting this top layer with a sponge and plain water helps strengthen the fibers, so the top layer can be pulled off in larger strips.

In the second and third photos, you see how the purple layer has been stripped off, leaving the white backing attached to the wall. This top layer has to be removed, because it has an acrylic (or vinyl) coating, and will not allow water to pass through it.

The next step is to soak the backing with plain water and a sponge (see photo). No chemicals, no additives – just plain warm water. You will have to reapply water several times. The idea is to let water soak through this backing layer, to reactivate the paste underneath. Once that paste is good and wet, it should release from the wall. Sometimes you have to gently scrape the backing from the wall. But in my case today, once that paste was reactivated, the substrate layer came away from the wall in full, intact sheets. Easy peasy!

One photo shows my “dull” 3″ stiff putty knife. I call it “dull,” because it’s old and beaten up. But it’s really rather sharp. I use it to carefully get between the inked top layer of wallpaper and the bottom substrate layer. And then I use it to gently scrape wallpaper from the wall.

In my case today, the previous installer had done a superb job of hanging the wallpaper. He applied a primer before hanging the paper. That primer helped make this whole removal job go well, and it protected the walls from damage.

The family will need to apply a stain blocker to prevent any residual paste from causing the new paint from crackling or flaking off. Once that’s dry, the walls can be textured and / or painted. The room’s resident told me that she is planning to go all white.

This home is in the West University area of Houston.