Faux Painting Tips: Damage From Stripping Wallpaper

 

Don’t you LOVE stripping wallpaper?  No?  Not a surprise. I don’t know anyone that actually LIKES this task.  It’s why I choose faux finishes over wallpaper every time.

Everyone knows that stripping wallpaper can cause damage… boy, do I know.  Those little gouges can show up like the huge caverns when it comes time to paint.  I have this very problem in my spare bedroom right now.  /  Dogs like to put their paws in the window sill to look out and it’s scraped off the wallpaper & the gouged the drywall underneath.  It isn’t pretty.

So… how do you cover damage from stripping wallpaper?

Got an email from a newsletter subscriber related to this problem and figured it was a good one to share.  Check it out:

I am brand new to this but decided to remove wallpaper from my powder room.

The guy at Lowe’s told me what I need to do a finish called Venetian plaster.  I am priming the wall, lightly sanding some places where it was really rough and caused feathering in the drywall, then
putting on 3 coats of Valspar Venetian plaster with a $10 tool that is similar to a putty knife.

Is Venetian plaster a faux finish?  Does the procedure I was given sound right to you?

Thanks so much.
Love your website and newsletters.
Karen

Wow.  I’m wondering why the Lowe’s guy said Venetian Plaster.. ?  I’m sure that the guy was trying to be helpful… but that’s a large project for some one that is new to all this.  And unless he wants to come over when she does the project to lend a hand…he wasn’t helping!

We asked Karen if she told the man that she wanted a Venetian Plaster finish because we can’t figure out why he’d tell her that if she told him she was removing the wallpaper, had some damage to repair and wanted to paint the walls.

Venetian Plaster is considered a type of faux finish in some worlds… it’s really plaster made with marble dust and the reason it takes three layers is because of the awesome polished finish you end up with.

It has “special tools” you use to put the plaster on and to create that final “polished” sheen.  “Faux Fun” has a video about it for people to learn how to do this.

But doing a Venetian Plaster finish is a lot… I mean A LOT…of work and in a powder room trying to get the finish just right around a toilet and sink – (unless you pull them out first – ugh) – would just be a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

Truth be told…if I wanted Venetian Plaster in a powder room I’d HIRE it done to avoid having to do it myself…it’s that much of a pain in that particular space.

And – Venetian Plaster is expensive….

Anyway..I digress.  We’re guessing that Karen wanted to give the walls a smooth finish because their was some damage when she stripped the wallpaper.

So rant over.  We shot an email back to Karen to ask her about the “damage” to the walls and “finish” she was trying to accomplish.  Did she really want to tackle a Venetian Plaster or just want to smooth out the “oops” in the walls.

We asked her exactly how much damage was done to the walls and explained that if she just wanted to smooth out the “oops” spots then she probably only needed a skim coat of regular old joint compound.  This is the easy way to fix damage to the walls after scraping off wallpaper.  Also reminded her that she’d need to sand and seal the joint compound before she started painting.  Here’s what she wrote back:

Thanks so much for the reply. The damage is that I dug in with the scraper instead of spraying more wallpaper remover on. The damage is probably 5% of the wall surface, maybe less.

I took some of the sheet rock paper off and a couple of places I dug into the sheet rock, not deep but enough to make a little stick up (1/16 of an inch?).

It makes sense that joint compound would cover it. I’ll try that. THANKS!

I changed my mind about Venetian Plaster because in the samples, I found it was smooth & shiny, supposedly like marble and what I really want is what Valspar calls Tuscan accents.

Is there an easier way to do this?

P.S. I wish you lived in Houston so I could get your paid services to help me. I really want to learn to do this because I have been in this house 15 years and I am sick of the wallpaper!

I have seen the Tuscan accents in a house and I really like it.  But if it’s tough for a beginner, I might need to scale back to something easier at this time.

P.P.S. My husband doesn’t really think I can do this. He’s always done the painting and that sort of task and I never have. Soooooooooo I have a lot to gain by proving that I can. He’s not mean, just skeptical.

Alrighty then.    So we did a little digging and wrote back to Karen.  Here’s the gist of the second response:

We checked out the Valspar site and the directions they give to do the Tuscan Accents finish, and it seems like it’s actually very simple.  Should be perfect for a newbie! 

Really don’t think that there would be anything easier than applying the glaze with a large brush in a criss cross / crosshatch motion and then blending with either their tool (called a Tuscan Smoother) or any soft blending brush – like a watercolor mop brush or a small soft blending brush like this one from MinWax.

What we would suggest (always) is using a good quality glaze, as it will make a big difference in the finish.   Zinsser makes a good one, but we’re pretty fond of Behr products (not a Lowe’s product but a Home Depot product).  They seem to get high ratings in Consumer Reports more often than others.

AND, make sure you tape off the room first.  If you are unsure of your skill, do a couple samples on foam core board (it’s thick poster board) first using the paint /colors you’ll be using on the wall.  It’s a great way to practice first and see if the colors are what you really want. 

Keep in mind that corners can be difficult, so it’s a good idea to have a smaller brush (artist style) to get into those areas.

Again, we reminded Karen that after she applies the joint compound – to fix the gouges – she’ll need to sand and then SEAL IT.  If she doesn’t seal it then it’ll act like a coat of chalk and just soak up the paint in a very uneven manner.

Hope this is helpful!!!

Tagged as: faux painting, paint, Plaster, stripping wallpaper, Venetian Plaster, Wallpaper