painted wallpaper cracks!

[simon75uk]

Hi,

hope soemone can give me some good advice on this one.

the previous owner painted over the wallpaper on the living room walls and now in certain areas, wall edges mostly, the wall surface is starting to crack and not looking good. basiclaly its the wallpaper breaking up.

What can i do do remedy this problem? obviously its going to get worse not better.

any pearls of wisdom much appreciated.

Simon.

 

[Zampa]

Do you mean the ceiling line, the junction where the wall meets the ceiling?.....if thats the case caulk will do the trick then touch it up

 

[paintycait]

If it was vinyl wallpaper and/or if it wasn't washed first and in a greasy area (kitchen, bathroom or esp in a smokers house)...then it might just be that the paint is getting thrown off by grease or the nature of the wallpaper. If this is the case then I would say strip off the wallpaper and start again but be aware that if it is an old house you may find problem areas beneath the wallpaper. Many people just painted wallpaper after the strings of property programmes that have flooded our TV recently, just to sell their properties, often watching the programmes they see no prep, no washing down, no nothing. Unfortunately these programmes have left many new house owners with problems like your own.
Need more info, where is the paint breaking down, in what way??
Cait

 

[simon75uk]

hi thanks for replying,

sorry, no not the ceiling line , just on wall edges/corners only, most of the wall is fine its just where the wall meets the windows for example . at these points the wallpaper underneath the paint is beginning to crack/peel off and , looks terrible! there's about 3-4 areas where this happens, wall edges, by windows and patio doors.


thought i could get away withdoing another coat of paint on top plenty of thick layers? to patch up the areas with cracks, can't face pulling the wallpaper off as might have to do the whole room!

if not explaining this very well let me know!

 

[Zampa]

As its around windows etc, im guessing here, but it could be down to either penetrating damp from the outside or..it could be down to condensation running of the gladd forming puddles on the cill and then getting underneath the paper.

If the problem is confined to an exterior wall then again it opens up other possiblities....if it was cold when the room was papered then the paste could have spent so ong drying it lost its adhesive qualities.

If other areas such as the ceiling line and the skirting line are affected then it could be down to movement...dont panic this is a rareity.

Are the joints springing?....this would indicate either bad workmanship.ie not pasting the paper correctly...or the wall surface underneath may be dodgy.

Try pling back the bad stuff and re pasting (use overlap adhesive) the paper rarely goes back tidy so then id use some caulk around the edge and then repaint.

But you really may be looking down the barrel of stripping and repapering, it depends how important the room is to you.