Preparing wall after being covered with wallpaper

[Yanni]

I checked all the walls in a house I just bought and the plaster under the wallpaper is sound and straight. However at some point it has been painted. I want to avoid patching up the wallpaper after the electricians chases and I really like smooth walls. So it’s easier for me to remove wallpaper, plaster fill the gaps and paint over.

After removing the wallpaper how easy is it to sand down the old paint and smoothen the walls for painting over ?

 

[opps]

From image number 1, it looks like someone used lining paper to hide the rough edges of the old paint. If you are planning to sand it, I would recommend using a decent 150mm D/A sander connected to a dust extractor. In reality, you may find sections of paint that will not sand back satisfactorily. In which case you may need to use filler to feather the edges and then re-line the walls.

My preference is to line newly plastered walls- even when they have been plastered to a high standard. I find the finish more durable and slightly warmer to the touch.