In my bathroom, someone before me put up that paintable wallpaper stuff over the existing plaster walls. It looks and adheres well for the most part, but there is one spot where is has started to peel off. The plaster below it is a solid substrate and in relatively good condition as far as I can tell. But short of tearing all of the paper down and risking taking a good portion of the plaster with it, is there any technique for repairing the paper? The area I’m dealing with is probably 8 to 10 inches square.
Thanks for any advice, all of you!
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You can try water to see if it will reactivate the old glue or force some wall paper paste under it through a small slit (2 inch). Get one of those small touch up paint rollers and work the water/paste all around under the bubble. The hard part is that the paper may stretch and leave you with a wrinkle that will have to be cut out later after it is dry.
Sounds good if the paper is all still there, however, I think there might be a spot that is torn away and the paper is actually missing.
Assuming I have good adherence surrounding the damage, could I use a joint compound to just level out where the hole is?
Sometimes the moisture in the compound will cause the edge of the paper to keep lifting and lifting.
IF that happens, clean off any loose paper and seal the area with any shellac based primer like BIN or KILZ. For a small spot it might be easier to use it from a spray can. Two coats should do it. (dries very fast)
After that the paper should stay tight when you fill and paint...Buic
Awesome tip! And I suppose the primed surface will help the joint compound stick, too. I just so happen to have a can of BIN sitting in the basement. Perfect.
Is this the paintable embossed wallpaper, or that stuff designed to reinforce plaster walls that should disappear when finished out? If the later, then yes, but use a setting compound (which should not reactivate with water) rather than regular joint compound.
If the former, I'm not sure what to tell you about the missing piece. Maybe an artist in the family could recreate the embossing in setting compound? I guess the extreme answer is to get some of the casting mold material from Abatron and replicate the embossed texture with the setting compound.
It's the non-textured, plaster reinforcing stuff. Thank you for the call for the Setting-type compound. That's the kind of advice I need. Now, if I can just figure out how to refinish the wood window sill in the shower where the paint is peeling, then I'll have my weekend honey-do set!
I had a wood window too, but I removed the shower part, as we put two new baths with showers in.Anyway, I pulled the apron and brought the tile to the bottom of the sill. I removed the sill and fixed with Abatron epoxy the rotted areas. Stripped completly of paint. Then prime with an oil based primer, all sides. You should be able to paint with anything at that point, but if you want extra durable, get some marine paint from a boat place.
I replaced the wood trim on the shower window with Azek...(around here, the guys call it 'Aztec"...