There is no great answer to the question. I've done it every way... Steamed
and scraped it off the wall in postage stamp sized pieces, painted over it,
etc. Personally, if I was fixing a home to sell it, I'd paint over the
paper. If I was planning on keeping the house, I'd take the paper down.

The problem with painting over it is that eventually, the paper will start
to release in small sections and you'll have visible bubbles on the wall.
Even better, new paint seems to be a *great* wallpaper adhesive release
agent. As soon as you paint over it, either you begin to notice bubbles you
hadn't noticed before, or new bubbles will form or both. After that, the
painted wallpaper is even harder to remove, because the layer of paint over
it makes it that much more water and steam proof...

KB


"rvfulltime (was xenman)" wrote in message
...
I'm starting to remove some old wallpaper in my bathroom of the condo I
bought several years ago. The age of the wallpaper is a mystery to me.
It apears to be an aluminum foil type of wallpaper. Quite shiney.

As I start to remove it, it appears that the paper is in two (or more)
layers.
Not one wallpaper on top of another, but two layers for this wallpaper.
In
other words the wallpaper is separating as I try to remove it. The top
layer
is coming off fairly easily, but the bottom layer is firmly glued to the
underlying
painted wall.

Here's my question... Do I need to remove that underlying paper layer or
can
I paint right over the top of it? If I need to remove it, is a steamer
(which I own)
the best tool to use? I removed a similar wallpaper from the kitchen
when I
bought the condo and it came off quite easily, but there was another layer
of
wallpaper under it, which needed a steamer to remove.

No email please.