"Fred Mayfield" wrote in
:

So, about 9 months ago my wife decided she wanted to strip the
wallpaper off the bathroom walls and cover the walls and ceiling with
ceramic tile. She felt it would help with the mold problem. I didn't
think it was a good idea so I haven't been much help. ;)

In preparation for my daughter's October wedding in the backyard, the
wife and daughter stripped the old wall paper off leaving a nice
shredded paper kind of finish. About a month ago they agreed that they
needed to just paint the walls. Now, with 18 days to go it's obvious
they're not gonna get it done. I gotta help.

How do I get the walls ready to paint? Do I finish stripping the paper
off the walls completely or just get the loose stuff off and blow some
texture on the wall? I assume I need to prime the walls and then put
a top coat over that.

Ultimately she thinks she still wants something else, but we need
something besides brown paper for the wedding.

Oh, it's a small bathroom with a shower. I installed a ceiling vent
several years ago which is switched on almost every time someone takes
a shower. (With teenagers though, it still gets pretty steamy in
there.) Now, the one thing I didn't do right was vent the fan through
the roof. Instead I have it strapped to a rafter so I know there's
more moisture in the attic than necessary and that's not good. It's an
old ranch style house with big vents at either end of the roof and
both soffit and ridge vents.

Anyway, any help with 1) getting paint on the walls and 2) addressing
the mold issue would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Fred. (Life is good, don't blow it!)




DON'T PAINT OVER THE WALLPAPER. It will give you more grief in the future
than you want to deal with.

Get the rest of the paper and backing off the wall. Rinse well to get any
leftover glue off. Fix any damage from removing the paper, old holes,
nicks, etc. Prime (or the areas you fixed will show in certain light).
Get primer tinted to 3/4 the final color you choose. Paint. 2 coats is
always the bomb.