How to make old painted woodchip wallpaper less depressing

[Proseccoandchips]

Hello everyone, I originally posted in the home decorating forum, but I'm wondering if this might be the best place to ask.

We've just moved into a rented flat that has what looks like very ye olde woodchip wallpaper all over the walls. To make matters worse, it looks like it's been painted over and over again with cheap shiny vinyl silk paint over the years!

The landlord painted it a really yucky, greasy-looking magnolia just before we moved in. It was a really bad paint job though - it's got bubbles and cracks, and it peels in places.

We're allowed to paint it white thank goodness, and I'd love to give it a matt finish. The shiny vinyl silk stuff only draws attention to the woodchip's lumps and bumps!

The property doesn't have rising/penetrating damp but it's prone to condensation (despite us constantly ventilating and running a dehumidifier).

From what I've read it's not possible to do a coat of matt emulsion on top of this. I was wondering if anyone has any advice for how best to tackle this to give it a less-shiny, plain white finish?

Thank you very much in advance!

It should work if you prime it first. Try the zinser stuff - it's really good.

Why not strip it off and decorate properly? How long will you be there?

You have my sympathies, my entire house was like this when I moved in.

Definitely don’t try to strip it... woodchip covers a multitude of sins - we had to get all our walls re-plastered after the wood chip came off. Presumably not an option in a rented house.

How long are you renting for? Yes, you can paint it with matte emulsion but it will take a few coats to go over the shiny paint.

I wouldn’t strip it, woodchip was often put up to cover rough plasterwork instead of skimming. You might uncover a big mess.

Prime/ rough sand and white emo on top

@Cissyandflora

Why not strip it off and decorate properly? How long will you be there?

But be prepared to find it was put up in the first place to hide crumbling plaster. Stripping it off is a horrible job at the best of times and might end up with needing to re-plaster the wall as well. I don't think that would be worth the effort in a rental.

I see other posters have been there before as well.

Don't try and remove it unless you're prepared to pay for the walls to be skimmed. Plaster often wasn't finished if wood chip was going up, and the adhesive will take off more than you'll be able to repair with filler.

Key the surface with a fine grade sandpaper just to take off the top shine, then try painting over in a small area. If the paint sticks then do the rest, if not then you'll need to prime. As PP said Zinsser is the best, probably only need the bullseye 123 rather than the BIN (BIN is stronger but really stinks)

Could you put a layer of lining paper up (after keying the paint with a 'primer' as stated above) to cover the rougher woodchip bumps, and then emulsion that?

I love woodchip. It's very difficult to buy it these days, sadly.
I'd just paint it over in matt, and hang some nice pictures up.

Standard (vinyl) matt paint will cover silk paint fine. I'd consider using Crown or Dulux kitchen or bathroom paint if the walls are prone to condensation.

(My house is a woodchip haven and after stripping one room, I can't face the faff of re-plastering everywhere else so it is staying put!).

I’ve just painted over a bright yellow satin sheen room - used Dulux matt emulsion and it needed just two coats.

Pay a bit more for good paint and it will be so much easier.

@2magpies1pigeon

I love woodchip. It's very difficult to buy it these days, sadly. I'd just paint it over in matt, and hang some nice pictures up.

That's the best thing to do imo.

Whole house full of woodchip here! We're removing it room by room, but in rooms we haven't got to yet have gone over with normal matt white paint (ours was also painted in something shiny). Anything other than matt white would make it look more obvious I think.

If you're renting, I really wouldn't go down the route of stripping the paper. It's a job and a half and the walls are probably bad underneath.

I also like wood chip! Reminds me of being little and picking at it...

We own our flat and the walls are covered in woodchip! We should have had it stripped and replastered pre-kids in hindsight but can't face the huge upheaval of getting it done now. As others have said, it often covers bad plaster work and any quotes we got to get it stripped and redecorated included the proviso that they can't quote the final cost until they have seen the plaster underneath. So we left it!

We are selling up next year and just hope the new buyers will have the foresight to deal with it straight away!

Are you allowed to decorate the walls?

Ask the LL if they will fund the paint if you do the Labour.

we are in the process of removing our woodchip and we have revealed a massive mess. holes in the walls. plaster crumbling off.
plus it is a bitch to remove. taken days and days just for one large room and that is with a steam remover.
so don't remove!!
we had no choice because we own the property and the ceiling leaked and damaged the whole wall.

I feel you OP, my last 2 houses have either been woodchip of artex! Our current house only has woodchip on the hallway and landing and I decided I wanted it off honestly sick of the sight of the stuff. Thankfully ours has mainly just come off in large strips and the walls underneath are fine apart from a few small areas that need filled and I primer coat over the walls before painting. I’m not sure I’d do it if only renting though

Thank you so much for all the replies. And commiserations to those who have also inherited a woodchip wallpapered home!

Sorry for the slow response - it was my last day at work before the festive break so it's been a pretty hectic one.

@Whattimeisdinner Ha, I remember picking at it when I was wee as well, now you mention it!

@Waitingfirgodot and @UsernameN0Tavailable Thank you for the advice. I've heard of that Zinsser stuff so I'm going to check that out to see how much it costs. Excuse my ignorance, but is the idea that you use the Zinsser as a primer, then you can just use any good quality paint on top?

@Cissyandflora I really would love to strip it all off, but we're not allowed to do anything too drastic, and I'm not sure how long we'll end up staying here.

@DobbyTheHouseElk Yes, we're allowed to paint it, but only because I said I want to paint it a plain white matt finish. I also pointed out (very diplomatically) that the current shiny magnolia hasn't fully covered the paint colour underneath and there are bubbles and cracks that we'll repair too. So they landlord was happy to agree on that basis. Don't think he would be willing to pay for the paint though sadly, as it was painted before we moved it (albeit very badly!).

@2magpies1pigeon and @CaptainMyCaptain That's our plan, a plain white matt finish to make the woodchip less obvious and then we'll hang some pictures and mirrors on the wall to jazz it up a bit!

@HardAsSnails Thanks for the tip! I feel very stupid now, as I didn't realise you got vinyl wall paint in matt... for some reason I thought it was always shiny. Would I need to use a primer or do anything else using that paint? Or is it a case of just doing a couple of coats?

@AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii That sounds like a lot of work, but I'm sure it will be worth it! I agree, it's too much work for a rental though.

@CatbearAmo Argh, that sounds like a nightmare! Hopefully it will be worth all the stress and effort though, and you end up with beautiful woodchip-free smooth walls!

@goteam Good luck with the house move in the new year. Hopefully it will be good riddance to the woodchip and on to lovely smooth walls!

@rbe78 and @FamilyOfAliens Thank you for the tips! That's good to know, as I'm worried that if I use normal (good quality) emulsion paint, it will peel or something! Did you use a primer or or have to do any prep first?

@sbplanet That's an interesting idea, thanks! I'm not sure if we'd be allowed, but maybe... So I'm going to look into it!

@Thighdentitycrisis and @JemimaTiggywinkle Thanks for the advice! The idea of lightly sanding the entire room before painting makes me want to cry, but I just need to get over it and crack on!

Also, I read online that acrylic eggshell wall paint might be another option for our situation, I was wondering if anyone had any experience of this please?

Thank you again everyone! And sorry I don't think I've been tagging people properly on this

I didn’t do any prep except for making sure the surface was clean and dry.

I used Dulux Timeless, which is a softer colour than brilliant white and looks good if your woodwork is white.

I have never sanded or primed it - just paint over with matt paint.

Yes, prime with the zinser, then just paint over with whatever you want. The really hardcore zinser (zinser bin) gives me a migraine!

Just paint over it with a good quality Matt vinyl emulsion. Anything else is overkill!

Just paint it mat white and work with the 70s vibe of it which is so fashionable these days. Add some spider plants in macrame hanging baskets, some mid century teak furniture and huge paper globe lanterns. People will be jealous.