# Help! Why is my paint drying splotchy almost looks like textured scroll work?



## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

Painting over wall paper rarely works well. I use short nap standard rollers covers with semigloss paint and it works great. How did you clean the wall before painting. 

If I were going to paint over wallpaper (which I wouldn't ) I would use flat paint after thoroughly cleaning the walls. Semigloss shows ever imperfection . If really want this to look good you will need to strip the wall paper which will be more difficult with the layer of paint.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

Now, I'm assuming that blotchy pattern isn't related to the pattern on the wallpaper. I know most wallpapers now have a vinyl surface layer to make them more water resistant, but latex paint SHOULD stick well to vinyl.

Kitchens, especially kitchen ceilings, can have a coating of cooking oil on them. Smokers in your family can leave a coating of tar and nicotine on the walls and ceilings. Did you clean the wall prior to painting?

It seems like the paint isn't wetting the surface uniformly.

Take some 2 inch wide ordinary yellow masking tape and stick it down tight to the paint. Now, pull the tape off quickly. Does the paint come off with the tape? If so, I'd presume that whatever is causing that blotchiness is also preventing the paint from sticking properly. In that case, buy a few rolls of 2 inch wide masking tape, (or a higher tack tape like packaging tape) and spend a few days taking your paint off the wall. You have to do that because painting over what you have now is a losing proposition if what you have now isn't sticking properly. You'll just be burying the weakest link under more coats of paint.

If the paint stays on the wall when you pull the tape off, then regardless of what the paint looks like, you have good adhesion of the paint to the wallpaper. In that case, I'd put that first coat in the same bag as UFO's and crop circles and try a second coat, this time with a fabric roller sleeve. Maybe buy a 3 inch roller this time and just do one or two square foot areas in different places on the wall. See how that coat dries. Does the problem persist higher up on the wall where you'd expect there would have been more cooking grease and tar/nicotine on the surface of the wallpaper?


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Nestor_Kelebay said:


> Now, I'm assuming that blotchy pattern isn't related to the pattern on the wallpaper. I know most wallpapers now have a vinyl surface layer to make them more water resistant, but latex paint SHOULD stick well to vinyl.
> 
> Kitchens, especially kitchen ceilings, can have a coating of cooking oil on them. Smokers in your family can leave a coating of tar and nicotine on the walls and ceilings. Did you clean the wall prior to painting?
> 
> ...


I think , in this case, you would be wrong. That is exactly what is happening, at least it looks like that to me. Painting over wall paper is just wrong, but if you HAVE too, it needs to be primed with an oil primer first.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

zstratiou said:


> Hi everyone! I am trying to paint my kitchen wall. I bought Benjamin Moore Regal Select interior paint in semi-gloss. I bough a foam roller because it said this was best to use for gloss paints and the fabric were rated for flat or eggshell. Is it the roller that is causing this effect? Please help! This paint was not cheap and I am trying to figure out how to fix it. Please ignore the wallpaper seams. I had to paint directly over the wallpaper because it can't be taken down, the previous owners put up our kitchen cabinets over the wallpaper so it us stuck behind them. I painted over the interior cabinets with a different brand of paint and fabric roller and did not have this problem.
> 
> 
> I have attached photos, any help would be great. Thanks!


3 mistakes:yes:


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

ChrisN pretty much nailed it.


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

There are a lot of paint suppliers out there that can tell customers that it is ok to paint over wallpaper. Unfortunately most of them don't have to back that up in any way. There are way, way to many variables in wallpaper to be able to paint it without any chance of failure. The people who sell paint that way don't know what they are doing or just don't care. And when consumers ignore people that actually do tell them to prime wallpaper, quite often the result is disastrous. I had a customer ignore me once, and the wallpaper she painted was Teflon coated. Two days later she was pulling sheets of paint off big enough to wrap herself and her best friend in. It was "paint and primer in one" they said. Luckily it was easy to strip the paper off when they decided to listen to me and do it right. Even an oil based bonding primer wouldn't have worked on that one.


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## Will22 (Feb 1, 2011)

While I agree that there are variables regarding this type of application, I would not make a broad statement that paint suppliers make recommendations without consequence or responsibility. In a lot of cases, the applicator does not disclose information, or they do not want to remove the existing wallpaper. Skipping proper surface preparation (removing existing wall covering, or actually painting a clean surface) usually cause problems like you describe.


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

Will22 said:


> While I agree that there are variables regarding this type of application, I would not make a broad statement that paint suppliers make recommendations without consequence or responsibility. In a lot of cases, the applicator does not disclose information, or they do not want to remove the existing wallpaper. Skipping proper surface preparation (removing existing wall covering, or actually painting a clean surface) usually cause problems like you describe.


Unfortunately I would and do make that statement. Of course I'm not calling you out on this, but the lack of paint application knowledge is the rule not the exception in my area. I see it happen virtually everyday. Consumers are relying on salespeople that don't know much more about paint then the typical consumer, other than how to run the tint computer and get most of the cans tinted correctly. It is part of the proper sales process to make sure the customer is getting the product they need as well as the prep and application information they need to get the results they are looking for.

If this weren't the case, there wouldn't be so many people on this forum asking some of the most basic painting questions there are. And, there wouldn't even be such a thing as "paint and primer and sealer and blockfiller and self color adjusting and self applying in one". Those types of products only exist because the box stores either can't or don't want to hire knowledgeable paint people.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

klaatu said:


> Consumers are relying on salespeople that don't know much more about paint then the typical consumer, other than how to run the tint computer and get most of the cans tinted correctly.


That's true. Paint is probably the least understood, or most misunderstood technology in the entire home center.

The problem is that unlike carpentry, plumbing and wiring, the subject of painting isn't actually taught anywhere. Painters, for the most part, simply learn their trade by apprenticeship. But often their boss and mentor can only pass on whatever little knowledge he's gained from experience. 

Experience is always great to have, but you also need some formal training to know what to look for if and when paint failures occur.

The Rohm & Haas Company puts on a "Paint University" course that I understand costs $40 and is basically a training course in paint and painting. Here is the link to that course...

http://training.paintquality.com/


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