Painting over old wallpaper ...

[Superior Jane]

Has anyone here ever done this ?

My house was built in the early 1900s, and along the way some person put wall paper up a few times. The last time, the paper peeled away from the back in little strips here and there.
I have been looking at it for a few years, and finally have the time to deal with it, since my kids are no longer babies.
I peeled all the paper off, and the backing is firmly on there..so my walls look as if there are papered in a light brown butcher type paper.

I would like to paint over this..since beneath the paper is plaster and lath wall boards..which I don't know much about..other than that I am afraid that the wall paper might be helping to hold that togethor..and I don't want to destroy that !

Anyone have any ideas or tips ?

[homefrontgirl]

I've done this. Are there backing paper seam lines? Painting over won't make them go away so if you can live with that than go for it. Also, check over the walls carefully for bubbles because they'll show through the paint also. Old houses have tons of character and that backing paper on old wallpaper is so hard to remove. When I remodeled a 1912 house several years ago I figured painted wallpaper just added to the charm. Good luck

[flapjack]

Oh yes Lots.
Strip everything back to the first available smooth surface- use a steam wallpaper stripper, it makes life easier. It sounds like you've got through to the lining paper, so just fill any holes as you would normally and then paint over that.
In our last house, the walls were so bad we actually had to put lining paper up before we could paint : I'd never painted onto plaster until we got our extension up at Christmas.

[Superior Jane]

There are lines, and I was wondering if perhaps I should not just fill those spaces in with another type of paintable paper.

I have looked at a few places online and researched it, but I have never really talked with anyone who Actually DID it ! So, thats a bit frustrating, because I want some actual advice from some one who has been there, and done that.

My idea was to get some primer, and just use that. If the primer made the paper peel away from the walls, then that would tell me all I needed to know. If it didn't then I could go ahead and put the actual paint color on top.

[flapjack]

What I'd suggest is that you get some water-base base coat (that's what it's called over here, anyhow) which is designed for uneven wall surfaces. We just did a wall in our living room with it and it made a huge difference. Use that as your first coat and then a layer of emulsion on the top. Otherwise I'd strip the lining paper too and replace it if needed.
My FIL (who I live with) was a painter/decorator by trade, and we have another one living round the corner. Crap walls are pretty much par for the course over here, as we tend to value older houses more highly than you do in the US, so LMK if there's any specific questions.