Just moved into a home with wood chip wallpaper and I'm needing to paint it. So far I think I've established that I need to use old based primer. I was going to use zinsser bin. But I want to use water based paint, as the area isn't super well ventilated. I'm getting mixed opinions on if it's okay to use water based emulsion over the top of old based primer. Would this work or will the water based top coat peel off or go on incorrectly? Will I need to use zinnser emulsion or will any work if water based is okay? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Firstly - has the woodchip been previously painted over and if so, we would assume with an emulsion paint - which is water based anyway Secondly - ‘old based primer’ ? I’m guessing you mean an oil based primer ? Would be unusual I would think to have unpainted woodchip paper on the walls as it was used really like a lining paper to cover up blemishes to the walls, and then painted over ‘If’ indeed the paper has been painted with emulsion, probably several times over the years, then it’s just basic prep, wash down with sugar soap solution, rinse with clean water, dry, then slap on the new emulsion Unless it’s been painted with a silk emulsion which may give problems if then painted with a matt emulsion ? More details required
The paper doesn't seem to have been painted previously, so perhaps it isn't woodchip after all. We had a survey completed which stated some paper was woodchip, and this seems to be the only one they could have meant as everywhere else is painted. It may just be normal textured paper, but I still don't want to remove it as some of the plaster underneath is a little crumbly, and I don't have yhe budget for the plaster to be redone on the off chance it all falls off. The paper doesn't look painted but it does have a slight shine to it, so I assume undercoat or primer would be required? I did mean oil based paint.
Photo would help to identify the wall covering. Wood chip was my bread and butter in the 80s and 90s.