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Painting & Decorating

When do I remove bubbles from newly painted lining paper?

Anonymous user 15/03/2024 - 2.45 PM

I've just painted over some lining paper I put up earlier this week and a lot of bubbles are appearing under the paper, in spite of me following all the instructions for pasting and hanging. Should I pierce the bubbles now while the paper is still damp from the new paint or wait until the paint is dry? Many thanks to all for your advice and taking the time to answer. As an update to other first-time DIYers who may also experience this, the bubbles did in fact dry flat over in just a few hours while I painted other walls. I did size the wall but used guesswork for the ratio as I was only replacing a few strips of paper after repairing some loose plaster that was showing through previously. As suggested by one professional, using good quality ready-mixed adhesive might have prevented this: I had used an 'economy' powder adhesive and estimated the mix ratio as I was not even pasting a full 10m roll.

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5 Answers

M Jones Painting & Decorating

Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Merthyr Tydfil

Of the bubbles havnt dried back after paint has dried, insert a syringe filled with paste into the centre of the bubbles , leave for a couple of minutes to soak into the paper and then, press down gently from outer edge of bubbles to centre with a spatula. Remove any excess paste, leave to dry, and repaint.

Answered29 December 2019

Timothy David Interiors

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tonypandy

Hi. I would say wait they well may go flat on their own. For future reference, this was probably caused by a lack of preperation as opposed to instructions/technique. Vitally important that the walls should have been sized first, i use pva....mix 1:4 pva/water. I also use good quality ready mixed adhesive

Answered8 February 2019

Anonymous user

Let the paper dry as if you have sized the walls and prepped all the walls correctly then they should go down once the paint dries. If they are still there once dry you can cut them out out and flick it out with some easy fill and this will fill the bits you have cut out and flash over and repaint. I hope this helps Kieron

Answered9 February 2019

Anonymous user

Allow paint to dry if the bubble have not dried back uou can take a stanly knife and spilt the bad area regule and let dry once dried out lighty sand back and over fill with easyfill then sand down

Answered10 February 2019

Anonymous user

The problem has occurred during the preparation process if the bubbles are small then majority of the time it will be caused by dust on the wall that grabs together once touched by the paste or adhesive if the bubbles are big then it’s being caused by that part of the lining paper not being fully covered so the wet paint has effectively caused the bubble . Sometimes it’s caused by spreading tools or mixing tubs having a similar problem. I would advise using a 1/8 to 1/4 ratio pva water when lining or preparing any surface for paper or vinyl hanging. But the problem is irreversible once papered over although it may settle over time. Only other option would be to strip and start fresh.

Answered9 February 2019