Your walls can be transformed with a distinctive, textured finish by applying liquid wallpaper. However, it’s crucial to begin with the appropriate preparation in order to get the best results. Here’s where a primer enters the picture and becomes extremely important.
In order to ensure that the liquid wallpaper sticks to the wall surface properly, primer serves as a foundation. It aids in leveling the base, enabling the wallpaper to apply smoothly and best display its beauty. The finished product might not be as strong or eye-catching without primer.
By sealing the wall with a primer, you can also stop the wallpaper from absorbing too much moisture. This is particularly crucial for porous surfaces, such as old plaster or drywall, because uneven absorption can result in an uneven finish.
In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of primer and how it can significantly impact the appearance and durability of your wall finish when applying liquid wallpaper.
| Reason | Explanation |
| Improves Adhesion | The primer helps liquid wallpaper stick better to the wall, ensuring it stays in place for longer. |
| Seals the Surface | It prevents the wall from absorbing too much moisture, which can lead to an uneven finish. |
| Prevents Stains | The primer blocks stains from the wall that might otherwise show through the wallpaper. |
| Creates a Uniform Base | It smooths out the wall surface, making the final result more even and attractive. |
It is crucial to use a primer before applying liquid wallpaper since it guarantees that the wallpaper will stick to the wall correctly and leave a smooth, long-lasting finish. By sealing the surface, the primer helps stop uneven wallpaper absorption and potential problems like peeling or discoloration. The wallpaper might not last as long and the finished product might not look as professional without a primer.
- Requirements for the surface to be finished
- Choosing a primer
- Concrete and plastered walls
- Drywall walls
- Wooden walls
- Painted walls
- Councils of specialists
- Video on the topic
- We glue wallpaper on old wallpaper. Primer under the wallpaper. Do I need to prime the walls? Roolon wallpaper salon .
- We apply liquid wallpaper without a branded primer, will the stains go away.
- Liquid wallpaper: how to choose and how to apply to the wall How to prepare walls for Silk Plaster liquid wallpaper
- Primer for liquid wallpaper.
- Instructions for preparing the surface for applying liquid wallpaper
Requirements for the surface to be finished
The walls covered with liquid wallpaper need to be brought into compliance with the following conditions in order for them to have a long-lasting, consistent color and surface structure:
- Strength of the base. It should not have large cracks, areas with old wallpaper, peeling plaster or flaking paint;
- Low moisture absorption rate. If the base material has a high water absorption capacity, it will be difficult for you to apply the liquid mixture to it, it will hold worse, and the walls themselves may suffer from excess moisture;
- Color fastness. The color of the walls should not show through the wallpaper. This often happens when finishing concrete or metal surfaces when they come into contact with a wet working mixture.
As a point of reference. When applying liquid wallpaper, small imperfections and cracks can be immediately fixed, but more material will be used.
Choosing a primer
The type of surface being finished must be considered when choosing which primer to use underneath liquid wallpaper. Usually, ready-made compositions are bought with the intention of strengthening and impregnating bases composed of specific materials. Moreover, universal primers that work on a variety of surfaces are frequently found.
Concrete and plastered walls
Such walls need to be puttied with a gypsum mixture to fill in pores and cracks and level the surface before being finished with liquid wallpaper. The walls are primed with a deep penetration primer prior to the putty application. Then, a common question among unskilled finishers is, "Why prime a putty surface that is already strong, smooth, and relatively light?" The truth is that liquid wallpaper is a mixture that has been heavily diluted with water, and it has a high absorbency.
Since the first layer is nearly entirely absorbed by it, it needs to be primed two or three times in order to keep it from being absorbed by the base. For these kinds of walls, the guidelines permit using the following kinds of primer:
- Acrylic – is distinguished by the absence of an unpleasant odor and a short period of complete drying;
- Universal – suitable for processing a wide variety of materials with medium and low porosity;
- Special – used in rooms with high humidity.
Additionally, you can use white water-based facade paint as a primer by mixing PVA glue with it in a 2:1 ratio.
Kindly take note. It has been observed that the application of PVA can occasionally result in yellow streaks and spots on the finished surface. The same problem exists with the well-known primer Ceresit CT17.
Drywall walls
The process of priming, puttying, priming again, and applying a deep penetration compound twice is the same as that of concrete walls when they are ready to be finished with liquid wallpaper. The material’s cardboard surface’s high absorbency is the reason for this primer selection.
The locations where the drywall is fastened to the frame need special attention. It is necessary to coat the screw heads with water-insoluble paint, such as oil, latex, or enamel, if they are not recessed enough and show through the putty layer. If not, the metal will corrode when it comes into contact with water, leaving rusty patches on the surface.
Wooden walls
What primer to use under liquid wallpaper on plywood, chipboard, or OSB board walls and partitions is a crucial question. Wood, as you may know, is prone to rotting and deformation from moisture absorption. To treat such bases, a waterproofing primer is applied. Furthermore, it is advised to apply shellac primer to walls composed of "fresh" wood in order to conceal knots and stop wood resin from showing on the surface.
Advice: Apply an antifungal treatment to the wood before applying the primer.
It is advised to paint wooden surfaces with white or light water-based paint after the primer dries because their uneven color can show through the liquid wallpaper. Although finishing will cost more, the quality will be guaranteed.
Painted walls
If it adheres well to the surface, an oil paint layer (cm. Paint for Interior Wall Decoration: How to Choose) makes a good foundation for applying liquid wallpaper. Two scenarios could lead to issues:
- If the paint was peeled or swollen in places, it will have to be cleaned, and then put several layers of soil for the plastered walls to the cleaned areas before the surface levels;
- If the walls were painted in different colors (for example, light top and dark bottom), then the color of the liquid wallpaper on them may also differ. It is advisable to align the background before applying them by painting walls with the same color of the same color.
Councils of specialists
Throughout the restoration procedure, you frequently have to handle unusual circumstances:
- For example, in private or old city buildings it is not always possible to determine what material the partition is made of, how durable its surface is. In such cases, it is best to apply several layers of universal primer under the wallpaper.
- If you want to mask any metal elements protruding from the wall with liquid wallpaper – pipes, corners, etc.., they must first be treated with an alkyd, phenolic or glyphthalic primer. Although it is quite possible to use enamels or oil paints.
The most widely used metal primers, which work on rusted areas as well, are seen in the picture.
- Liquid wallpaper is more convenient to apply not to a smooth, but to a slightly rough surface. To make it this way, you can use a special primer with quartz dust or add fine river sand sifted through a flour sieve to the selected composition.
To achieve a stunning and long-lasting finish, a straightforward but essential step is priming the wall before applying liquid wallpaper. It makes sure the liquid wallpaper sticks to the wall correctly and doesn’t peel or become uneven over time.
Additionally, a high-quality primer helps to conceal any flaws in the wall and produces a uniform surface. As a result, the application goes more smoothly and the finished product looks more polished.
Ignoring the primer could save time in the short term, but it can cause issues down the road that will cost more money and effort to resolve. The longevity and appearance of your liquid wallpaper can be greatly improved by taking the extra time to prime the walls.
