I'm planning to put wallpaper in my powder room, but the walls have a slight texture that's kind of like orange peel. I'm wondering if I can just use an orbital sander to smooth them out, or if I absolutely need to go the route of applying a skim coat with joint compound using a finishing knife. I really want to avoid the skim coat method since it seems like it would take forever. Any thoughts, tips, or product suggestions?
2 Answers
Yeah, I get your hesitation about the skim coat; it can be a pain. If you try sanding first, just make sure it really smooths things out enough since you're using non-peel and stick wallpaper. You want a solid base for the paste to stick!
You might want to try it out first with a putty knife to see how it feels on the wall. If it’s jumping or snagging, that’s a sign you should probably go for the sanding instead. Smooth application is key if you want those walls to look good. If they weren’t painted, you could just wet them and scrape the texture away, but since they are, that's not an option.