Wallpaper in hall between engine rooms

[Westfield 11]

We have white wallpaper in the hall between our engine rooms that looks like bead board and we are considering how to spruce it up. The is no peeling, but it has a few scratches and gouges and is getting discolored. I was thinking of filling the damage and painting it. Has anyone done this, or are there any alternatives to a complete replacement? The Admiral has been looking for similar paper to replace the bad spots, but has had no luck.

[oscarvan]

Yeah, mine looks like 42 years of engine maintenance too.... Not sure what I'm going to do there yet. Something inside of me wants to find the proper color laminate and glue that on so you can wipe it down with solvent if need be.......

[Pascal]

It s been painted white on mine, I recently recoated with mat white paint. Another option would be to use mat Formica. Same look but easier to clean. One day... veneer would be nice but too fragile

[Westfield 11]

I am wondering if there is any special prep before painting? I assume a coat of primer first, but should it be oil or water based? I was thinking of treating it like drywall and using spackle to fix any defects then just painting with primer and paint. Latex would be a lot nicer to work with than oil.

I’m not sure that it’s a vinyl product. Where the gouges are it looks like some kind of paper, the same with the surface covering. Anyway, I’m just getting ideas and making plans, this is a job for our three months in Marathon this winter. Along with dealing with the exterior handrails and re-sealing some of the portholes and replacing the felts on the sliding windows and..........

[SEVEN]

A good cleaning with a cleaner degreaser and rinse with fresh water a few times. Latex paints have come a long wY and in most cases are better than oils. I was in the paint business for 50 plus years and witnessed stores that sold 99% oils to 99% latex products.

[Glory]

I recently removed the wall paper, a pain. Painter with semi gloss, didn't like it then used gloss.

[SEVEN]

The good news is you can paint the vinyl Wallcovering. Go to your local paint store, not the big box stores and ask the manager for the primer for vinyl. Preparing the surface is crucial for a good adhesion. Once primed you can paint it with an eggshell or satin finish latex enamel. Get the best quality you can buy for the best durability. Bad news on finding a matching paper is impossible. Batch numbers alone would be an issue even if the pattern matched.