Fixt.
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Just a reminder of this
If you’re going to paint the lining paper then hang it vertically. If you’re going to paper on top then consider lining horizontally. Honestly I’m not making this up.
Yep. Watered down PVA is the best sealer.
Lining paper should be horizontal and only be used if another wallcovering is going over it. Not for painting.
…and do yourself a big favour, if you’re sanding anything, wear a decent mask, because silicosis.
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Soz Graeme, that was meant for Adam. 
Why? Some parts of the internet say that painting over it is fine.
I’m sitting looking at a wall of painted lining paper. It’s been there since about 1998. So far, so good.
Don’t believe me, I hate decorating and I’m shit at it…
But I have watched, supervised, and snagged several hundred thousand square metres of other folks decorating.
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Hitler is alive and well, living on a london bus on the moon
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I’m not a professional decorator either but when we were first in this house we were a bit skint and good decorators were hard to come by and not cheap. So I had to do a lot myself.
I was dealing mostly with fresh plaster. We spent what money we had on a professional plasterer as I was pretty sure I’d never learn to do that well enough. My thinking as far as lining goes was that if I hung that first, if I cocked up with whatever went on next then, as a last resort, I’d always be able to steam the lining paper off. If I’d put some unsuitable finish direct onto the plaster and decided a few years later to try to hang paper on it, only to find, say, that the paper wouldn’t adhere properly, then I’d be screwed. I thought of it as insurance.
I drew the line at lining the ceilings though. Once tried (in the previous house thank goodness) never to be repeated.
We need a pic of said wall.
Lining paper can only cover up so much
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As a teenager, a girl I used to hang around with offered me certain favours if I came round and successfully put up lining paper on her ceiling for her. Its amazing what a little motivation can do 
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As newlyweds Mrs VB and I were papering said ceiling (not a euphemism). One of us took the folded paper up the first stepladder and attached it at one end of the room. The other was on the second set of steps, just downstream, and took over with the paper while the first moved his/her steps even further downstream. Repeat until the far wall was reached.
At one stage I’m holding the paper and Mrs VB moves her steps round and, accidentally I’m sure, put the legs of her narrower steps through the legs of my wider ones. She takes the paper and sticks a few more feet onto the ceiling then I try to move my steps. They’re pinned by hers.
Damn …
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Half of our house is done with lining paper and emulsioned, it’s a common practice in these parts if you have less than perfect plastering.
Was she performing the favours while you were papering? 
No, but to keep my enthusiasm simmering she wore a halter neck vest with no bra and some hotpants.
We celebrated her newly decorated ceiling the next time her parents were out the house for a few hours. Had a knack for papering ever since!
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Mmmm…Hot Pants 
Most of our house is done with 900 lining paper hung vertically and emulsionen, it looks great
People think lin8ng paper is for correcting bad finish but I dont think it works well for that, it makes it look better but not good if the underlying plaster is bad
My wife does our papering and you can’t see the joins after a couple of coats but I think it looks more original than fancy flat new plaster in a Victorian type house si worth the extra effort
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Now relaxing in the bath after day one of lining paper. It looks kinda ok - it’s certainly not a panacea for poor quality walls, it seems. But still, a huge improvement on what it was before I started.