Can you paint over wallpaper glue/backing? And can you "seal" the paint?

I hate wallpaper. I found a way to remove that crap that the paint-challenged previous owners put up. You'll have much better results removing the paper if you score it first (specific tool called Paper Tiger or Piranha, something like that). It perforates the paper a certain depth without puncturing the drywall paper. Then, working in sections, you use the hot water or stripping solution and within a minute it almost falls off the wall. But use a plastic scraper/putty knife (not a metal one). I was looking for a pic of the scoring tool and this http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082400490.html pretty much nails your question. Anyway, good luck.

I just got through stripping my kitchen, hallway and front entry of wallpaper put up with liberal amounts of glue. The wallpaper in my bathrooms came down much more easily, a difference I attributed to the humidity. I found the steamer to be useless as well. A putty-knife (actually a 5-in-1 painter's tool) along with hot water with TSP (trisodium phosphate) worked well. You may also find that Dif Zinsser helps (you can substitute your local hardware store's knock-off version, I did). I tried painting over the glue in a small test area and the paint didn't adhere, and it looked awful when it dried. For me, a good soaking with TSP or the remover got the glue/backing to the point where it stripped off as easily as the paper did. As for the issue of aim, I find that Fantastik with Bleach can remove "aim-stains" from the surfaces around my bathroom including laminate (vanity), wallpaper and regular latex paint (designed for kitchens and bathrooms). Just ask the paint department at your hardware store for a washable paint and clean it regularly.

I don't have much advice about the wallpaper. When we took down wallpaper in a bathroom, it took quite a bit of the drywall surface with it. So we ended up re-floating it. It took forever. Regarding "sealing" the paint in the bathroom, it's not necessary. Use a glossy paint. (You don't have to use the highest level of gloss, there is a level that's often recommended for bathrooms and kitchens. Eggshell? Or the next gloss up from that? The reason glossy paint it glossy is that it's smooth, and the reason flat paint is flat is because it has particles mixed into it which diffuse light - they also make a rough surface that's basically impossible to wipe down. Or maybe consider a nice butter yellow bathroom ;)

In my own experience, attempting to "paint over" something with regular interior paint has never worked... the stuff underneath always shows through.

Regarding the wallpaper - you've got to strip it or remud the walls. In my last house, I stripped layer after layer of wallpaper. At the end I found my walls were just a mess and I had to remud anyway. Stripping the wall paper took days. Remudding took about 2 hours. On to the Golden Glow walls. Oh sure the Dad is blaming the son , I bet Dad is part of the problem. :) What type of paint are you using in the bathroom? I hate shiny walls as much as the next person, but if the young'un can't reliably hit the bowl you need something scrubbable. You'll need to go to at least a satin finish, but probably a semi-gloss. And paint a little dot of red nail polish at the bottom of the toilet bowl. The little guy may need to have a smaller target to use while aiming.

You could try lining the walls before painting. You can buy lining paper (I'm not sure what the US name for this stuff is) in a range of different thicknesses, depending on how uneven the underlying surface is. Paste this stuff up as you would normal wallpaper, then paint over the top. Done properly this can produce quite good results; lines where the paper joins can be hidden by accurate alignment followed by a light sanding with fine sandpaper before painting.

I despise wallpaper. I had my bathroom redone and to save labor costs (we hired someone to do it) I decided that I would take the wallpaper down myself. Every home improvement show I had seen at the time made it look trivial. Every thing I read made it look simple. It was hell. Nothing worked. Perforating the paper and dousing it with chemicals did nothing. It would have taken weeks and then it still would have looked like hell. Getting the fuzzy stuff off was destroying the dry wall, so I eventually gave it up. The contractor repaired the wall. He then painted over some of the brown fuzz that I didn't get to. Luckily, it's not very noticeable. We're happy with it. The wallpaper had been up for about 25 years, so that might have had something to do with it, but I vowed right then and there that I would never use wallpaper inside a home I own (I doubt I would have anyway). Good luck.

bea arthur has the cheap and easy answer. (Although if you are papering over the lining please note that the lining paper should go on horizontally, not vertically). If you have the time and money to do a more thorough job, I would recommend a skim of plaster. It's a bit more expensive than lining paper, but once it's done, all you need to do for the next 50 years is slap on a coat of paint every now and then. For part two of the question, you can buy paint specifically for kitchens and bathrooms which is moisture resistant and wipeable.

I successfully painted over bathroom wallpaper that was in good shape by priming with a Kilz primer. As I recall, it was oil-based. I used latex paint over it. I haven't noticed any problems, except one prominent seam that I should have taken the time to mud and sand.