mama2cntrykids Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 We are looking at houses on the internet and there's one that would be perfect for us BUT most of it has ugly wallpaper on the walls:001_huh:. Is it even worth the effort of having to take it all down and painting? I've never done it before, but have heard it's no fun. What's your opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 If it's the right house. We did that did that in our first house. You do it one room at a time, and finsh that before you move to another room. Don't strip it all at the same time. Never do that. In my last house we ripped up the main bathroom down to the studs; to taking the floor out completely and building a new one. That was fun. I'd rather take down wallpaper. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabeline Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I would not. In our first house one small room had wall paper on the top half of the walls. It was a nightmare to remove. At the end we didn't even have the energy to fix the wall boards and we just painted over it all. I don't think I would be able to deal with all the walls covered in something that i couldn't live with until we could get to it. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 My wallpaper experiences have been OK... if the paper has been up less than 20 years then it probably has sizing on it--and should come down with just warm water... you can also rent/buy steamers---but a bucket of warm water has always done the trick for us. Like the other poster said--just tackle one room at a time---start with the UGLIEST one for motivation! A change in wallpaper really makes a difference. I don't mind SOME wallpaper--but I think I would not want it in every room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I did that once and I wouldn't do it again. Even if I had a lot of money and time I would think twice. It can be very time-consuming and frustrating to remove old paper depending on how it was applied. No matter how careful we were the walls were so damaged underneath. We would up having to gut the walls in two rooms down to the studs. We even had professionals try to repair some walls, and it didn't turn out well. When we bought the house some family members said, "It's only cosmetic." But it was a headache we had to deal with for years. It might be fine if you are a patient person who is very handy around the house and likes projects.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I would ask a painter for a quote and see if the sellers would knock off the price. If not, see if you can afford to have it professionally done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 :svengo: Yes, I would do it! Think positive... it can be done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodle Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 We just did! The house is perfect for us. I can't imagine deciding not to buy it because of it having wallpaper. We'll replace it as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I would see the house in person. 99% of the houses I saw online did not look nearly as good once I saw them in person. If I liked a house enough I would deal with removing wallpaper. But I would expect a large price reduction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 If it's the right house, just get a steamer and that paper comes right off. Not a fun job--at all, but if the only thing wrong with the house is wallpaper, I wouldn't let that stop me. But, take this word of caution. Never, ever put a step stool in the tub to take down wall paper over the shower. No matter how sturdy it may appear, you could slip and fall, thereby shoving the stool under the tub faucet trapping your left leg under it while your left arm is wedged over your head and your neck is at a 90* angle, thereby causing your adult son to literally rip the faucet off to get the step stool off your leg, which is now gashed and bleeding. Your next step would be to call someone to take you to the ER because you think your left arm is at the very least broken, at worst has suffered a rotator cuff rip. Then, when you get to the ER, the nurse will want to argue with you about a freeking tetnus shot when all you want is DRUGS to make the pain stop, because it hurts so badly, you are about to pass out. Then, when they wheel you into x-ray, they will move your wounded shoulder in all sorts of unnatural poses to make sure it's not broken and you will SOB the entire time, even though you've given birth 2x w/o drugs. And, if you have excess booKs, they'll realize they need to take the xrays AGAIN and ask to hold your book and be still while you're trying to not pass out while sobbing. If you're lucky, you only have soft tissue damage and no major injuries requiring surgery and they'll send you home with vicadin. So, be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 If it's the right house, just get a steamer and that paper comes right off. This was not our experience at all. I have some wallpaper glue in one bedroom that wouldn't have come of with a sandblaster. I would never, ever buy a home full of wallpaper again. How easily it comes down depends on a lot of factors that you won't know until you get in there and start work on it. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 What if you were to get an estimate for wallpaper removal, then ask for cash back at closing to cover the cost? Sellers are motivated and many will jump at the chance to please you. Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoplayer Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 :banghead: Not in a million years. We are still in the process of trying to get 20+ year old wallpaper down from our walls. In some rooms, the wallpaper was plastered right to drywall. Oh, yes, and in the kitchen, it's a combination of wallpaper and contact paper (yep, you read that correctly). Wallpaper all over a prospective house would definitely be a deal breaker for me unless the current owners took it down themselves and demonstrated to me that the walls were in good shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 :banghead:Not in a million years. We are still in the process of trying to get 20+ year old wallpaper down from our walls. In some rooms, the wallpaper was plastered right to drywall. Yeah, if it wasn't applied correctly in the first place, it's sooooo much harder to take down. Had that happen in my first house. My last house, we eventually took down everything, but the folks had done everything right, and we got 80 years worth of wallpaper off easier than wallpaper applied directly to drywall! We're gearing up to paper our entire first floor right now. Naturally, we're big believers in doing the proper prep to ensure that it can come off if we don't like it in 10 years. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Out first home was almost 80years old and the wallpaper was at least 50. It was a pain, but nothing horrible. I was pregnant even, and I don't remember it being so awful. Interesting. We made a good profit on that house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 If it's the right house, just get a steamer and that paper comes right off. Not a fun job--at all, but if the only thing wrong with the house is wallpaper, I wouldn't let that stop me. This was not our experience at all. I have some wallpaper glue in one bedroom that wouldn't have come of with a sandblaster. I would never, ever buy a home full of wallpaper again. How easily it comes down depends on a lot of factors that you won't know until you get in there and start work on it. :iagree: We just removed wallpaper & border from our living room and it was a pain! We used a steamer too. Dh thinks whoever painted did not prime first. A lot of the paint and some of the drywall paper came off the walls when we removed the wallpaper. Lots of sanding and spackle was needed. And it still doesn't look right. But we're going to do some texture-look painting techniques anyway, so the bumps and wrinkles should blend in. The house is about 18 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 My wallpaper experiences have been OK... if the paper has been up less than 20 years then it probably has sizing on it--and should come down with just warm water... Oh, Jann--the wallpaper in my house was all applied directly on the wallboard and it does NOT come down without spending days picking/scraping off tiny little bits of wallpaper. Ugh. We just remodeled our master bath--did you see it when you were here??--and we ended up applying an oil-based primer and texturing over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 If the wallpaper has been adhered directly to the wallboard, can't you just paint over it? The folks on A&E's Sell This House use a mixture of water with liquid fabric softener in it for wallpaper removal. Sponge on to the wall and wait a few minutes. Lots of wall paper comes right off. Never done it myself, but I'd certainly give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Wow! I really appreciate all the advice. My dh just said what Happy asked, "Why not just paint over the wallpaper?" Is that an option. We're going to look at houses this Saturday and I'm trying to determine whether to look at this one or not. I guess it doesn't hurt to look, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 If it's the right house, just get a steamer and that paper comes right off. Not a fun job--at all, but if the only thing wrong with the house is wallpaper, I wouldn't let that stop me. But, take this word of caution. Never, ever put a step stool in the tub to take down wall paper over the shower. No matter how sturdy it may appear, you could slip and fall, thereby shoving the stool under the tub faucet trapping your left leg under it while your left arm is wedged over your head and your neck is at a 90* angle, thereby causing your adult son to literally rip the faucet off to get the step stool off your leg, which is now gashed and bleeding. Your next step would be to call someone to take you to the ER because you think your left arm is at the very least broken, at worst has suffered a rotator cuff rip. Then, when you get to the ER, the nurse will want to argue with you about a freeking tetnus shot when all you want is DRUGS to make the pain stop, because it hurts so badly, you are about to pass out. Then, when they wheel you into x-ray, they will move your wounded shoulder in all sorts of unnatural poses to make sure it's not broken and you will SOB the entire time, even though you've given birth 2x w/o drugs. And, if you have excess booKs, they'll realize they need to take the xrays AGAIN and ask to hold your book and be still while you're trying to not pass out while sobbing. If you're lucky, you only have soft tissue damage and no major injuries requiring surgery and they'll send you home with vicadin. So, be careful. I take it you speak from experience?? I'm sorry, that sounds horrible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 It's easy if you rent the machine or purchase it which is about the same cost. (For about $100 or so:-) Renting would make it so you can do as posted before... But I would steam it all off at the same time.... and paint it all... before I moved in... even if I had to hire it out... or have a party with some friends..... Get it done before you move in:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuff Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 We are looking at houses on the internet and there's one that would be perfect for us BUT most of it has ugly wallpaper on the walls:001_huh:. Is it even worth the effort of having to take it all down and painting? I've never done it before, but have heard it's no fun. What's your opinion? It would have to be really perfect and a really goood deal. Our little house had a bit of wall paper and just tearing off that made me swear off wallpaper forever. What a pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I'd take a house full of wallpaper over ugly paneling anyday. Wallpaper would also be better than an avacado green tub, kitchen countertop, and a harvest gold tub. Ask me how I know. Disclaimer: I'm married to a carpenter so we have all the tools to do the work, but we supply the labor. So, no, a house full of wallpaper would not kill the deal for me if the house were otherwise right for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Sometimes removing wallpaper is super easy -- if the walls were properly painted prior to papering. So easy you can strip a whole room in an hour or two. Sometimes it is a nightmare and you end up destroying the wallboard -- if the walls were NOT properly prepped prior to papering. I've stripped a lot of wallpaper from different houses over the years and experienced both extremes. . . Whether I would consider it or not would depend on how much I loved the home otherwise. . . I might consider a pre-purchase inspection to assess whether the walls were properly prepped prior to papering, with agreement from the homeowner on what you were going to do. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Wow! I really appreciate all the advice. My dh just said what Happy asked, "Why not just paint over the wallpaper?" Is that an option. We're going to look at houses this Saturday and I'm trying to determine whether to look at this one or not. I guess it doesn't hurt to look, right? Please, please don't paint over wallpaper. Former owners of my house did. As the house ages, the wallpaper curls . Painted, curling wallpaper looks absolutely hideous. And it's three times as difficult to remove. I removed wallpaper at my sil's house and thought it was fine. Just take it one room at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 If the wallpaper has been adhered directly to the wallboard, can't you just paint over it? Not in the room we did. Ours had wallpaper on the bottom half and a wide border at the top. Painting over the border would have left a visible line at the bottom of the border. We could have gotten away with painting the bottom half of the wall, because there's a chair rail dividing the papered and unpapered parts of the wall. But then, I don't know what you have to do to prep wallpaper for painting. Probably would be less work than removing the paper turned out to be, but we'd still have the issue of the border still being visible under the paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Not in the room we did. Ours had wallpaper on the bottom half and a wide border at the top. Painting over the border would have left a visible line at the bottom of the border. We could have gotten away with painting the bottom half of the wall, because there's a chair rail dividing the papered and unpapered parts of the wall. But then, I don't know what you have to do to prep wallpaper for painting. Probably would be less work than removing the paper turned out to be, but we'd still have the issue of the border still being visible under the paint. Good point! Eh. I don't know! I'm sooo afraid that we're not going to find a decent house that we like in our price range!! I **HATE** selling/trying to find a house. It's so stressful (for *me* at least!). We're going to look at about 4-5 houses next Sat. and I'm afraid that at least one of them won't work for us right off the bat. Not sure *why* we're looking at it then:001_huh:. It only has 200 more sq. feet then our current home and we need more room as it is. I'm not sure 200 sq/ft more will cut it, you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Good point! Eh. I don't know! I'm sooo afraid that we're not going to find a decent house that we like in our price range!! I **HATE** selling/trying to find a house. It's so stressful (for *me* at least!). We're going to look at about 4-5 houses next Sat. and I'm afraid that at least one of them won't work for us right off the bat. Not sure *why* we're looking at it then:001_huh:. It only has 200 more sq. feet then our current home and we need more room as it is. I'm not sure 200 sq/ft more will cut it, you know? I could use another room! I'd go ahead and look at it. If there's peeling wallpaper, maybe it would be easy to remove. We have peeling wallpaper in our bathroom, so I think it'll come off easily. Of course, if I were selling my house without removing the bathroom wallpaper first, I'd glue the edges back down, so you wouldn't know. And we had no idea that the wallpaper would be so tough to remove. I don't know how you'd figure that out ahead of time. You'll also want to see if any of the wallpaper has a texture, because if you paint over it, you'll still have the texture. That could be a good thing if the texture is nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 It's still best to remove wallpaper, but we couldn't do it without damaging the wallboard. We painted over it with an oil-based primer. It's a big room. We've always removed wallpaper before, but none of it had been applied to wallboard. Although it was sometimes painful, we were still able to remove it with no damage to the walls themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 We bought a house with wallpaper in every room, and it had definitely been there 20+ years as it had most certainly been put up in the '70s - it was all avocado green, mustard yellow, and burnt orange, many with "charming" scenes. However, most of it came off just fine - it had been applied over horsehair plaster (the house is 130 yrs old). They must've sized it? I put paper (that didn't make my eyes hurt) right back up - painted horsehair plaster isn't so great. Honestly, the all-weather carpet over the glued-on linoleum in the bathroom was worse. Under that linoleum was nice ribbon fir - but it still has some glue spots. :tongue_smilie: Caveat: we had no kids yet when we did this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairie~Phlox Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 My dh is a professional painter, he hates wallpaper. He hates it when landlords have rentals and just want it painted, it peels, looks nasty and sometimes even falls off the walls. He does what they want though, no matter how it looks, it is a rental! Ok, when we bought our house, he wanted to sand and retexture the ceilings and take off the wallpaper in the dining & living room. We thought the retexturing would take longer, let me tell you, he knows what he's doing and has done it all and the wallpaper took half of the wall off with it and he spent more time mudding and fixing those walls than he did on the ceilings. It was a mess and VERY time consuming. I would really check how well it would come off before you make a decision on whether or not to buy the house. It can be a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnytracks Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 if that wasw the only thing keeping it from being my perfect house then I would but it ugly wall paper and all. You maybe able to negotate a better price or even ask that they take it down by offering close to full asking price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 We are looking at houses on the internet and there's one that would be perfect for us BUT most of it has ugly wallpaper on the walls:001_huh:. Is it even worth the effort of having to take it all down and painting? I've never done it before, but have heard it's no fun. What's your opinion? No, and only because we did. A year and a half later most of the wallpaper is still up and the house STILL does not feel like mine. Honestly, if a homeowner is lazy enough to not remove wallpaper and paint neutral colors, they are lazy enough to skimp on other repairs to the home. I know. I am living that nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Yep, I would. I have strange tastes and would prolly end up liking old wallpaper patterns. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 :banghead:Not in a million years. We are still in the process of trying to get 20+ year old wallpaper down from our walls. In some rooms, the wallpaper was plastered right to drywall. Oh, yes, and in the kitchen, it's a combination of wallpaper and contact paper (yep, you read that correctly). Wallpaper all over a prospective house would definitely be a deal breaker for me unless the current owners took it down themselves and demonstrated to me that the walls were in good shape. Yep. I bought a condo with wallpaper on ONE wall. ONE! My mother was painting professionally at the time and had renovated many, many houses and assured me, it would be an afternoon project. Yeah, I think those people used epoxy to put that stuff up. The whole wall was a mess of paste that wouldn't come off and missing chunks of drywall. When we moved into this house, I saw wallpaper in the foyer and almost went apoplectic. (It's still there. I painted over it 10 years ago.) So, if it's the right house for you, I would get a painter in to give you a worst case scenario estimate, and negotiate that off the price. Or, you know, just paint over it and try not to shiver as you walk by. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Yes - our first place, a town home, was wall-papered garishly. I rented a steamer and we took possession a week before we wanted to move in so we (mostly I) could remove wallpaper and paint. I have since done individual rooms here in our 100+ year-old house using a roller thingy that pricks wholes in the paper, and the blue goo glue softener stuff that you then spray or "paint" on (easier on the hand than using a spray bottle over and over and over), waiting 30 minutes then peeling it off. Either way, steam or prick/goo, HIRE A TEEN OR TWO and make the kids do it ;) It can be done, just isn't much fun. But, ah, the felling of accomplishment when you see your beautiful, improved walls. Also - could you just remove a room or two for now, and get to the rest bit by bit? I might add - in the town home once one wall (the wall facing the front door, figures) was de-papered we found ugly paneling under it! We ended slapping a new wall paper oover that one wall rather than deal with the paneling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Do you love the house, is the WP in good shape, can you stand it, how long are you going to live there, what did they cover up by papering? How "handy" is your family? You can reduce costs by doing the tedious removal and have a pro (if you aren't that handy) do the finish work. It is tedious. I would consider it a reason to offer less, but some people love the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkpan Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Wow! I really appreciate all the advice. My dh just said what Happy asked, "Why not just paint over the wallpaper?" Is that an option. We're going to look at houses this Saturday and I'm trying to determine whether to look at this one or not. I guess it doesn't hurt to look, right? yes, you can paint over it. We loved most everything about the last home we bought - except the walls. Every. single. wall. was papered in the home, and I just assumed that it would not be a problem - my family of 8 taking on this project .. you know, it would be fun ... :lol::lol::001_unsure::huh::ohmy::sad: Yep, the previous owners had built the home and papered every wall directly to the drywall! We had no choice, but to paint over the paper. We definitely hired a professional. It would not be my first choice to have painted-over walls, but it did turn out OK. I would do it again if I loved so many other things about the house/location like I did/do ours. HTH Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I haven't read all the posts, but we did this two years ago. The entire house was COVERED in wallpaper (and carpet, but that's another story!) We opted to hire someone to take it down in the main floor and paint before we moved in. Yes, we could've done it ourselves, but I wanted it DONE!!! I swear, it was the best money I've ever spent. We've since done all the other rooms upstairs, except our bedroom. It is HARD work. So, yes, I have done it and I'd do it again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I haven't read all the posts, but we did this two years ago. The entire house was COVERED in wallpaper (and carpet, but that's another story!) We opted to hire someone to take it down in the main floor and paint before we moved in. Yes, we could've done it ourselves, but I wanted it DONE!!! I swear, it was the best money I've ever spent. ! This is the only way I'd move into a house that was totally wallpapered--to have it done by someone else before we moved in. We moved into our house and removed it room by room. The rooms that had that older thick vinyl paper came off fine but one room came off in 2 inch pieces (no matter what I did to it). The stairs and landing was so bad the drywall was so gouged that we either had to replace it or cover it (we covered it with beadboard after all those hours and hours of work and all that mess). Someone put wallpaper directly onto drywall in our laundry room and I haven't touched that. The kitchen still needs to be redone and I dread digging into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 ...the price was right for us, it was in the PERFECT spot (dh can walk to work!), and it was on a lot large enough to give us plenty of dog yard/ garden space. That's the happy part of the story. Now for the not so happy part. We decided to redecorate a few years ago. We knew when we moved in that we HATED the paper that was up in the bedrooms, and ACK! The kitchen! But we started saving for redecorating when we moved in, and finally had the time and the money to get it done. We set to work removing the paper and realized that it had been adhered to paneling. Yikes! We ended up with such a terrible mess that when it was finally off, we re-papered with the paintable wallpaper. It looks like swirly textured paint. And it looks LOVELY! I have had quite a few people comment on how beautiful the bedrooms now look. Keep in mind, though, that most of these folks are friends and family who had seen the "before and after" so had something to compare the new look to!;) I would not hesitate to purchase a home with wallpaper, even knowing what a drag it was for us this time around. I think any home that's going to fall into my preferred price range is going to need a little TLC, and I have no problem with that. If you want something move-in-and-don't-change-a-thing ready, you may not want to consider a home with wallpaper. -Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I take it you speak from experience?? I'm sorry, that sounds horrible! It was! That experience has solidified my belief that wallpaper is a tool of satan. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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