Best wallpaper removal tips???

[Kari C in SC]

I would love to pretend that I do not need to know this, but I guess I am going to have to face it... I need to REMOVE lots of WALLPAPER from this rental house we just purchased. Give me your best tips on what works and what doesn't. Kitchen, dining room and two bathrooms. Can I just stick my head in the sand?

[Desert Rat]

Rent a steamer. Go slowly and be patient. You may get lucky: the glue may have broken down and it may just pull right off. A girl can dream, right? Most Sherwin-Williams rent steamers, I think.

You can also saturate the wall with a wet sponge but this is messy and does your floors no favors.

Good luck!

[Momof3littles]

We had the best luck w/ a steamer and a handheld scraper.

 

We bought a house that had wallpaper in a few rooms. We started in my DS1's room as it was not a common living area, and he only had one wall of wallpaper in his room. We experimented w/ the scorer (for us, it seemed to chew up the drywall paper a bit with little marks like you might expect from a push pin). We sprayed, we scraped, we picked.

 

After a while, DH got it down to a science where he could steam it , scrape it, and get the entire sheet off in one swipe. He sprayed with a blue solution (non toxic, maybe enzyme based?) that the local Benjamin Moore store suggested.

 

Once he mastered the system, we were almost finished LOL, but at least we know how to do it now.

 

It really wasn't that bad for us. The paper went up in the late 80s. There were a few spots where we had funky glue. I think a few repairs were done at the seams with super glue. You could tell the adhesive there was not the wallpaper adhesive we were dealing w/ elsewhere. Thankfully there were only a few spots like that.

 

We wiped down the walls 2-3 times or so to clean them and also had to sand a few spots. We did have a few placed where we had to spackle a tiny bit.

 

If you have a more out of the way area you can start with, that would be my recommendation. THere was a learning curve but really it got easier after we figured out what system worked best for getting the entire sheet off in one piece.

[EmilyinND]

Ugh! I feel your pain! When we bought our house almost 12 yrs ago, there was wallpaper in EVERY room. Not tasteful, subtle wallpaper, but bold, patterned gawdy wallpaper from the late 60's. I know that it was original to the house, BECAUSE when they put the drywall up, instead of priming the walls like normal people, they just slapped wallpaper on the walls...as if THAT would never go out of style. I just stripped the last of the wallpaper this year. It has been a huge job because the drywall paper rips also. We couldn't steam it or get it too wet because the drywall paper would come off also. So we would lightly score it & use Diff wallpaper remover & scrape tiny pieces off at a time. We did tear quite a bit of drywall paper off as well. Fortunately, they make this paint on stuff called gardz that is used to repair & seal up damaged drywall. So when we got done stripping, we painted gardz on. If need be, my dad would skim coat areas with mud, then we would prime, then paint. What a pain!! Can't stand wallpaper!!

 

Anyway, if your walls are primed underneath, I would rent a steamer. Hope it turns out to be hassle-free for you!:001_smile:

[In The Great White North]

Are you sure you want to put the time/cost/energy into this? Some of the rooms in our house had 6 LAYERS of wallpaper. Six layers that did not come off easily, not with steam, not with hot water. The first layer was directly on dry wall without the benefit of paint. Which meant the last layer took the paper off the drywall too. Which meant we had to put a skim coat of mud on the whole thing.

 

If they used a "waterproof" or "washable" wallpaper, the steam/water won't permeate it well. They sell a little gizmo that you run over the walls that punctures little holes in it so the moisture can get in and loosen the glue. Sort of. Well, that's the idea at least. Of course, it puts tiny holes in the walls too. Another room that will need a skim coat.

 

It took weeks to get all the wallpaper off ds's walls.

 

A spray bottle of hot water is far more effective than the steamers and not as messy as a sponge.

[justamouse]

White Lightening liquor. For you. Because taking off wallpaper must be the seventh circle of hell.

 

You have my condolences.

[*Jen*]

The following info is for if your walls are primed before the wallpaper went up. If not it is seriously easier to pull down the sheetrock and put new stuff up :lol:

 

If it is a thicker 60's 70's style paper we found ripping the outer layer off was the quickest way to do it. Basically with the thicker paper you can rip off the decorated part of the paper leaving only lighter backing paper left. Then you could easily spray that with remover solution and scrape/pull the thinner backing paper off the wall.

 

Make sure you wash the walls well after all the paper is off to remove all traces of the glue. Otherwise you will never get a good smooth coat of paint on the walls.

 

If it is thinner paper than the scoring tool was the most helpful.

 

We never used a steamer with any of our paper removal.

 

Liquor is much needed extra tool to get through the process.

 

 

**Our house had some of the ugliest wall paper I have ever seen when we moved in. The master bathroom was covered in silver metallic wallpaper with gold swirls and red butterflies. If was like waking up on a bad high every morning. Our main hall was covered in wallpaper that looked like tree bark and one bathroom had some of those beautiful geometric pastel patterns of the 80s.

[Amy in NH]

If you are planning to do a lot of rooms over a period of time, purchasing a steamer is not all that expensive. We never found a wallpaper perforator tool to work well and, as others have noted, they do mess up the drywall paper underneath.

 

You will be lucky if you don't have to float the walls (skim coat of drywall mud) after you get the paper off. In fact, when we took down the wallpaper in our downstairs bathroom, we discovered multiple patches that weren't finished, and crumbling plaster in some places. It took a couple of days to get the walls to the point where they could be primed and painted. Now they look like old plaster walls that have been painted - not bad, and definitely better than the yucky old wallpaper.

 

In a house we used to live in, after the wallpaper was removed, it became apparent that the old plaster walls were never going to be smooth. We used a texture gun (need to hook it up to an air compressor) to put a knockdown on the walls. They came out great, and if we ever had to patch nail holes they would never be noticeable.

[OnTheBrink]

TNT.

 

 

 

Ok, barring blowing up the house and rebuilding, I found a steamer worked a LOT better than any spray chemicals did. This was on a kitchen that had pink plaid wall paper over about 4 other layers of equally ugly designs. Either way, it's a nightmare.

[Aubrey]

Don't put it up in the first place! :lol:

 

We used spray chemicals, but didn't have a TON to remove & never tried the steamer. I think we used DIF, but it's been a LONG time.

 

The alcohol's not a bad idea, either. And good help/company/entertainment. Breathable air.

 

ETA: Time limits. It's addictive, but not in a good way. Then you'll be sore afterward & never go back to finish. Otoh, once you quit for the day, you'll still never go back to finish. :D

[Beatusduo]

We used fabric softener w/ very warm water. Sponge it on and it peeled off in layers.

 

This method worked well for us.

[In The Great White North]

And good help/company/entertainment.

 

TC audios work well.

[Kari C in SC]

Wow! You guys are great. The house is about 13 years old. I am sure it was primed and painted when the house was built because my brother-in-law was on the painting crew for this neighborhood. I believe it to be only one layer in each room, but I am not certain. My husband refuses to prime over it and paint it - so we have to remove it. If we don't do that - I think we are going scare off a lot of renters. The flooring will be replaced - so at least I don't have to worry about that. I think I will start with a few of the things I have on hand and then move up to the other ideas. I do have Mike's in the fridge - so that will bring some comfort! Thanks guys!

[cin]

 

 

 

 

**Our house had some of the ugliest wall paper I have ever seen when we moved in. The master bathroom was covered in silver metallic wallpaper with gold swirls and red butterflies. If was like waking up on a bad high every morning. Our main hall was covered in wallpaper that looked like tree bark and one bathroom had some of those beautiful geometric pastel patterns of the 80s.

 

:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

 

 

If you are planning to do a lot of rooms over a period of time, purchasing a steamer is not all that expensive. We never found a wallpaper perforator tool to work well and, as others have noted, they do mess up the drywall paper underneath.

 

We have this and it makes it somewhat easier. I use it with a large flat scraper (or large flat putty knife shaped thing). It also makes you very popular with friends and neightbors :)

Edited October 15, 2011 by cin

[GWOB]

White Lightening liquor. For you. Because taking off wallpaper must be the seventh circle of hell.

 

You have my condolences.

 

 

:iagree: A strong drink (ok, many strong drinks) is necessary while removing wallpaper. And make sure there are no little people around, because dirty words will probably come out of your mouth.

 

I never used a steamer. I just used a scoring tool and a wallpaper remover purchased at the hardware store. I do not recommend the product "Dif". It is a think blue solution which will leave tons of residue all over the walls.

[sthompson]

We used the corner of a scraper to make holes in the paper and then used a rag to wet it with vinegar. Got the job done and was inexpensive. I'd open a window though, the smell can be overpowering:tongue_smilie:

[justamouse]

Yes liquor helps too. ;)

 

We keep meeting like this.:D

[Princess Peach]

I do not envy you. I say, re-sheetrock. I hate wallpaper.

[GailV]

My husband refuses to prime over it and paint it - so we have to remove it.

 

Your husband is correct. Let's say, just for argument, that you decide to prime and paint over it. Eventually, someone else wants to paint over THAT. And layer after layer of paint builds up, until the wall paper starts falling off the wall due to the weight. Except not really, because its got all that paint on it that's keeping any moisture from getting through so that you can REALLY remove it. And then you find yourself in our entrance with 2 stories of ^&)% to remove somehow so you can paint it a color that is NOT a disturbing fleshy pink that the previous people apparently thought was attractive.

 

You are a saint to remove all of this wallpaper. Remind yourself of that. Really. Blessed are they that remove the wallpaper instead of painting over it.