Wallpaper Removal Tips???

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
22,317
Purraise
20
Location
USA
I'm about to take on the pretty big task of ripping down all the wallpaper in my master bathroom, master toilet area (off the master bath), guest bathroom, and dressing area!

Any tips????


I'm going to Lowes in a little while to get wallpaper remover (i was going to use fabric softner diluted with water in a spray bottle- but my sister Kimmy JUST redid their kitchen and she said the bottled stuff at lowes works better). Colin already has the tool i need to scrape it off so i was just going to get the wallpaper remover while i'm there.

Any tips/suggestions???
 

libby74

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2006
Messages
6,217
Purraise
18
Location
Illinois
I've papered and re-papered the rooms in my 6 room house 19 times, I consider myself both experienced and stupid!

When you go to Lowes make sure to get a wallpaper scoring tool---it's a little round thing that fits in your palm and has little teeth on rollers on the underside. I've discovered that this little tool is invaluable. Just run it all over the old paper; it will leave tiny holes for the water to soak thru. The key to getting all the old paper and glue off is get it wet down to the wall, not just the top layer of paper. I use a garden sprayer--it holds a lot of water. You don't really need wallpaper removing solution, soapy water works just as well. Remember to work a small area at a time, keeping the paper really damp. Use a wide blade to scrape the old paper off; a small blade leads to gouges in the plaster/drywall.
Lots of luck and don't get discouraged. Removing old wallpaper is a lot of work but sometimes you just have to do it. Are you re-papering or painting?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
22,317
Purraise
20
Location
USA
Originally Posted by libby74

I've papered and re-papered the rooms in my 6 room house 19 times, I consider myself both experienced and stupid!

When you go to Lowes make sure to get a wallpaper scoring tool---it's a little round thing that fits in your palm and has little teeth on rollers on the underside. I've discovered that this little tool is invaluable. Just run it all over the old paper; it will leave tiny holes for the water to soak thru. The key to getting all the old paper and glue off is get it wet down to the wall, not just the top layer of paper. I use a garden sprayer--it holds a lot of water. You don't really need wallpaper removing solution, soapy water works just as well. Remember to work a small area at a time, keeping the paper really damp. Use a wide blade to scrape the old paper off; a small blade leads to gouges in the plaster/drywall.
Lots of luck and don't get discouraged. Removing old wallpaper is a lot of work but sometimes you just have to do it. Are you re-papering or painting?
Thanks Libby! Those are some great tips! I will definitely pick up a scoring tool!:bightumb: I'm planning to paint afterwards!!!
 

laureen227

Darksome Duo!
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 3, 2003
Messages
19,260
Purraise
387
Location
Denton TX
Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Thanks Libby! Those are some great tips! I will definitely pick up a scoring tool!
I'm planning to paint afterwards!!!
that will help a lot.
i used the scoring tool, plus warm water [didn't even use soap!]. the kitchen border was VERY difficult to get off - most of it came off in teeny little pieces. i had to use a scraper to get the 2nd layer off [the top layer came off easily
].
now, the bathroom border - that came off in SHEETS! i don't know if it was because it was in the bathroom, or if perhaps it'd been on the wall for a shorter time - but there was a big difference, even tho my method was identical for both rooms.
 

persi & alley

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
6,313
Purraise
15
Location
Farmers Branch, Texas
Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

I'm about to take on the pretty big task of ripping down all the wallpaper in my master bathroom, master toilet area (off the master bath), guest bathroom, and dressing area!

Any tips????


I'm going to Lowes in a little while to get wallpaper remover (i was going to use fabric softner diluted with water in a spray bottle- but my sister Kimmy JUST redid their kitchen and she said the bottled stuff at lowes works better). Colin already has the tool i need to scrape it off so i was just going to get the wallpaper remover while i'm there.

Any tips/suggestions???
Now I know I spend too much time on the computer. When I saw your title of wallpaper, I thought you were talking about wallpaper!
 

monaxlisa

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
1,783
Purraise
14
Location
Under a pile of cats (and dogs)
I've stripped and painted four rooms in my house which has had 4-5 layers of paper per room. Personally, I say don't even bother with the remover solution stuff. Spend $50 and buy yourself a wallpaper steamer. I stripped a 3x4 section of wall and it took me 6 hours with the hot water/fabric softener solution, after that I splurged on a steamer and I can get one wall done in 4 hours. If your paper has sort of a fabric like feel you can run your spackling knife (or whatever tool youre using) under an edge and peel the top of it right off. The glue and actual paper will still be left up but you wont have to mess with the thick stuff that way. Good luck!
 

forensic

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 3, 2007
Messages
1,350
Purraise
2
Location
Buried under the cat
When we did our living room and foyer we used a paper tiger and warm warm and a LOT of elbow grease.

And spackle. Lots of that too. Silly people putting up the paper wrong.
 

monaxlisa

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
1,783
Purraise
14
Location
Under a pile of cats (and dogs)
With the steamer, you hold the steam plate against the wall for a minute or two and it peels off like butter, even my four or five layers. If you only have one or two layers it'd be even quicker.
 

mom of 4

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
1,282
Purraise
12
Location
BajaOklahoma, should be 200 miles north
I started hanging wallpaper with my mother when when I was 10.
We've hung paper in multiple rooms in every home we've lived in. I paid to have someone hang wallpaper once and had to redo it because they did such a bad job - not to my standards anyway.

How hard or easy it will be depends on two things - what they did to prep the walls before hanging the paper and the quality of the paper. The better quality papers will pull off the top layer in larger hunks. Cheap paper tends to come off in small pieces, even with great wall prepping.

I use the paper tiger to put holes in the paper and DIF solution. Put lots of holes in the paper, the more the better.I just use a handheld spray bottle and saturate the area. Wait 10 or 15 minutes and reapply. The trick is to dilute the DIF, following instructions on the bottle, with hot water. I've even warmed it up in the microwave, if needed. As you remove the paper, you can apply more DIF if needed.
 

libby74

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2006
Messages
6,217
Purraise
18
Location
Illinois
Spend $50 and buy yourself a wallpaper steamer
I bought a wallpaper steamer, but have only used it in one room. It did a good job, but the steam that built up in the room was horrendous! It was winter and I couldn't open a window; it was extremely warm in the house by the time I was done. I don't knolw that I'd use a steamer in the summer, either, when the humidity is already high. Just my opinion.
 

GoldyCat

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 31, 2008
Messages
15,759
Purraise
4,676
Location
Arizona
When I was a kid my family remodeled an entire house, which meant removing many layers of wallpaper from 8 or 9 rooms. We used a solution of water and white vinegar in a spray bottle. Whatever solution you use, you need to keep the wallpaper pretty well saturated. And as libby74 said, use a wide-bladed scraper.
 

monaxlisa

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
1,783
Purraise
14
Location
Under a pile of cats (and dogs)
I never had problems with the steam building up in a room, but I didnt have the doors to the rooms closed. I've also stripped two rooms this summer and while it was hot it wasnt too horrible. With a steamer you dont have to worry about keeping the area saturated, or leaving it for 15 minutes. You give a maximum two minutes per spot and just peel it off. I use a metal 4inch flexible spackling knife.
You can also try sticking the corner of your knife under the paper somewhere, sometimes the top two or three layers will peel off in pretty big chunks before you even get it wet.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
22,317
Purraise
20
Location
USA
Well, after doing quite a bit of research and talking to DH, we decided that we are going to try to paint over the wallpaper vs. removing it. We're going to try a small area first and see how it looks and if it goes well- we'll do the whole bathroom.

I wish we would have thought of this though BEFORE i went to the store and picked up all of the wallpaper remover and tools
DH just went to take them back!

Since the wallpaper is in good shape mostly (although hideous!) we think it would do less damage to the drywall to leave it up and just paint over. That being said we will properly glue any loose ends, seal & sand any edges and go over the whole room with a good sealant. We will also make sure we prime well and do several coats of paint to get it all. The wallpaper isn't really textured eithor so the sealer should take care of it. We're also going to make sure we don't have any paint bleeding through as well by properly sealing it. If the test area turns out well- we'll do the whole thing. If not, then we'll rip all of the wallpaper down.


I'm keeping my fingers crossed we can just paint over it since it's such a large area to do in the master bath. Then we will still have several other rooms to do so it's gonna be a big project


At the moment i'm sitting on the couch with more paint colors than i know what to do with and i'm having the hardes time choosing!!
 

natalie_ca

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
21,136
Purraise
223
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Well, after doing quite a bit of research and talking to DH, we decided that we are going to try to paint over the wallpaper vs. removing it. We're going to try a small area first and see how it looks and if it goes well- we'll do the whole bathroom.
Good plan!


I was going to suggest that, but figured you had thought about it and really wanted to paint on bare walls.

My brother removed wallpaper from the walls of an older house. There must have been a dozen layers of paint and wallpaper, and when he finally did reach bare walls, they were a mess and required plastering and sanding. Which is why most people opt to paint over wallpaper! LOL
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
We moved into an older house where the former owners had used really really cheap paper and I swear they used crazy-glue to hold it on. It took me a week of evenings to get it all off. Thank goodness only the one area was like that.

If a paper is dry-strippable, the top layer will strip off easily once you get a piece of it started and all that is left is a thin film of paper. Soak that with warm water (you can use soap if you want but it isn't necessary), then once it is soaked I use my metal egg-flipper to just scrape it off the wall. Piece of cake.

We did the same in the bathroom but after getting all the paper off the walls were a mess. We then put up anaglypta paper and painted that. It turned out awesome.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
22,317
Purraise
20
Location
USA
Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Good plan!


I was going to suggest that, but figured you had thought about it and really wanted to paint on bare walls.

My brother removed wallpaper from the walls of an older house. There must have been a dozen layers of paint and wallpaper, and when he finally did reach bare walls, they were a mess and required plastering and sanding. Which is why most people opt to paint over wallpaper! LOL
Thanks Linda!

My concern was doing as little damage to the drywall as possible- at the moment i think just treating it properly then painting over it might be the better option for us. I'm going to see how the test area goes first before we decide to do the while thing! If it goes well then that would really be easier than ripping everything down for sure!


Whatever we do though i want to make sure it looks as well done as possible- i don't want it to look tacky if we do paint over it- so i'm going to make sure we really take our time and do a thorough job.

Now if i could only decide on paint!!!!
I'm still looking at paint colors and i'm no closer to choosing


Originally Posted by Yosemite

We moved into an older house where the former owners had used really really cheap paper and I swear they used crazy-glue to hold it on. It took me a week of evenings to get it all off. Thank goodness only the one area was like that.

If a paper is dry-strippable, the top layer will strip off easily once you get a piece of it started and all that is left is a thin film of paper. Soak that with warm water (you can use soap if you want but it isn't necessary), then once it is soaked I use my metal egg-flipper to just scrape it off the wall. Piece of cake.

We did the same in the bathroom but after getting all the paper off the walls were a mess. We then put up anaglypta paper and painted that. It turned out awesome.
Thanks for those suggestions! If we are unable to paint over the wallpaper, then i will definitely consider some of that advice!
 

laureen227

Darksome Duo!
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 3, 2003
Messages
19,260
Purraise
387
Location
Denton TX
Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Now if i could only decide on paint!!!!
I'm still looking at paint colors and i'm no closer to choosing
i heard/saw/read somewhere that to choose colors for your home, choose a color [or color family] that's in your closet.
my closet has lots of royal blue. my house is painted in shades of blue ranging from sky to deep peacock.
 

monaxlisa

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
1,783
Purraise
14
Location
Under a pile of cats (and dogs)
If you properly remove wallpaper it shouldnt damage your walls at all, except for the occasional gouge with the spackling knife.
As for painting over it, I dont recommend it but if youre going to try it before you put all the sealant and all that stuff on, paint over a wallpaper seam and see what you think. They will show up so you'll be able to tell that there is wallpaper under there. Also, any bubbles or wrinkles will stick out like a sore thumb. I've got painted wallpaper in my house (painted before I bought it) and if you'd like I can take a picture so you can see how it looks.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
Originally Posted by MonaxLisa

If you properly remove wallpaper it shouldnt damage your walls at all, except for the occasional gouge with the spackling knife.
As for painting over it, I dont recommend it but if youre going to try it before you put all the sealant and all that stuff on, paint over a wallpaper seam and see what you think. They will show up so you'll be able to tell that there is wallpaper under there. Also, any bubbles or wrinkles will stick out like a sore thumb. I've got painted wallpaper in my house (painted before I bought it) and if you'd like I can take a picture so you can see how it looks.
I'd have to agree with this. I've yet to see paint over wallpaper that doesn't show up all the seams and bubbles/flaws. If possible, IMO, it is best to remove the wallpaper, fix any areas with spackle, sand, clean, prime and paint.
 
Top