Wallpaper Removel - Any Good Methods?
I need to remove wallpaper from about 5 rooms in a house built in 1974. It looks like most of it is original to the house. Any good methods? Should I get a steamer or just use the tools I've seen at Lowes? Thanks!
[addsig]
I suggest you use the steamer. Be careful and do not peel the top layer off of the drywall. You can also use kilz to prime over the wallpaper if it is not peeling,and then paint the room.
Steamer is good but you can also get done pretty easy using Hot Water and Vinegar. Let set about 20 min wipe again and take a putty knife to scrape it.
I'd really, really, recommend leaving it and painting or wallpapering over it if it's stuck well. Sometimes you can get into a real mess if the wall was not properly primed and sealed before the wallpaper was applied. If you're leaving it, you can take a little sheetrock mud over the seams and nail holes and sand smooth before priming for a totally professional look. Another possibility: is it stripable paper? If so, the top seperates easily from a smooth bottom layer leaving a good surface to paper over. Again, the sheetrock mud is a good idea so no seams show through.
Much luck,
Terry
I recently removed wallpaper from 5 rooms in my house. The best thing I found after trial and error was just plain ole' water. That's right, use the hottest water that you can stand along with a sponge. Get the paper nice and wet but try not to soak it because you may damage the dry wall. Then start peeling it off in strips. If there is an adhesive left over repeat the process. It is time consuming but it works.
Home epot has a product, I forget the name of it, but you can by a wallpaper scoring wheel, smeer this stuff on, let it set for a while the just peel away. It's kinda fun as well as easy.
C-
A relative of mine just removed the wallpaper from most of the walls in a 4000 sq/ft house built in the early 1900's. He said he was told to spray on fabric softner by a contractor who did a lot of this type of work. He said it worked great.
I used this organge oil based product from Lowes and hot water. Work very well for paper based wallpaper. To get it to work on vinyl, you have to score it with a knife. I was taking 4 x 4 shhets off at one time for the paper, but much smaller for the vinyl (as luck would have it most of mine was paper based). A little mild scraping and scrubbing with a sponge to remove the glue and it was gone.
Dif & a Paper Tiger - should be all you need.
The Paper Tiger you roll over the wall paper, it fits in the palm of your hand, it makes tiny little cuts all over the surface of the wall paper, you spray the Dif on and let it soak in for about 10 minutes, then come back with a putty knife, start and edge and if you have let it soak enough you will pull off the entire sheet at one time.
very hot soapy water and a real razor. any dish detergent will do but the scraper should be one that uses a real razor, not a putty knife (not sharp enough), at least in my opinion. be generous with the soapy water - it'll be messy but it comes up so clean it's ridiculous.
I peeled the top layer off (most wall paper is two part) then textured over it. Worked great. looked great!
Go with Dif and Paper Tiger. I was skeptical but it worked. It came off in full sheets and didn't damage the drywall paper. Just score it a lot and get it real wet. If you do it right you have no use for a scraper.
Different paper is stuck on with different methods. Trial and error depending on the job. Start with plain water first than work your way up from there. There is no set answer to this question.
The paper tiger type product is necessary to allow the remover or water to penetrate the paper and attack the glue.
If you paint over it I suggest using an oil based primer so that you don't have a lot of bubbles where the paper lifts.
If the paper is old and the walls were not treated with sizing before being applied, you have a real problem. Futher, I bet the walls under the paper are in poor condition which was the reason they put the paper up in the first place. Be prepared to skim coat the walls after removal. I prefer just leaving the paper (after testing a section for easy removal), and putting up featherboard: 1/4" thick sheetrock, taping and compunding. Here, you are quickly guaranteed brand new walls. BTW, don't buy the featherboard longer than 8', it breaks easily.
Good Day To You:
We've tried many different ways to take that nasty stuff off. We also tried painting over it, but each time we did, the edges of the paper started to peel up. We ran across some stuff called E-Z GEL, made by Roman Adhesives. We have gone online and bought direct from them, but no real savings. You can buy it at KMart for about 6-10 dollars, I can't remember. It makes 2 gal of a gel that you can spray, brush or roll it on like paint. Take a coffee break and come back and start peeling it off. WORKS GREAT! Good luck and make $$$.
Tom
8-)
Paper Tiger is the way to go. Now look at the paper and see if it can be painted over if there isn't any damage.
Well heres a method that works and is the real "lazy mans" way. Get a hotplate and a metal 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with water, put it on the hot plate and let it steam. close the doors and windows, seal them with tape if necessary. the idea is to get it real sauna-like in there. after a day or two the wall paper will fall off.
I've never done this, however on a room where the walls were drywall so I'd keep a close eye.
In Chicago where you sometimes have dozens of apartments with wallpaper when you are renovating we just pull the vents out of the radiators and turn up the steam heat. Three days later that wallpaper has fallen off in sheets.
I would really think twice before doing the whole house steam method as described here. I would do that no sooner than I would caulk all the doors and windows and fill the house with water from a garden hose through the chimney.
use "dif" wallpaper remover or downy fabic softener or another type of wallpaper remover. pull the first layer of wallpaper off. then saturate the backing with the water and wallpaper solution. there may be other layers there. if you start getting into your sheetrock paper you need to stop because it has not been sealed before the wallpaper was hung. instead of trying to remove skim all seams with sheetrock mud. sand to prep. the walls for the wallpaper or paint. use a shields {like kilz} to seal the walls then put the wallpaper on the walls. we do this regularly...........kenmax
[ Edited by kenmax on Date 04/07/2004 ][ Edited by kenmax on Date 04/07/2004 ]
Is this "paper tiger" the actual name for this thing? Can it be picked at HD or Lowes? Thanks in advance.
and the absolute easiest way is, to hire it done
i remove wallpaper every week its a pain if it was not sealed before it was installed. my wife has a business removing/installing wallpaper for 27 years.
Is Dif and Paper Tiger available at Home Depot? What company makes the product? Thanks!
Just go to Home Depot, tell the people there what you want to do, and they'll find the products you're looking for. And, yes, the BEST way to remove wall paper is to get someone else to do it. It's a tiring, frustrating, irritating endeavor.