We recently bought a home with wall paper in EVERY room. We are waiting for the closing and tring to find the fastest and most effective way to remove wall paper. Some rooms also have a coat of paint of the wall paper and you can still see the design through the paint. HELP!
COMMUNITY FORUM
Rent a steamer, its the mose effective way to get wallpaper off without damaging whats underneath, Just hope they sized the walls before they pappered or your going to have a fun time getting it off.
We had the same problem! We've had great luck using white vinegar to dissolve the glue and backing paper. It worked faster than DIF! Get a 1 or 2 gallon pump-up garden sprayer and put the vinegar in. We tore off the glossy facing of the wallpaper and the vinegar made quick work of the backing paper and glue underneath. Your real problem areas are where someone has repaired loose paper with Elmer's or the like.
Another idea, more drastic: you can buy very thin drywall to resurface the walls with.
Good luck
Rick
Another idea, more drastic: you can buy very thin drywall to resurface the walls with.
Good luck
Rick
We are in a similar situation, paper in all the rooms, except for the paneling in the front entry. We have 4 layers in some rooms. We tried DIF and a tiger claw thing to score the paper, and it worked well for the 1st and 2nd layers, but the other layers weren't budging. We ended up renting a steamer. Less than 20 bux a day, it was the best thing we've done in the house so far. I can't imaging how long it would have taken without the steamer.
My wife and I bought a 1950's era ranch this past May with the intention to remodel and got WAY more than we bargained for in the process.
Whether you're steaming, peeling, using one of those scoring things, or using regular old hot water and a putty knife, removing the old wallpaper is usually time consuming and just plain messy.
The biggest thing we learned was that a lot of times there's a reason that something was wallpapered. Once we got all of ours down we looked at each other and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. The walls were rough (not just with wallpaper adhesive- I'm talking rough plaster, uneven areas, cracks, the works) and needed a LOT of prep before they were even ready for paint.
It came out looking pretty good in the end, but it definitely didn't come out perfect. We had to skimcoat and sand most of the walls because you just can't smooth out old plaster.
Swearing and 'Kilz' paint to cover adhesive stains are going to be a big part of your life in the next few months.
Good luck!!!!
[This message has been edited by JayF (edited December 02, 2002).]
