Another Wallpaper Removal Vent.

[DawnCt1]

I have gotten pretty good at removing wallpaper over the last couple of years. Fabric softener, Dif, gel, Dif concentrate, vinegar and water, the "paper tiger", etc. Yesterday I met wallpaper that had to be the wallpaper from Hell. After peeling postage stamp pieces I relented and rented a wall paper steamer. It still wasn't easy. The walls were poorly primed before the wall paper went up. The wall paper still did not come off easily and when it did, it occasionally took the paper on the sheet rock with it. DH will have a few days of sanding and skim coating before we can even begin to paint. Thank goodness its a medium size bathroom. I WILL NEVER WALLPAPER AGAIN IN MY LIFE!!!

 

[Kath2003]

Wallpaper is the work of the devil.

As is purple paint - I've literally just put the SIXTH coat of white paint on our office and it's finally covered What a waste of time!

I vow never to a) wallpaper anything or b) paint anything a dark colour. EVER.

 

[RitaZ.]

I WILL NEVER WALLPAPER AGAIN IN MY LIFE!!!

I removed a border about a month ago; which was the last vestige of wallpaper in my house. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

 

[DawnCt1]

I removed a border about a month ago; which was the last vestige of wallpaper in my house. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

We not longer have one shred of wallpaper. Well, maybe a shred but DH will sand it off!

 

[golfgal]

I have gotten pretty good at removing wallpaper over the last couple of years. Fabric softener, Dif, gel, Dif concentrate, vinegar and water, the "paper tiger", etc. Yesterday I met wallpaper that had to be the wallpaper from Hell. After peeling postage stamp pieces I relented and rented a wall paper steamer. It still wasn't easy. The walls were poorly primed before the wall paper went up. The wall paper still did not come off easily and when it did, it occasionally took the paper on the sheet rock with it. DH will have a few days of sanding and skim coating before we can even begin to paint. Thank goodness its a medium size bathroom. I WILL NEVER WALLPAPER AGAIN IN MY LIFE!!!

I hear you. We removed wallpaper in our old house from every wall in that house, and some CEILINGS too. NEVER, EVER again. I do know someone that used FABRIC instead of wallpaper. She put it up with fabric sizing I think (on plaster walls though). Removal was VERY easy-spray with water, let sit, remove.

 

[minkydog]

I feel your pain. I removed the wallpaper from our kitchen walls several years ago and what a PITA! The original owners had papered directly onto the sheetrock. Then they papered it another two times. We had 3 layers of wallpaper firmly adhered to the sheetrock. It took me several weeks to get it all off, taking it off in thin ribbons. And still I ended up damaging the sheetrock pretty badly.

 

[mom23boys]

I also feel your pain, I removed a wall border from by younger boys room, it took forever. I told DH I will never wallpaper/wallborder again.

 

[Ceila]

Ugh, so I'm not alone in my misery this week! I just finished taking the wallpaper off in the kids' bathroom (still need to do a final wipedown). The previous owner wallpapered that room and the kitchen. I stripped the kitchen a couple of years ago and it was a breeze, so I had high hopes for the bath. Unfortunately, this has been much harder. Oh well, almost done!!

 

[RachaelA]

We took wallpaper off our entire house last summer when we bought it. It was the original wall paper from the 70s (the foil junk) and not a single wall was primed and a few rooms had 2 layers. It was on every single wall and many of parts of the ceiling (yes ceiling!!)

So yes I feel your pain!!

 

[safetymom]

So what is everyone's favorite thing to use to remove the wallpaper? I have some ugly borders the previous owner put up. Thanks.

 

[Ceila]

So what is everyone's favorite thing to use to remove the wallpaper?

Hired help






(OK, that never actually happens. I've use the tiger and good old fashioned water. I run the Tiger over everything then soak the heck out of the walls. Then I use a putty scraper and elbow grease.)

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I can give you some horror stories about wallpaper.

8 layers in my mom's kitchen over 15 inch wide mahogany boards. I think I peeled paper every day for a year.

 

[RNMOM]

I couldn't agree more about wallpaper. It is just horrible. When we moved into this house it was on the ceilings in nearly every room. The hall and both bathrooms were foil paper from the 70's. It took 6 of us 3 days to get all the paper off and the walls prepped.

Even scarier were the color of the walls beneath. The living room had one orange wall and one red.

 

[RitaZ.]

So what is everyone's favorite thing to use to remove the wallpaper? I have some ugly borders the previous owner put up. Thanks.

Are you opposed to moving?

Seriously, I think I've tried all the various methods of wallpaper removal. With the steamer, you have to be careful with it as it can damage the drywall. I also burned my hands while using it. The Tiger Paw, Dif Gel, water and vinegar. I haven't used the fabric softener method. If the walls were primed, the job will be a lot easier.

My suggestion is to try the most economical methods first to see if they work. Remove the top layer of the wallpaper to allow the water, vinegar, gel or steam to do their work. I didn't like the tiger paw because wallpaper kept getting on the wheels, which was a pain because I had to stop to remove the paper. IDK, maybe I was applying it too hard? The water and vinegar mixture was the most effective for me. Dif gel was too messy IMO, but I think it would be effective with stubborn wallpaper. It's easier to control and does a great job of dissolving the glue, but then you have to clean off the residue.

Good luck!

 

[LilyWDW]

I'm a designer... I can look past a LOT when looking at homes for sale... I WILL NOT buy a home that has wallpaper in too many rooms. I could deal with a small bathroom or something like that, but I saw a house where about 5 rooms were wallpapered. Oh heck no!

 

[Jennasis]

We were in Lowe's the other day and they had an entire section of wallpaper removal stuff, but not one single roll OF wallpaper! I remarked to DH that I guess wallpaper has gone the way of the dodo...thank goodness.

 

[RachaelA]

I don't have a suggestion about how to remove it because nothing worked on our walls to get the paper down even with removing the top layer. We bought a steamer, we tried vinegar, we tried downey, we tried just plain water, we scored every wall.

We ended up just ripping it down (which in some cases didn't even work because it just shredded) and then mudding and sanding where it took the top layer of the dry wall off.

Here is a picture of the upstairs hallway once the paper was removed (note: this JUST the hallway)

You can see the lovely wallpaper in our master bedroom in the back as well.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

Are you opposed to moving?

Seriously, I think I've tried all the various methods of wallpaper removal. With the steamer, you have to be careful with it as it can damage the drywall. I also burned my hands while using it. The Tiger Paw, Dif Gel, water and vinegar. I haven't used the fabric softener method. If the walls were primed, the job will be a lot easier.

My suggestion is to try the most economical methods first to see if they work. Remove the top layer of the wallpaper to allow the water, vinegar, gel or steam to do their work. I didn't like the tiger paw because wallpaper kept getting on the wheels, which was a pain because I had to stop to remove the paper. IDK, maybe I was applying it too hard? The water and vinegar mixture was the most effective for me. Dif gel was too messy IMO, but I think it would be effective with stubborn wallpaper. It's easier to control and does a great job of dissolving the glue, but then you have to clean off the residue.

Good luck!

Would you please tell me how much water/vinegar?? Hot water?? Thank you

 

[AndreaDM]

And here I thought I was the only one who bought a house with wallpaper on the CEILING! Yes, my youngest daughter's room has wallpaper up the walls and all the way up the slanted ceilings. We've lived here 3.5 years and it's still there...I had 4 other rooms to deal with first. We're in the middle of stripping the kitchen right now...I cannot wait until it's all done and as God as my witness, I will never have wallpaper again!!

 

[RitaZ.]

Would you please tell me how much water/vinegar?? Hot water?? Thank you

I mixed 1 part vinegar to two parts of water. I filled about 1/3 of the bottle with vinegar and the other 2/3 with hot water. I think my solution was stronger than recommended. I used hot water from the tap. Have old rags handy to wipe the solution because it will run down your walls.

Good luck!

Rachael~ WOW! That pic is overwhelming. Just thinking about removing all that wallpaper and knowing that there is more to remove is .