Yikes.. What have I done??

[bettyann29]

I have been sitting here all weekend watching home improvement shows and seeing the beautiful things they have been doing.. I just bought my house a few months ago and havent done any improvements yet but everytime I walk into the main bathroom I want to tear the wallpaper off the wall.. whoever put that stuff up obviously didnt know what they were doing.. they overlapped it here and there and you can see the lines.. it was horrid.. I noticed about a month ago that the bottom was starting to curl a little at the ends.. I walked in about an hour ago and just started peeling the wallpaper off the wall.. What was I thinking?? I guess I thought it would peel right off evenly.. It came off in clumps and now it looks a mess and I have to get it all off.. I need to go to home depot and get some stuff I can spray on it to soften the glue so it will all peel off..

 

[DVCLiz]

You can do it with just plain water and a scraper. Don't be rough or you'll gouge a hole in your sheetrock. Do it a little at a time - if you know you're going to be in there a while (so to speak) spray a little section, then in a few minutes it will be ready to scrape. You could get quite a lot accomplished (so to speak again!!))

There are some really pretty wallpapers out there, and one bathroom is not expensive to have someone do. Have fun!!

 

[Micca]

I have had urges like that, and then I remember "I will only make it worse".

 

[jan/cape]

My mom once rented a steamer to take wallpaper down It worked very well

 

[Mermaid02]

My husband puts a mixture of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and it eats the glue off the paper.

 

[Feralpeg]

Any wallpaper place will have a solution that will take it right off.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Home improvement shows are very BAD! Ask my DH, we've been perpetually re-decorating since 1996 when we first got HGTV. I finish a room, then the next needs to be done, then the next & next. Over & over. Kinda like how WDW is always painting Main Street USA.

Good luck. We tackled 2 bathrooms at the same time in April. One is done & we need to get back to the other one soon. DMIL is visiting in Sept.

 

[binny]

it actually isnt bad. Go and buy a "paper tiger" form Walmart or Home depot or something then fill a spray bottle with warm water and fabric softener. Run the paper tiger over it to score it, spray with solution and Voila! It should come off very easily.

I had so much wallpaper in this house that I thought I would go crazy. It was bad!


That worked on all of them!

 

[MAKmom]

I used to do that kind of stuff when I was younger. I've even ripped paneling down.

Just keep going & paint. You will be very happy in 6 hours when you are done.

 

[da-winnie-pooh]

At least you didn't paint over it. Future owners of your home would curse you@

 

[Steamboat Marti]

In all of my years experience with taking down wallpaper - the most important ingredient (besides a little muscle) is WARM water. Cold water won't do it - the warmer the better. But never hot - why burn yourself? It's tourture enough to have to take it down.

Stick with it - you'll be sooooooo glad you did.

 

[Steamboat Marti]

At least you didn't paint over it. Future owners of your home would curse you@

amen!

 

[janette]

I have one more room that still has wallpaper. I used warm water & fabric softener when I removed the wallpaper in the master bath. It worked except for the spots without any finish and did okay there. I refuse to put wallpaper up anywhere after dealing with the removal of what was there. My master bath is now very nicely done in teal colors, I used plastic bags to apply the lighter colors & a glaze. Putting some kind of texture or finish technique helps to hide the uneven walls after tearing the wall paper down.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What have you done? You have started a project. Thankfully no wallpaper here but I am picking paint colors.

I have to keep my old neighbor's voice in my head..."just do it"...

 

[figment52]

My husband puts a mixture of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and it eats the glue off the paper.

Thats what we use too. Let it set a few minutes before you start pulling at the paper. It helps if you lightly score the paper with a razor blade before you spray. The paper comes off in smaller pieces but vinegar has a better chance of getting to the glue.

 

[CarolA]

OK I have a releated question.

My wallpaper has been painted! SO I have paint on top of the wall paper. (Maybe more then one coat) I have a feeling the paper is original... (Mid 70's) Any suggestions? We tried the little scorer, didn't do a thing!

 

[bettyann29]

I went to Lowes and bought a scorer, a scraper and a spray bottle of some gel stuff that you spray on it and it loosens the glue.. so far I have scraped off the top layer of the wallpaper and I just scored some of the paper and I sprayed that stuff on it.. Just waiting 10 minutes or so and then I'll head back in there.. Luckily its only 1 wall that has the wallpaper on it.. While at Lowes I did find some really pretty textured paint that I want to paint the whole bathroom but that'll have to be another day

DF is away in Florida until next weekend and I just called him and told him that the bathroom is gonna look different.. He was afraid for a minute.. Till I told him what I did.. Last year when he went to Florida for 1 week I cleaned out the garage and got rid of alot of stuff

This is the first house we have owned.. as we've always rented so it feels good to do something and know I can do whatever I want to with it..

 

[Planogirl]

I keep wanting to tackle the ugly wallpaper in our kitchen but I'm afraid to. The kitchen is pretty large and they papered all under the cabinets and above them and everywhere else. It's going to be so difficult to get that stuff off.

I'm wondering about the steamers and now well they work. Or maybe dynamite.

 

[ilovepcot]

To the OP..."WUSS"!!!!

Let me show you how to step up to the "big time" in home renovations. Just this week I managed to rip out the bottom (no, it wasn't entirely planned) of our largest kitchen cabinet and dislocate a "metal thingy" (piece of important plumbing equipment) causing it to fall all the way through the floor to depths unknown. Also ripped a large area of my hand open on a rusty nail when attempting to reach for the "thingy". What's left of the bottom of this cabinet is now warped and ruined and in need of being totally rebuilt. Have no idea what kind of plumbing problem has now been created.

I feel you're a bit "timid" about getting in there and getting down with those troublesome renovations. Oh yeah, let me help you step up to the "big time"!

 

[binny]

good for you!


I had to paint over wallpaper here, the woman who put it on in the first place decided tosave a stepp apparently and adhere it directly to the drywall!

I tried to take it off then had to go and get some drywall patch
So I primed it with 2 or 3 layers of KILZ and then painted over it.

Not the best way but the only way.