Removing Wallpaper 101

August 12th, 2006 - Wallpaper Removal 202

Pre-requisite:
Prep 101: Develop a thick skin.

Total Time: 8 hours including major cleanup.
2 person job

In Summary: We found this was the best way to do it.
1. Score the wall paper in a circular motion using a scoring tool ($8). Use the weight of your wrist. If too much pressure is applied, it will also perforate and rip the wall board when wet. With a utility knife, gently cut along the edges and ceiling.
2. With a drenched sponge with warm water or spray bottle, soak the wall paper. It will make the pulling process alot easier.
3. With a steamer ($49), steam the whole area. One person steams while the other person pulls.
4. Gently scrape off the leftovers using the head of the steamer.
5. Soon after, clean the wall off with a wet rag with warm water. Rinse often.

TIPS:
1. Wear goggles, gloves, and LONG loose pants! I received a severe burn from the condensation dripping from the steamer through my jeans! KEEP CHILDREN AWAY. Send them somewhere for the weekend or in the playroom. No running around under the dripping hot steam.
2. If you have a 3rd person that's great! Clean up the wall paper on the floor periodically before it dries and sticks to your floor! It makes a messy process just a little bit easier.
3. Multi-task! Clean the glue off the wall while it's still warm.
4. Soaking the wall paper with a spray bottle before steaming helped alot. It peeled right off. It's redundant in a sense because that is what the steamer is for, but that only works in an ideal situation when burning hot steam isn't dripping on your arms, hands and legs.

"Oh this doesn't seem too bad."


We started in a discreet area of the dining room. I tested a small area the previous evening to get an idea of how difficult it would be and how many layers there were.

(7 hours into it) "I wouldn't do this again even if you paid me!"
We averaged about 2 hours per wall. Here's my little brother on the last section. If you notice above the doorway, I cleaned the wall with warm water and a rag. You can see the difference to the right wall where it's still yellow with glue.

"Ugh, now we have to paint?"

After the walls are cleaned and dry, we patched up any holes with putty. Then we primed the walls to get it ready for painting. The ceiling also turned yellow from the misting glue. I cleaned it with a warm, but we decided to repaint the ceiling anyway.


Note: Our house is probably under the best conditions. We have a very clean canvas to work on. The previous owner renovated the room within the last 20 years. Ironically, they must've done a really good job wallpapering; otherwise, we wouldn't have had such success with removing it. If you have layers of old wall paper on paint on wall paper on paint, on sheetrock, you will have an even harder time than we did and the possibility of tearing your sheetrock/wallboard. If you have plastered walls, that's a whole other ball game.

We were really impressed with the results and proud of our effort.