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Original poster

Woodchip Wallpaper

32 replies

calebsmum · 13/01/2007 20:33

Our hallway and upstairs bedroom is covered in woodchip wallpaper and I hate it!! Anyone got an experiences of removing it or know a product that will cover it??

OP posts:
morningpaper · 13/01/2007 20:38

HAHAHAHA

don't remove it

You have to peel it off inch by inch, it's the devil's wallcovering

Pay someone to do it (a professional)

OR get someone to skim over it (a plasterer)

OR just paint it

Bluebear · 13/01/2007 20:41

I've just stripped a bedroom and a very long staircase of woodchip - it's horrid stuff and yes, you have to peel off the layers and end up with bits of wood all over the place but it does come off with a scraper and a standard steamer ( think ours was about £20 from wickes) and a lot of elbow grease.

franke · 13/01/2007 20:41

The bain of my life. Every property I've ever owned has been covered floor to ceiling in the stuff. You can try and take it off but be prepared to have a whole load of re-plastering done, particularly if it's an old (Victorian) house. Good luck.

auntymandy · 13/01/2007 20:42

we had this at home!! my dad called it donkey's breakfast!!!!!

morningpaper · 13/01/2007 20:42

I think it looks ok if you paint the whole house cream

Do that

auntymandy · 13/01/2007 20:43

we did paper over it once!!!

Original poster
calebsmum · 13/01/2007 20:43

It is an old victorian house am scared of taking it off incase the whole bloody house comes down. It already has 2 layers of paint, think it all needs taking off.

OP posts:
Bluebear · 13/01/2007 20:43

I always believed that it was only ever used to cover up dodgy plasterwork, so we have lived in this house for over 4 years with wallpaper we hated just because I was too scared to take it off.
But the walls were fine - and now beautiful thanks to our lovely decorator bloke.....just in time for us to sell the house

NappiesGalore · 13/01/2007 20:44

its usually hiding dodgy or old plastering... i quite like mp's suggestion of just skimming over it... saves paying someone to hoik it all off, then paying them to replaster anyway...

NappiesGalore · 13/01/2007 20:45

x posts! bluebear

franke · 13/01/2007 20:45

Look, it really is worth it. It's the nastiest stuff and once it's all off and you've repaired the walls you won't look back. It's gruelling but worth it. Can you at least pay someone to get it off? Can you learn to plaster yourself? My dh did some patch plastering - not the smoothest you've ever seen, but perfectly okay in a lumpy old house

NotAnOtter · 13/01/2007 20:46

hmmm, you HAVE to rmove it - you cannot skim on top . The wall will prob be crap underneath but not necessarily.
I reckon its due a revival - hang around - might come back in fashion like maxi-dresses!

Original poster
calebsmum · 13/01/2007 20:48

I quite often dig holes in our walls then have great fun plastering them! Always a bit bumpy but nothings fallen down yet, this however would be a huge job, money is very tight at mo as we've just had house double glazed. Might dig out my mums steamer and see how easy it comes off.

OP posts:
fairydust · 13/01/2007 20:49

get that smooth over stuff from a diy store and get a perfect finish at a fraction of the price and effort.

BettySpaghetti · 13/01/2007 20:49

Don't skim over it -the plaster and paper will all come off!

DP (builder) said that woodchip is normally used by people to cover really rough, cracked, bumpy walls. You can get it off with a steam wallpaper stripper but chances are the walls underneath will be quite dodgy.

Original poster
calebsmum · 13/01/2007 20:52

oh god don't dare touch it now!! The Khans who lived here before us, did a right bodge job of the house. They superglued carpets to tiles with no underlay (haven't dared do anything about that yet), fitted fitted wardrobes that are only 5" deep [hmmm] and also put a double glazed window in upside down. Really don't want to know the state of the walls!

OP posts:
southeastastra · 13/01/2007 20:53

can't you sandpaper it! hehe, blimey i love jobs like that i'm so sad

franke · 13/01/2007 20:54

I suggest you start with one wall in the upstairs bedroom and take it from there. IME it comes off some areas really easily and on other areas you feel as if you're chipping off tiny little slivers for days on end. Are the ceilings papered as well?

franke · 13/01/2007 20:55

Well just think about all the value you'll be adding by putting all those bodge jobs right! Sounds right up my street.

Monkeytrousers · 13/01/2007 20:56

It usually means there is something even more horrifing under it. Don't do it unless you can afford a plasterer and if you can just plaster over it.

southeastastra · 13/01/2007 20:57

or afford to wallpaper over it!

Monkeytrousers · 13/01/2007 20:58

hadn't read your post betty - I agree though

BettySpaghetti · 13/01/2007 20:59

Alternatively get lots of small children in as I remember as a kid I used to love picking the bits of wood off (much to my parents annoyance!)

southeastastra · 13/01/2007 21:00

we'll all come round and help, it sounds like fun!

morningpaper · 13/01/2007 21:32

I agree - don't start unless you can afford a plasterer at the end of the day

We skimmed over a lot of ours AFTER the "professionals" took off as much as possible - the walls were too bad, because all the woodchip wouldn't come off and we had a whole house of it.

It's been 5 years and the skimmed walls haven't come off although they are not brilliant - don't know what else we could have done, the removal and re-decorating etc. cost 5k in total and that was supposedly us doing it all ourselves

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