what can I do with heavily painted woodchip walls...

[Reastie]

which have been wallpapered on top?

Will it come off? Any hints or tips or is it going to be a nightmare? Maybe just replaster? [clueless]

Oh! Shame because I was pleased with it and HATED the steamer !

Don't attempt to steam off woodchip from a ceiling, as I once did. You end up with bastard hot bits of chip in your eyes and hair - it's a nightmare.

But as I can't think of any other way to get it off, my new advice is to wear goggles.

garden sprayer, set to fine mist.

I think I should feel lucky that we don't have it on the ceilings from what I'm reading.

For some reason we only have it on the ceilings!

the reason is probably that the ceilings are very badly cracked and sagging, in which case it would be preferable (but very dirty) to pull them down and replaster.

It is surprisingly inexpensive to plaster ceilings. It may be in the region of £300 per room depending how big and where you are. If you have ornate Victorian moulded or run cornice and coving, it can be retained by a competent professional.

We had our wood chipped walls skimmed over the top of the paper. The (middle aged and experienced) plasterers suggested the idea and said it would be fine provided it was old wood chip with lots of paint over the top.

That was over 6 years ago, and the plaster is still stuck securely over the top of the wallpaper. I am very happy we didn't have to strip the walls first!

Thanks piglet, some of the wood chip has come off where we had a leak and that bit looks fairly solid. No doubt there are horrors lurking beneath/above? other areas.

was the house built before 1946?

My house, pigletjohn? I don't want to hijack the thread well maybe I do a little bit but mine is an Edwardian house.

PigletJohn would skimming over woodchip get the PJ seal of approval?

I have several large rooms covered in the stuff and was planning to strip then get skimmed.

rain

then it will have been built with lath and plaster ceilings, which are almost certain to be cracked, sagging and liable to fall down. It is possible, but very labour intensive, to refix them.

Flags

absolutely not

Thought not, thank you!

Rain, maybe your rooms were once woodchipped on walls and ceiling, and previous owners tackled walls but didn't bother with the ceiling?

I don't think I've ever come across a woodchip ceiling but I remember my grandad sticking anaglypta to the ceilings - cheaper than artex...

Oh, I was hoping PJ would say we could just skim over the woodchip for an easy life . How about plaster boarding over and then plastering?

Done a whole house and similar to zoemaguire some bits can off fine others a nightmare. Sometimes the heavily painted stuff comes off better. We didn't have to re plaster even having used a steamer. Agree also with the sauna method (but do ventilate well afterwards). Only thing to add is painted wallpaper is sharp so wear gloves! Goggles also a good idea if you don't wear glasses as woodchip in the eye is not pleasant.

Reastie give it a go, it might come off fine and leave beautiful clean walls behind. I like a DIY steamer myself - you don't want anything too powerful as you want to leave the plaster intact.

Plaster boarding to avoid basic wallpaper stripping would be utter madness IMO.

OK amateur

We've just done an entire house and were fine with a steam stripper and scrapers. Lots of sugar soaping afterwards too...

Walls are manky underneath but have managed to revive a few and wallpaper the best!

Well my answer was going to be to burn your house down, but seeing as everyone else has been so helpful I'll echo.

• Steamer blows plaster. Use sparingly.
• Soapy water / just water/ PJ's sprayer works well.
• Def start at the top, you'll get into a sort of a routine.
• Do not underestimate how many rubbish bags you'll need to get rid of the bastard stuff.
• Them big wide scraper things are good but a filling knife (4 inches or so) can be even better in the right places, as it's better for getting right under everything to get it to fall away beautifully and satisfyingly.
• Depending how it looks afterwards, get the ceilings plastered properly by a pro, and just fill issues in the walls. Immaculate ceiling makes the whole room look better, and small wall imperfections won't be noticed (unless P.John comes over).
• Good luck, and remember, one day, it will be gone. There's a small scrap of blue woodchip we keep on our fridge as a reminder of what once was.

Would you all like to join me in my attempt to make hefty fines payable if you sell a house that has more than 10% of surfaces with woodchip on it???

we had an attic full of shiny (vinyl silk) woodchip

which was beautifully stuck on by - er - me 20-odd years ago because the plaster was so crap underneath (original Victorian attic)

This year we've had the roof reslated, new Veluxes, & the interior attic plaster mostly hacked off (which removed a lot of the woodchip), insulated & replastered; but the 2 end walls remained defiantly woodchipped. DH sweated blood trying to get it off with scratching & warm soapy water so we hired a stripper from HSS & it was amazing - def worth doing. Very little plaster came away in the end but the wall was going to be skimmed over in any case.

We did a full weekend hire & there were a few other rooms which needed a bit of stripping so we did all those at the same time. DH was in heaven

We not only have it on the ceiling of every bloody room - including between beams - but also inside window recesses in some cases.....and there's twelve rooms plus hallway....grrr!

Ours was built in 1850s and extended in 1920s and I don't intend to take the ceilings down - intentionally or otherwise - so plan to overboard and re-skim where possible. Luckily DH can plaster!

I'm renovating a house at the moment. In one room it took 3 weeks to remove the woodchip. Goodness knows what it was stuck on with but it was string stuff!

I've just started another room and it practically peels off the walls. It's a big room and I've done 2 walls with 3 hours work max. So satisfying!