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Original poster

Woodchip. "Wood" I be mad to try and remove it alone?

20 replies

BertieBotts · 29/09/2015 20:40

Ahem, sorry

We are moving flat in December :) We are in Germany and it seems like the woodchip craze is, bafflingly, alive and well here. I HATE the stuff and would love it gone.

If all goes to plan, we should hopefully have a couple of weeks to paint before we move in, which is wildly exciting to me as I've never been allowed to paint anywhere I've lived before. I helped my mum paint a few rooms in our house when I was about 11/12 but nothing since.

The flat actually currently belongs to friends of ours, and they told me that the current wallpaper they only put up five years ago. I don't think it's been used to hide awful walls - it's just really really common here. DH's ex landlord did exactly the same thing. Perfectly nice smooth walls and he went and slapped that all over it. Argh!

I've been reading up about removing it and it's supposed to be a nightmare but doable. Do you think it's worth it for the maybe three years we are likely to be living there? Or do you think that painting it would be enough? It would most likely just be me doing it myself - and I'd probably not bother to remove it from every room but I was thinking the living room for sure. The bedroom I'd like to remove it from too but it's a nice colour already so seems a bit silly to rip it out, unless we decide to go totally 180 on the colour in there. I think it's on the ceilings, too, where I'd probably leave it? (Is that asking for trouble?)

The living room is the biggest room so I don't know that I could try a little bit and see how it goes. I could perhaps do that in the entry or the pantry. But I don't know if that wallpaper is new or not.

OP posts:

Hassled · 29/09/2015 20:45

When we bought this house every single room had Magnolia wood-chip, so I feel your pain. It is doable but I would say only if you have a steam stripper and goggles if you're doing ceilings (and only do ceilings if you're really desperate for it to go - that is an awful job).

RandomMess · 29/09/2015 20:47

We too bought a house where every single room had BADLY painted magnolia wood-chip. We stripped the entire house using a steam stripper.

Worth every moment!

BrianButterfield · 29/09/2015 20:50

I came on to recommend a steamer. So much easier.

Original poster

BertieBotts · 29/09/2015 20:58

I think I can hire a steamer. Is it possible to just take it off the walls and not the ceiling? I mean, it won't go terrible and look awful? I don't love it on the ceiling, but I don't mind it on the ceiling that much to go to the trouble of removing it.

DH is (wisely) staying very, very quiet But he'll probably be at work anyway.

We are renting, not buying, but will probably stay for about 3 years.

OP posts:

RandomMess · 29/09/2015 21:03

Hmm depends on how well cemented on it is - it may start to peel off but tbh it didn't on ours as you need to be heavy handed with the scraper whilst using the steamer.

For 3 years you may only want to do one room...

PigletJohn · 29/09/2015 21:09

If you hold a steamer in one place long enough to overheat the plaster, it will crack or burst off.

I prefer a garden sprayer, set to "mist" with half a drop of WUL per gallon of hot water. Work round the room, when it soaks in, do it again.

You can use a wide metal scraper to knock the tops off the scabs.

Iwanttobeadog · 29/09/2015 21:17

I am sitting here nursing a number of injuries incurred whilst stripping woodchip over the last few days

My advice would be use a spiky roller thing to pierce it all over / slash softly with a Stanley knife. Douse in wallstripper removal stuff that you add to water. Repeat. Scrape delegate seemingly impossible task to dh. It's a fucking awful job. We've got it on the ceilings too but they're made of asbestos sheets so I'm going to just have to live with them :(

RandomMess · 29/09/2015 21:33

Perhaps I'm odd but I found it quite therapeutic

Also the whole room got fairly damp which made it all come off fairly easily

unlucky83 · 29/09/2015 21:37

5yo is probably the worse type to try and get off ime.
If is has been coated with multiply layers of paint and the adhesive is getting a bit knackered you can sometimes get if off in big satisfying pieces...
I would scrape the top off with wide blade stripper (the type with a big razor blade on the end - just be careful not to dig into to the wall itself) then remove the bits of wood and under paper by wetting - messy but comes off really easily...
Do not do the ceilings unless you are prepared to really suffer ...it is one of the worst jobs I have ever done...a kitchen ceiling so painted with kitchen paint...almost impossible to penetrate ...I bought a scorer thing to allow the steamer/water to get to the paper - which was hard to use with enough force above your head and tended to make the paper come off in little pieces . I also scored with a stanley knife too...

After scoring the steamer worked but took a long time holding it above your head for every little square (and tend to drip down your arm). I even tried the leave the steamer running in the room for an hour with the doors and windows closed - no joy. Tried sprays with Wul liquid and actually bought liquid wallpaper stripper. What did work was making a paste of cornflour and hot water (basically thickened water) then mixing in stripper and brushing on a thick coat in areas, cover with plastic bags so it didn't dry out and leave over night ...paper did just fall off - except in areas where it dried out and then it was even more difficult to get off. Running out of time before the plasterer came I ended up taking the wide bladed scraper to it (hard to use at the right angle above your head) and hacking at the ceiling. Which was fine as it was being skimmed...otherwise I would have had to have it done.
Plasterer refused to skim over woodchip - believe some do? Other option was to have it re- plasterboarded - expensive but would have been the least painful option!
Finally you would probably be better with a platform rather than ladder ...plenty high enough so no stretching required.
And if anyone is buying a ladder for decorating get one with nice wide comfortable treads...mine has narrow metal ones which hurt your feet after a few hours and also I tend to stand on it the wrong way round (lean back on it) and then it hurts the backs of my calves....(had bruises and everything )

QueenOfThorns · 29/09/2015 21:39

I reiterate the previous advice to slash it all over with a knife or something and soak it thoroughly and repeatedly before you start. It's a right pain in the arse, but it'll come off eventually!

RandomMess · 29/09/2015 21:45

I think I am recalling that we used sugar soap and a green washing up scourer thing to clean the walls after and the last remains of wood bits came off easily with that. I appear to have blanked it out of my memory it would seem...

Original poster

BertieBotts · 29/09/2015 21:56

The slashing and steaming is the advice I found online too. Good to know it works. We actually have a humidifier, because DH bought it thinking it was an air con a few years ago, so that might help??

Oh no. I don't want to hear that 5 years is the worst time to try and get it off :o

OP posts:

Original poster

BertieBotts · 29/09/2015 21:58

I'm sure I'll endear myself to the neighbours nicely, anyway, since my swear filter when I am alone is set to "sailor".

Oh well. Everybody knows English swearwords don't count.

OP posts:

acazc · 29/09/2015 22:08

I definitely think it's a job worth doing - there's just no disguising it, however good the paint job! We got rid of it in most rooms of our old house by using a steamer bought from DIY shop for about £20 and a good quality scraper (long handle with changeable blade). We once did a large bedroom in one night, just the two of us. Quite satisfying when you get a big bit and pull it all off! Good luck!

bessiebumptious2 · 29/09/2015 22:17

It's satisfying when it's all gone, but once you've started you're committed to it! And bear in mind that you may have to have the walls skimmed, if you make a bit of a mess of scraping.

Not sure I'd do it with a property that didn't belong to me and I wasn't planning on staying in long term. I'd just tolerate it because removing will take twice as long as you first anticipate...

Ceilings - I'd reboard and have plastered (have done this and it looks fab).

KondoAttitude · 29/09/2015 23:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bessiebumptious2 · 29/09/2015 23:30

wood chip is random bits of ... small wood chip (funnily enough!) encased in the wallpaper and isn't uniform in any way. It looks like little bumps of randomness under the painted finish.

Textured tends to have a repeating pattern and the pattern is raised. If you up load photos here I'll tell you whether you have wood chip!

Original poster

BertieBotts · 29/09/2015 23:36

Textured also tends to be soft and foam-like. If you stick a fingernail into it it will make a dent. You can't stick a fingernail into the bumps on woodchip, it's solid.

If you have an unobtrusive bit of wall or don't mind making it look bad you can pick bits off by scraping with a fingernail. Textured tends to be a soft foamy texture and white, but woodchip you can uncover the tiny bits of wood underneath, which are brown and...woody

OP posts:

Flomple · 30/09/2015 00:18

Ease of stripping woodchip varies from one room to the next so you really don't know until you try. It does get under the fingernails but it's one of my favourite DIY jobs, using scoring and a steam stripper. You do run the risk of needing to replaster, but we did a whole house and only had to replaster one wall. Have to say that was probably down to low standards and budget though! Not sure I would run the risk on a house I wouldn't be staying in long term, but that is up to you.

No problem to do walls but leave ceilings.

RingDownRingUp · 30/09/2015 06:37

I use a plant mister and scraper, slashing the woodchip to help the warm water penetrate. I find it just as quick as a steamer but without running the risk of wrecking the plaster underneath.

After much experimentation, I find that the best way of cleaning the walks afterwards, to get rid if the sticky residue, is with vinegar diluted in hot/warm water then lightly scraping with a clean scraper tool. It cuts through the sticky stuff better than sugar suspect ime.

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