Stripping wallpaper - how hard is it?

[WhereAreWeNow]

We need to redecorate our bedroom. When we moved in it had painted over wallpaper. We've since painted over it again so it's got at least two coats of paint on it and it's starting to peel away. It looks terrible .

I've never stripped wallpaper and all the guides I've looked at online make it look like a hugely messy and difficult process. Is it as difficult as it looks? Would we be better off paying someone to do it for us?

Thanks

Piece of piss if you have a steamer.
It's when the plaster comes away too it gets messy.

Well, if you use a proper wallpaper steamer it's very easy and I love doing it!!

If it's just emulsion over the top it won't be too bad (but messy!) if it's any kind of vinyl toys paint it's pretty awful and ridiculously messy.

Ask around friends & FB etc. Someone will have a steamer you can borrow.

with a steamer it’s really easy. i paid my 13 year old to strip the walls last week 😂 that was also wallpaper with two coats of paint on top. didn’t take him long at all. the worst part is having to pick up all the soggy wallpaper!

Easy, and very satisfying when you get a huge piece off in one go. Either steam off or soak a sponge and get it wet.

It depends on the paper. If it's old and been up years it will probably be harder to remove. You would likely need a steamer!
Modern paste the wall paper is generally easy and just peels off.
You can also buy spray wallpaper remover, or mix vinegar with water and soak it on, but these are quite labour intensive ways of doing it!
The condition of the plaster underneath is something to consider too if it's an old house.

Thanks everyone. That's really encouraging. It sounds like it's not as bad as I thought. I'll see if I know anyone with a steamer or I'll look into buying/hiring one.
I guess there's no way of knowing what the plaster's like underneath until we do it.
Do you then have to leave it a while to dry out properly from the steam before you can start painting it?

You’ll need to wash your walls with sugar soap solution, then rinse with plain water and leave to dry before painting.

I usually use a sponge mop as it’s quicker.

I love wallpaper stripping. It's so satisfying.

It is very messy if you use a steamer as it melts the glue and then the strips stick to everything. But it is sooo much easier with a steamer

Hire a decent one from a tool hire place - they have a decent sized tank on them. The ones you buy from B&Q etc are tiny and don't allow you enough steam to strip a proper area at a time.

Not all wallpapers are the same but the tools are fairly cheap. If it's sealed/painted you should score it first with the edge of a scraper. A DIY steamer is better than nothing but hire one if you think you won't use it again. You get to a point where it's all started to soften and shoudl come off a treat.

The walls are normally a bit "bitty" afterwards so you need to wash down, give them a rub over and fill any small holes. Your plaster will probably be OK if your house is post-WW2.

@NotMeNoNo It's a Victorian house. Does that mean I should anticipate crumbling plaster?

I stripped an entire house of textured wallpaper that had what looked like 10+ coats of paint on it. I just used a scraper and wilko wall paper stripper. My plaster was in fine condition afterwards, but that was a 70s house

If you don't have a steamer, this stuff is really good! I got all the wallpaper in my house off with it. Not completely easy, but definitely not as time consuming as I thought it would be.

You might need to get your walls skimmed, worth it though. I hate lumpy bumpy walls!

Easy peasy with a wallpaper stripper. We have used one around whole house a few years ago when redecorating the whole house. Had terrible wallpaper. Was incredibly satisfying. We borrowed one from family.

Go for it!

We bought something like this. £40 so not super expensive but we had four bedrooms to do. You may want to consider renting it instead.
www.amazon.co.uk/Earlex-SS125UKP-Warrior-Wallpaper-Stripper/dp/B00074EPO6/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=wallpaper+steamer&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1616762739&sr=8-7

And you'll need a wallpaper scraper tool. Basically one person steams, the other person scrapes. The walls aren't soaked so you don't need to wait ages for it to dry but a day or two should be plenty. I'd also recommend the Polycell 3in1 base coat to help cover any uneven patches on the wall.

We stripped the wallpaper in our 40s house and had a few bits of plaster that crumbled but nothing major, we used polyfilla to cope with those. Good luck!

If it’s a Victorian house it may well have tie and lath plaster- this you really must treat carefully as the heat of a steamer will cause the plaster to fall off the wooden slats. My neighbor did this and had to have her entire flat replastered.

ive just removed painted over paper in my front room i did a dry and wet approach took the painted layer off dry with a wide scraper then wet the underneath backing paper and used a scraper it was easy and less messy then using a steamer

[quote WhereAreWeNow]@NotMeNoNo It's a Victorian house. Does that mean I should anticipate crumbling plaster?[/quote]
You should anticipate less than perfect walls to some degree. Not necessarily crumbling but it it a definite possibility. I think it's unlikely they will be just paintable afterwards and will need some kind of lining paper at the very least.

If it's a modern ish house the walls should be ok. I once stripped the very old wallpaper from my 1930's house and it brought half the poster away!

Yes Victorian properties are well known for this, wallpaper hides a multitude of sins usually, and can often be a few wallpapers deep! Be prepared to have the walls replastered to get a nice finish.

if you are lucky, with steamer and the spikey roller thingy , it will be easy enough.
if you are unlucky the paper was glued to the wall and rip off the plaster. plus points for synthetic fabric wall paper which has been plastered and papered over.

Now I'm a bit scared! Does this mean it's a job for a professional or should I still give it a go but just be prepared to call a plasterer if it all goes wrong?!

you might be lucky.
in our house only one room was a nightmare.
the others fairly easy and quick.

Just start by using a sponge to wet an area and see how easily it comes off. Then you can assess how difficult or messy it's going to be, and whether you need special products, tools and equipment.