Wallpaper removal

[IWishUWould]

We’re looking at properties to buy and so many have terrible wall paper. Removing it has always put me off, but maybe it’s not as bad as I’m making it out to be?

How expensive is it to remove?! Or how easy is it to DIY?

Depends on the wallpaper, and how many layers there are.

I actually find it quite satisfying. I use a glue solvent (you can also use steam), wet it down and then scrape it off. Takes me an afternoon to do a large room.

It's a messy job, but do-able.

Depends on the state of the plaster below.

If the plaster is solid it's reasonably easy to get the paper off - DIY is fine. Its quite a lot of prep to get it to look good painted, but fairly straight forward to repaper.

If its an old house, there is a fair chance the plaster is falling off, so it would need replastering - taking off the paper is usually ok, but plastering is a skill that needs a competent DIYer or bringing in a tradesman.

I like to use a garden sprayer, set to fine mist. Warm water with a bit of WUL as a wetting agent. Start at the top and work round the room. By the time you are back to the start the first lot will have soaked in and you can do the second. A broad scraper will take it off once it is wet. Start scraping at the top so your next spray can run down the wall behind it. If you are unlucky enough to have woodchip, the scraper will knock enough of the scabs off for water to penetrate. For other painted surfaces you need a devil to scratch it. Don't use a knife as it will cut the plaster. Isolate the electricity first.

A steamer is very much slower and can blow the plaster if it gets hot.

Keep lifting the wet paper off the floor and stuffing it in bin bags. It is very slippery and you may fall.

Get some Zinsser DIF wallpaper remover. Soak the area with a sponge dipped in a bucket of diluted DIF and leave for few minutes then scrape off. Works like a charm. I also bought a rotating wallpaper scorer to use for tougher bits but didn’t really need it. In fact it was far easier to get off in large strips on areas that hadn’t been scored. I found a thin, flexible scraper worked better than a stiffer one. I recently decorated a whole house that had ugly, dated wallpaper all over and I was dreading it, but found it strangely satisfying!

You can just paint over it if it is in good condition and not patterned. It will make the wall amoother like lining paper does.

Just take your time always used a wallpaper steamer
never been a drama even with the dreaded wood chip paper

I’ve had rooms where it’s peeled off very satisfyingly in one swoop and others where I’ve had to chip tiny pieces off over the course of days (generally the latter was when there were several layers on top of each other).

As a job I wouldn’t let it put me off buying a house I wanted but there is always a risk you’ll have to replaster depending on what’s underneath, which I guess is why people just stick more on top!

I just use a lot of warm water and a plastic putty knife on mine and it came off fine.

First you wet it thoughly. Often it will have an outer layer that is water reistant. Peel that off, then thoroughly wet the layer underneath (it will change colour). Then use the plastic putty knife at a low angle working gently to get the paper off.

Once it is all off wash the wall, then scrape the paste off with the putty knife again. Wash again and repeat. Then fill and use something like Zissner on it before repainting.

Do not use metal scrapers as they will wreck the plaster beneath and be gentle because even the plastic ones can damage it if it is wet. But if you are careful the wall will be in perfect condition underneath.

All this assumes the paper is put on with paste. I think there is something else people sometimes hang it with (PEG?). That is much harder to remove.

Unless it's very textured I'd just paint over it. You'll likely need an extra layer of undercoat but that's easier than stripping paper. I'm not sure what you gain from stripping it first? In my experience the wallpaper is often holding the plaster up or hiding issues which are a pain to repair.