Wallpaper suggestions

[cricketmd]

Originally Posted by Dakota

If it isn’t textured or torn you can paint over it – I’ve done it before. Use an oil-based primer (OIL BASED NOT WATER-based) and after that dries well, you can paint over it with a latex paint.

Okay thanks! Maybe I'll try a spot in the corner! :-)

[glhs837]

Scored a steamer from ReStore for very little monsy not long ago. Used it recently taking wall paper from 1986 off a wall, even as a one man operation it went pretty easy. Took me maybe an hour or so to clear fifteen and a half feet long by five feet tall, only have a final wipe down with a sponge and hot water to clear any traces of the adhesive. Was so short because it was only above the chair rail.

Wagner 705 power wallpaper steamer in action - YouTube


Used properly, a steamer makes short work of even big walls. Literally two-three seconds of steam lets the paper comes right off with lalmost no effort. But best is a 2 person operation, one to steam, one to pull and keep excess moisture from dripping down the wall in my case. This shows it in action. As you can see, if he had another person to pull, he could lead with the paddle and keep it moving right along....

[cricketmd]

Originally Posted by glhs837

Scored a steamer from ReStore for very little monsy not long ago. Used it recently taking wall paper from 1986 off a wall, even as a one man operation it went pretty easy. Took me maybe an hour or so to clear fifteen and a half feet long by five feet tall, only have a final wipe down with a sponge and hot water to clear any traces of the adhesive. Was so short because it was only above the chair rail.

Wagner 705 power wallpaper steamer in action - YouTube


Used properly, a steamer makes short work of even big walls. Literally two-three seconds of steam lets the paper comes right off with lalmost no effort. But best is a 2 person operation, one to steam, one to pull and keep excess moisture from dripping down the wall in my case. This shows it in action. As you can see, if he had another person to pull, he could lead with the paddle and keep it moving right along....

Great! Thanks!!

[acommondisaster]

Paint over wallpaper is the devil. If removing wallpaper is labor intensive, then removing wallpaper that's been painted over is labor intensive times one hundred. I can honestly say that I would not buy a home if I knew that it had wallpaper under paint. As far as papering over wallpaper - I wouldn't recommend it for the same reason - removal - and the possibility of paper not sticking or blemishes showing.

The house we live in now had a bunch of wallpapered rooms and over the years I tried different techniques to strip it. The best product I have found is called Piranha (found it at Lowes) - it got the paper off better than anything else - often in nearly whole panels. Tips: score the paper and use a good fairly wide putty knife or wallpaper remover tool. There's another product called DIF, but I didn't think it worked as well.

If you don't like chemicals, I also tried liquid fabric softener. Smells nice and my hands were in very good shape afterwards! Tip: I sprayed the area I was stripping with very warm water and then sprayed it with the fabric softener - you have to saturate the wallpaper and make sure it's pretty wet. I was able to peel off nearly entire panels this way.

I've also heard that vinegar works in about the same way as fabric softener, but I never tried it. (not a fan of the vinegar fumes) The fabric softener worked very well in the bathrooms I was stripping, but not as well in the kitchen. I rented a steamer from Home Depot and found that to be a great waste of money. It was messy, hot and I still had to use some sort of agent on the walls. The Piranha worked best in the kitchen so I returned the steamer and just used that. The real key was to soak the area of wallpaper with warm water if I was having trouble getting the paper off.

No matter what you use, you're going to have to wash the walls to get the paste residue off afterwards. Have fun. Once it's done you'll probably never want paper again.