Recommendations for wallpaper removal

calliope

New Member
I was hoping to get some information on who does a great job with removing wallpaper and painting. My kitchen has quite a bit and we need to take it down. I live in Calvert. Thanks!
 

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
Dont fool with any of that liquid crap. Take a hot iron like you use to iron your shirts, heat the wallpaper at a corner and slowly pull, the heat soften and reactivates the adhesive. It is slow going but my walls came out perfect by doing it this way.
 

frequentflier

happy to be living
I was hoping to get some information on who does a great job with removing wallpaper and painting. My kitchen has quite a bit and we need to take it down. I live in Calvert. Thanks!

We recently purchased a 30 year old house w/ lots of wallpaper. I used stuff I bought at Lowes, Ace Hardware and fabric softener. I spent a lot of time and energy on removing the old crappy wallpaper and after it was finished, the walls were marred and were going to need a lot of work to make them smooth and paintable.

We ended up hiring a carpenter and he covered it all with new drywall, mud and then I painted. You may want to consider hiring a good drywall person/carpenter to just cover it up and start with new walls.
 

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
We recently purchased a 30 year old house w/ lots of wallpaper. I used stuff I bought at Lowes, Ace Hardware and fabric softener. I spent a lot of time and energy on removing the old crappy wallpaper and after it was finished, the walls were marred and were going to need a lot of work to make them smooth and paintable.

We ended up hiring a carpenter and he covered it all with new drywall, mud and then I painted. You may want to consider hiring a good drywall person/carpenter to just cover it up and start with new walls.

Which is why I used the heat of an iron instead, the walls came out pretty smooth, primed over them with Kilz Oderless and a 3/8" nap roller and you would never know there was wallpaper on them.
 

calliope

New Member
We took the paper out of the dining room and powder room ourselves. The walls are in great shape and the house is only 13 years old. The kitchen is just a bigger project than I wanted to tackle myself.
 

acommondisaster

Active Member
When we bought this house, I had 3 large bathrooms and a kitchen and dining room to de-wallpaper. Ugh - never again. And if you have consider buying a house where they've painted over the wallpaper - RUN!

I used hot water and a mixture of hot water and fabric softener. The real trick was to really saturate the wallpaper with hot water using a sponge, give it a minute or two, spray with a mixture of water and fabric softener and then use a wide scraper to get underneath and then pull slowly. Pulling from the bottom to the top seemed to work best, sometimes - but you'll figure it out once you get the hang of it. You should be able to pull off most of what you adequately got wet. Don't bother scoring the wallpaper with one of those tools - you can wind up making marks on the walls and the scoring sometimes means you have to pull off much smaller bits at one time. Again, the real key is to wet the wallpaper and remove it while it's still wet - so work in manageable areas at a time.

Piranha Wallpaper Remover ( think I got it at Lowe's) also worked well - better than DIF. I preferred fabric softener because it was cheaper, smelled better, kept my hands nice and soft and didnt have all of the "may cause cancer in California" warnings the commercial removers had on them.

Whether you use the fabric softener or a commercial wallpaper remover solution, you'll find you need to rinse your walls well before you paint - even if you're using a primer.

I'll tell you what did NOT work. Renting a (insert about 4 unprintable swear words here) wallpaper steamer from Lowes or HD. What a waste of time and money. It was hot, drippy and totally ineffective. I used it for less than half a wall and then I dragged it out onto the deck and it sat and watched me do the kitchen without it. POS.

Have fun - what a nightmare wallpaper is!
 

calliope

New Member
I know how to get the paper off and prep/paint the walls. We've done a good job on the rooms we already finished. I'm looking for recommendations on someone else to do it for me. I don't have the time or energy to tackle this job and it needs to be done sooner rather than later.
 

acommondisaster

Active Member
I know how to get the paper off and prep/paint the walls. We've done a good job on the rooms we already finished. I'm looking for recommendations on someone else to do it for me. I don't have the time or energy to tackle this job and it needs to be done sooner rather than later.

Doh! My reading comprehension was at a low point! I'm willing to bet that it costs a pretty penny, just because it's one of the worst jobs to do. No wonder you want someone else to do it.
 

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
I know how to get the paper off and prep/paint the walls. We've done a good job on the rooms we already finished. I'm looking for recommendations on someone else to do it for me. I don't have the time or energy to tackle this job and it needs to be done sooner rather than later.

Oops looks like my reading comprehension was off too. I would say you would have more luck tearing out the drywall and paying someone to put up new. At least there are people that want to do drywall work.
 

calliope

New Member
Have you tried Southern Maryland Kitchen Bath Floors and Design? On Angieslist they show as a service "wallpaper removal". Never used them but they seem to do it and also offer free estimates.

23415 Three Notch Rd
California, MD 20619
(301) 866-0337
www.somdkitchenbathfloors.com

I didn't know they did paper removal. I thought they were design only. Thanks, I'll give them a call.
 
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