Wallpaper Galore!

My house like many old properties was covered, and I mean COVERED in wallpaper, with some areas having 3 or 4 layers on top of each other. Not only that but the wallpaper had been painted over a number of times. I don’t know if this was due to lazy owners, a desire for a few more layers of insulation, or a need to cover an extensive array of imperfections, or a mixture of all three. All I know was I hated it and it had to go. I recruited a friend and we soon got to work. Through trial and error we came up with a few ways of removing wallpaper which I thought I would share:

1) Scrape away

If you are working on a relatively small area, or the wallpaper pulls away easily, you can just use a wallpaper scraper to loosen the edges, and then pull upwards gently.

Pros: Cheap and relatively mess free

Cons: Only works well if the wallpaper has started to come away from the wall enough to remove in large strips

Tip:  If you pull the wallpaper upwards slowly and carefully, with a shallow angle to the wall you can remove large strips in one go

2) A steamer

We were lucky in that my parents had a steamer we could use but you can pick them up for about £25 from B&Q. This is basically a machine which turns water into steam and shoots it out of a flat end which you hold against the wall. The heat and water vapour help soften the wall paper, making it easier to remove.

Pros: It speeds up the process and can help loosen really tough sections.

Cons: It didn’t always take off the full layer of wallpaper, leaving a thin layer behind which then turned into a sticky mess on the wall. You also need to be careful that you don’t damage the plaster, as old plaster can blow when the heat and vapour get into the wall.

Tip: We found if you scored the wallpaper with the scraper first it helps the heat and steam get through the paper, making it lift away from the wall easier. I since discovered Stanley made a 3 point wallpaper scourer that costs less that £15 which would be useful for very large areas.

3) Soak and scrape

I don’t know if there is a more technical term, but wetting the wall with a sponge can work almost as well as the steamer. As the steamer can only be used by one person at a time, we decided to fill a bucket with hot water and wet the walls ourselves. You can also add a wallpaper solvent (about £5.50 per litre at Homebase), but for the sake of saving money we just stuck to water. Take care to not over soak the wall or repeatedly wet the wall, as you want to avoid damaging the surface behind.

Pros: Cheap and easy.

Cons: Made a bit of a mess, particularly as we had layers of paint over the wallpaper which formed a sticky paste when we added water.

Tip: Using a paint roller helps apply the water quickly and evenly, and an extendable handle makes it easier to reach difficult areas.

 

Tags: layers, paint, Paint roller, plaster, soak, sponge, wallpaper, wallpaper removal, wallpaper scraper, wallpaper solvent, wallpaper steamer, Water