Stripping Wallpaper advice

11 years ago

I'm trying to remove painted over wallpaper from a 110 year old house. It's even on the ceiling.

I thought the walls were lath and plaster- that's what the previous owner told me anyway. Now I'm not so sure- it's not what I expected which was nice hard white plaster.

I'm steaming it off and scraping with a 4 inch razor. I have about 3 layers of paint sandwiched around a couple layers of wallpaper, and then I seem to hit a brown grainy sandy layer which I think is as far as I should go- or am I going to far? There are also red stains on this layer. Any deeper and I'm in gouge territory.

Here's a shot of some of the damage so far- the red/maroon paint is the top layer, and the red splotches are the 'stains' on the brown layer.

Here's a crack closeup- this makes me think it's plaster and you can see what happened when I go below the brown layer- it's grey and flaky. The red splotches are still a mystery -

Here's a nail hole I slightly enlarged- seems like a lath back there, but the 'plaster' is very brittle and not particularly thick.

Here's a section showing all the layers- the lightest blue is pretty smooth, and that is the last thing above the rough brown layer.

I'm guessing there was never a finish coat of plaster at all- unless this is just really old drywall. I just want to confirm that taking this down to the brown layer is the way to go- I'm afraid the last light blue layer is ancient drywall paper or something.

I'm assuming that I'll have to completely skim coat them after this. It's actually not coming up too bad but it's not what I expected at all so I stopped for the night. Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

Featured Answer

weedyacres

11 years ago

I'm not a plaster expert, so hopefully those that are will chime in as well. But I can tell you what we found in our old house. We only had wallpaper inside 2 closets, but when I stripped it off, the plaster was grayish and very thin in parts (<1/4") while thicker in others. The thin parts are, of course, more subject to getting those pockmarks and cracking. So they'll definitely need some skim coating, but that doesn't necessarily mean the whole will need it. If your whole wall turns out to be like that, though, you'll probably need the full skim coat.

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Comments (13)

User
11 years ago
" have about 3 layers of paint sandwiched around a couple layers of
wallpaper, and then I seem to hit a brown grainy sandy layer which I
think is as far as I should go- or am I going to far?"

The brown grainy sandy layer is where you should STOP! The house was never plastered with a finish coat, they stopped with the next to last coat and either painted or papered over it.

After you get all the paper off, you can patch the dings and skim-coat the plaster. But do not use drywall mud, use a real skim coat mix. Drywall mud dissolves if it gets wet.
greenlaker7 thanked User
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greenlaker7
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks. What about the red stains that appear in the brown layer- is this residual paint that should be removed or something else? Should I try to remove it or sand it down before the next step or just leave it alone?
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
I would prime over the red stuff(whatever it is) with Cover Stain
greenlaker7 thanked Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
User
11 years ago
If it's paint, cover it with a good stain-blocking primer after you patch holes and cracks.
greenlaker7 thanked User
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
like cover stain?
greenlaker7 thanked Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
User
11 years ago
For that reddish stuff, which is often an iron oxide pigment (barn paint) that soaks into latex and bleeds through almost anything, I'd use the KILZ original formula white alcohol-based shellac.
greenlaker7 thanked User
greenlaker7
Original Author
11 years ago
Shellac over the skimcoat or the other way around? Thanks.
User
11 years ago
Shellac over the skim coat, AFTER patching the holes and cracks.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
As far as I know Kilz does not make a shellac based primer, the original oil would work, none of their other products would.
User
11 years ago
My mistake ... it's the BIN sealant. YOU need to have good ventilation, but it seals in al;most everything.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-1-qt-B-I-N-Shellac-Based-White-Interior-Spot-Exterior-Primer-and-Sealer-00904/100398380
User
11 years ago
You can expend a lot of time and effort to get a mediocre result or you can remove all of the lath and plaster, insulate where appropriate, upgrade the electrical and install new drywall preferably blue board (veneer plaster).
Bruce in Northern Virginia
11 years ago
If you spend the time you can great results with restoring plaster, but its a tedious job at best. However, you will also get satisfaction from doing a restoration instead of a demolish and replace.

Different plaster techniques and final coats were used over the years and like any other job it depends on the quality of builder. Plaster coat thicknesses and the quality of the final finish will not be consistent. In some cases they also used a final finish over the plaster that looks like lightweight wallpaper, so that they could get a smooth wall for the visible paint or wallpaper.

If the final coat of plaster is uneven/thin and you are exposing the brown coat, there is a lot more restoration work required for those areas. If its in that condition over a large area, it might be better to remove the plaster and replace with drywall or blue board. Just remember that plaster is very heavy and dusty during demolition, so its not a simple job either. I had one piece of plaster ceiling that came down suddenly and was heavy enough to snap the wood window sill off the window below it.

Bruce