Removing paper backing

6 years ago

trying to remove wallpaper in kitchen with hot water and then tried hot water and vinegar. the paper comes off but not in strips like all the videos I've watched. Instead, it tears off in little bits or chunks. And besides, whatever type of paint is beneath it is peeling in spots with the paper while I'm gently using my metal scraper. Ugh!

Anyone with a better/easier way to remove the paper or at least why it's coming off in this manner? Also should I not use this metal scraper?

Featured Answer

eam44

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

What nobody tells you before you start this nonsense is that how easily your paper comes down depends entirely on how it went up in the first place.

In the olden days, long before I was born, the builder of my home mounted wallpaper - the background color of which matches the color of the surface of the drywall completely - without primer, of course, onto the bare walls of the master bedroom and all of the bathrooms in my house. SON OF A NUTCRACKER!!! It took me six months to get the paper out of the first floor powder room because I kept giving up. Was I pulling off wall paper or damaging drywall? Who knew. I have tried everything short of making a voodoo doll of the guy who put that paper up, to get it down. I've scored, I've tried solutions, I own a $50 steamer now too.

What I can tell you is that before I try to get that paper down off of the walls of the master bath I will buy the $900.00 professional steamer. Or I'll hire someone to do it. There are some DIY projects that are tough but satisfying. This isn't one of them.

Seriously, hire a professional painting company to remove the paper, prime, and paint your walls. When you compare the cost to the number of hours you'll spend doing this, you will come out ahead (even if you're unemployed - therapy costs money people).

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Comments (12)

Aurora Tee (Zone 6a)
6 years ago
I like Dif wallpaper gel remover and a scoring device. Hot water in a sprayer too or you can go big and use a steamer. I would not use a metal scraper. Use plastic.
cat_ky
6 years ago
Are you using hot water in a spray bottle, and soaking it good. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and then respray and scrape off with a plastic scraper.
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chispa
6 years ago
Get one of these:

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/paint-and-supplies/painting-tools-and-supplies/paint-scrapers/17756

Score with tool. Then use warm water to soften it up. Use plastic scraper.

Sometimes, if the wallpaper was not installed correctly, you will never get it to come off in strips.

If you have a lot of wallpaper to remove, maybe you should see if you can rent a large steamer to speed things up.
morz8 - Washington Coast
6 years ago
Welcome to the world of wallpaper removal! And the reason some of us have vowed to never hang any ;0) All good advice above. Don't try to rush it and be patient. Coming from one who has resorted to renting the steamer.
wilson853
6 years ago
I've removed a lot of wallpaper. Go to Home Depot and pick up a $50 steamer. I've used DIF and a scorer but nothing works as fast as the steamer. It will save your sanity and the damage that you might inflict on your walls from using a scoring device.
chispa
6 years ago
Eam, been there, done that! I also vowed never to use wallpaper ... but ended up putting one up in the master bedroom. I did pay a guy a fortune to put it up with a liner under it, so I hope it comes off easily for the next owner!
whathousework3
Original Author
6 years ago
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>@Eam44, Thanks... and for the humor as well. It really helped my mood (spackle knife in one hand sledge hammer in the other)
eam44
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
chispa - that's good of you! If I get to the master suite, I know what paint I want to use, and I've even designed a stencil - that's how much I don't want to use paper.

After the fact, when I talked to the guy who painted the ceilings and some of the walls in the house and he gave me a quote for paper removal and painting for the upstairs bathrooms, I felt like an idiot. Some days I feel like I still have little balls of wallpaper in my hair and he could have done all of it in two days for a couple hundred dollars. Their superpower is making your walls look good. I plan to use them in future.

whathouse - just hang in there. It ends eventually.
blubird
6 years ago
I’ve put up and subsequently removed tons of wallpaper over many years. I’ve tried steaming and scoring. I think scoring damages the walls. Easiest way is to spray the walls with hot water and scrape with plastic scraper.
ILoveRed
6 years ago
eam...that may be the best post I’ve ever read on gw, lol.
eam44
6 years ago
Thanks Red. I didn't realize I still felt so strongly about it until I started to write about it.