columbusguy, the plaster walls/ceiling on our second floor rooms (where I'm working now) have some issues that need to be repaired, so I don't think just leaving the wallpaper is an option. Luckily, on our first floor that plaster was in good shape with well-adhered painted-over wallpaper, so I just gave it a new coat. I felt a little guilty doing it, but it looks fine. carol, my only company now is a radio and the dog...I wonder who I could talk into helping me. Diane and lolaz, I've been bonding with my paper tiger. It really does make a difference. mrsrichards, I hadn't even thought about scaffolding. We already own some! I need to take some measurements and see if we can get it up the stairway. That could make the job much easier. One of the biggest problems I'm having working on the ceiling is that I can't get the same angles and force because I'm twisting on a ladder over my head. brickeyee, drywall stilts!?! Are you trying to kill me? I am using a 4" razor knife, but I bet my blade is dull. I've been using the same blade for a long, long time. OK, time to try out all your suggestions. Thanks!!

Yes, expect to have a huge mess. I had a bathroom with that problem. Since the surface was vinyl, I had to remove it. The mess was terrible. I got the vinyl and the paper backing along with a lot of the drywall paper off the walls. I coated the bare gypsum with Gardz. When it dried, I kept filling the deepest dents with thin layers of joint compound, then eventually did a skim coat of the walls. More Gardz, good primer then two coats of paint. It looked good and held up well. But it was a lot of work. Having removed layer after layer of painted wallpaper, it's not something I recommend. A lot depends on how picky you are. Painted wallpaper never looks great, but you may decide that it's "good enough" when compared to the work to remove it and patch the walls. If you go that route, you have to remove any lose paper, sand lumpy seams, etc. then seal it with Gardz, then prime and paint. It may still bubble or loosen, but that's your best shot if you want to paint over it.

Mix vinegar into water at a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water. I am in the process of removing the backing now from our 20 year old wallpaper. First time I have ever done it. The wallpaper came off easily with this solution, in some spots the backing came with it, in other areas it didn't. I am using a plastic spatula to gently scrape the backing paper off the drywall. We were told by a lady at Lowes who had hung wallpaper as a job for years that you can put new border over old (and I am assuming just over the paper backing if you get one that is thick and textured that it won't show through. We will be trying that in our breakfast area where we just had border. Again the paper came off easily but the backing won't budge. My new border is wider and thicker so we think we will be okay. Hope yours turns out okay.

"I wanted to buy some like that until I saw the price. The original stuff was a hundred bucks a double. " Original old things are almost always expensive to very expensive. You are paying for the original cost, plus interest, plus inflation, plus storage for a lot of years. In some circles (cars) it is OOEM. Old Original Equipment Manufacture. It can be required for an old car to preserve the collector value. When you need original spark plug wires or belts for a 1950 collector car it gets VERY painful. Especially if you know what it cost back in 1950. There was a guy a few years ago getting around $10 a screw for parts for original parts for 1860 era US military rifles. I needed on screw to fix an 1866 Springfield trapdoor rifle (the lock was dated even earlier, around 1863)