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Crosspost -- Wallpaper Issue!

10 years ago

Hi all, I cross-posted this in the remodeling forum, but I think this board is much more active and since this wallpaper is in my kitchen, I think it applies. Plus so many of you are super knowledgable about remodeling in general!

I'm trying to remove some wallpaper in the kitchen for our remodel. The house is '57, plaster walls, and I believe this paper is maybe from the early 80's? Just a guess.
The decorative part dry-peels off, and I'm using a steamer to scrape away the backing (the beige stuff in the picture). Behind that, though, is this linen-textured, white top coat that can peel off all rubber glue-ish to expose the pink stuff. The pink is exposed in places just from scraping the beige backing with a putty knife. Behind the pink is teal, and behind that, I believe, is the plaster wall.

I think this white/pink/teal stuff is all one thing... maybe liner or sizing? Or possibly part of the plaster itself?? I think it's some sort of wall prep for the paper though because it doesn't appear to be behind where the wall cabinets were -- just where there's wallpaper. It's crumbling in places, scraped to the pink layer in others, but is otherwise very difficult to get off an I'm not sure how to deal. The eventual goal is to be able to paint this wall. Anyone know what this is??

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Comments (3)

detroit_burb
10 years ago
these are layers of paint. if the wall was not prepped properly before the original layer, it does not adhere to the wallboard. If this is real plaster, and is an old house, you may have incompatible layers, like someone painting latex over alkyd paint without first priming. Just make sure it is not lead. Clean off all of the paper and backing, clean off anything that is loose. sand lightly. if there are edges of paint, spackle, then sand again until smooth. use a sealing primer, then paint.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
This may be a liner:

Here is a link that might be useful: Blankstock liner
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Cheap fabric softener mixed with hot water OR vinegar and hot water both work well to remove paste. The trick is to get it on the wall and let it sit about ten minutes, long enough for the chemicals to do their job. A extra wide putty knife has been my favorite tool for this chore however it can ding the wall if you get too carried away. I usually do both a roll of towels at he baseboard to catch drips and a plastic tarp over the rest to catch flying debris. I like to wipe the putty knife after I use it into a pail so it is clean for the next swipe on the wall. Sometimes my aim into the bucket isn't what it should be and it's a nice help to have that plastic there on the floor to catch mistakes. Paper that has been removed and dried is just as nasty to remove as paper from a wall.
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Congrats to your DS and DIL. My DD just called last night to tell us that her bid was accepted for her first home. What an exciting time. We're making a list of all the items we have in our home that we can give to her. Very timely since we're hoping to downsize in a year or so. Good luck removing the wallpaper. When we moved into our current home we were totally unaware that the wallpaper had been applied over unpainted, unsealed drywall. What a nightmare. After scarring one bedroom we gave up and hired a fellow who used a steam plate - it was 12" by 12" and emitted so much steam that one day I opened the door to ask a question and there was a haze of steam hanging above his head. I'm surprised that a house built in 1957 has knob and tube. I thought that went out in the 40's?
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It depends a lot how the paper was put on and what kind of adhesion was used how hard you will work to get it off. When you wet it and warm it you want to get it to the point where the paper lifts right off. The issue after that will be the remaining glue. This is where it can get really hard to completely get the glue off to the point where you can paint it without disturbing the lead paint. Also, one thing you may discover is that you do not have a fine finish that will look good painted on the plaster underneath, and that there is in fact no paint at all of any kind in some rooms. They will need a new skim coat anyway. It then becomes: do you have enough glue off to adhere a skim coat? Whatever you do, just be careful. People get all bent out of shape about asbestos and mold but neither of those are really much of a danger in an acute exposure situation, but "lead stupid" is forever . It dissolves in water, it can get dispersed in the air, etc. and if you get it all over the place it can get VERY expensive and hard to clean it out of the house afterward.
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kmgard
Original Author
10 years ago
I was thinking it was liner at first, but I've gotten large portions of the wallpaper backing off and I don't see any seams. Starting to think it IS paint. Ugh. Question -- if it's lead, do you know what I do to remediate? Seems to be crumbling in places (BAD, I know!), but otherwise just a top layer peels off in others. Do I need to drywall over it, or can it be spackled and primed/painted over just like a normal crappy paint job?

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