Uhg... Please don't paint over it. That just creates a mess and makes it so much harder to remove the paper. Most folks have found success using a paper tiger and something like Dif wallpaper remover solution. If the paper is stubborn, you might have to upgrade to a steamer. The process is pretty simple but just takes time. You need to moisten the glue layer between the paper and the plaster and it should come off. I used a garden sprayer to soak the paper and it came off pretty easy.

Thank you ! Had to look up a paper tiger. No we won't paint over ....hopefully it is plaster. Evidently one can as a last resort skim coat over it with a light plaster coating so that would be a last option. Thank you and will post back if they get the house and we need this info. c

Try this first around the outlets - slip a thin blade parallel to the wall, under the bottom layer of paper. Sometimes you can break the adhesion between the glue and wall and get large strips or sheets to come off.

will do !! sounds like there are lots of options and I sure will try any and all before giving up !! Thank you ! c

Skim coating doesn't always work either. It can be just as bad or worse as painting. I had one bedroom where the P.O. painted and later skim coated. Once the paper starts to fail, the mess gets even worse. You can strip the painted and skip coated paper but it's just that much harder...

If they are really plaster walls then it will come off, period..

http://www.wallpaperinstaller.com/wallpaper_stripping.html

http://www.safeandsimple.com/

DO NOT SKIM OR PAINT over it, remove it.

I agree, it likely won't be that bad to remove it, just know it's going to take some time and trying various techniques that work for the paper in your particular house and walls.

It is all plaster !! yeah...we are headed up that way to check it all out mid April and will get more details then. Closing will be end of April hopefully so we can get started. DIL and DS are excited but lots needs to be done before moving in. Thank you !!! c

The more layers, typically the easier it is to remove

Steam it, use a plaster bonding agent, then skim coat with a veneer finish plaster.

We are in a similar situation in our 1912 bungalow. Removed panaling, a bazillion nails & staples, and now onto the layers of wallpaper. Underneath is original plaster.

after trying other methods, a steamer and a paint scraper proved to be the best method. It's still very tedious, sometimes only removing a couple of inches at a time.

I have a few photos to attach, but it doesn't seem to work well from my phone. I'll keep trying!

My dad always recommended trying the easiest way first.... he'd fill a spray bottle with water and spray the wallpaper... let it set a few minutes to absorb, then score the paper (he'd use the edge of drywall 'joint knife' or something like that), then spray with water again and let it sit awhile. With any luck, the water will absorb into the paper and you can then scrape it off easily with a joint knife.

Anything is easier than a steamer, IMO.

I found hot vinegar water sprayed on works great! (I am allergic to fabric softener and couldn't use it)

http://www.safeandsimple.com/

Most of the info you find online is from folks who are stripping modern wallpaper off of sheetrock, and stripping very old wallpaper off of plaster may take a different technique. Sheetrock has a paper layer on top, and if its painted before paper is applied, the wallpaper does not stick that tightly. However, wallpaper that has been applied to raw plaster really sticks to it.

I tried perforating the paper withe paper tiger and spraying the wall with remover, but in most areas it didn't really break the old paper loose and I just got small strips to come off. Then I used a steamer and stripped off the larger pieces of wallpaper. Mine appeared to be patterned wallpaper on top of a white wallpaper-like finish that had been applied when the plaster was new. I first stripped off whatever I could using the steamer and paper tiger, but there was still a lot of small sections left on the wall. I then used the steamer and a razor blade (in a holder) held at a very slight angle to strip off all the remains. I am right handed, so I held the steamer on one section with my left hand while I scraped paper off with my right hand and continued to work from right to left. This was a slow process, but I did get it all off.

I then hired a guy to strip my living room wall and his technique was different. He steamed it much more and was able to get both layers of paper to break loose fairly quickly. However, he used so much steam that the water dripped down between the baseboard and wall, and onto the concrete walls in the basement below, and he had to paint those walls to cover the streaks after he was done. My technique was slower, but his was much messier because of all the hot steam.

Bruce

I have stripped countless miles of wall paper from plaster using hot water and safe and simple . To me it is way faster, less messy and easier than a steamer. To each their own.

They had a full inspection of the house and after considering the cost to just get the house up to code and to make it habitable they decided to withdraw their offer. Thankfully it was in the contract so they are out of it. Someone else who is more DIY will find the house right up their alley . Thank you for all the good suggestions.

Good call, trailrunner. Sometimes it's not worth it.

We've had our house 2 months and are no where near done with the wallpaper stripping and wall repair. Not even close to living in our dining and living rooms yet, and no idea when we will. We have a lot of other repairs to do, and we are just busy with life - and exhausted from chasing an active 16 month old baby who doesn't sleep ;)

if we had more resources I'd hire help and/or childcare. DIY isn't the most ideal sometimes.