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Paint Remodeling

wallpaper removal help!

last year

What am I doing wrong here? It’s coming off in two layers. Sometimes it’s easy to peel, sometimes it’s not. No rhyme or reason. I’ve saturated the wall with warm water, I’m using a steamer and a scraper.
I’ve removed a lot of wallpaper before but usually there’s a layer of paint underneath and it’s pretty smooth. Seems like this is stuck directly to the drywall.
Any advice?

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Comments (10)

Sarah
Original Author
last year
Here’s a close up pic and also view from further away. TIA for any advice!
cat_ky
last year
Its apparently a vinyl wallpaper, and yes, it comes off in two layers. The top layer and then the backing paper. Backing paper will usually come off easily, after top layer is off, if you spray it good and let it absorb in to soften the glue.
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I figured it out, finally! After battling the old wallpaper in our home, I finally got it right. Let me start off by saying that the wallpaper in out home is of high quality and very heavy duty. In other words, this wallpaper was put up to stay for a long time. I tried spraying on DIF solution, but it did not penetrate the stubborn "vinyl-like" wallpaper. I then tried scoring the walls with a "paper tiger" tool which puts thousands of tiny, tiny holes in the paper so that the DIF can penetrate to the glue beneath the wallpaper. This was not only time consuming, but messy and ineffective. For the solution to penetrate, you need to score the wallpaper a zillion times and you still don't get a "clean" strip off. Finally, I pulled out my "Shark" handheld steamer, (which to me was only good for steaming wrinkles out of my blazers). BINGO! Start by steaming the wallpaper from the wall near the ceiling. Once you get a corner loose, it's all down hill. Work in manageable sections (about 18" or so). As you pull down on the wallpaper, keep the steamer against the wall and directly under the flap of wallpaper that you are holding. If you have two people, this will go so much easier and quicker. Slowly move the steamer side to side and pull down evenly on the wallpaper. The steam rises and collects in the crux of where the wallpaper is still contacting the wall. Be sure to keep adjusting your hold on the wallpaper so that you are pulling about six inches from the wall..... this gives an even amount of pull, yet won't let the steam burn you. This worked FANTASTIC! You will have some glue left over, but if you spray some DIF on and let it sit for a few minutes, then sponge off with some clean hot water, you have a clean wall. I definitely got my moneys worth from this Shark machine now.
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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.
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Get a REAL wallpaper-stripper! * Roll/brush on a couple coats about 20 minutes apart. * Here's the TRICK..... * Get some light (half-mil) painters-plastic. Press it on the wall. * The idea here is to keep the stripper from drying-out, by using the plastic film!! It's the same reason you wrap up Meatloaf in Saran-wrap! * Leave it on for a couple hours....watch a Football or Baseball game :-) * Then, pull some plastic back, & start scraping. Consider getting one of those BBQ Grill scrubbers with the handle & open scrubby-head. This will help you chew-thru the paste. * Now.....rinse, rinse, & rinse again! * Then apply a couple coats of Gardz.! Faron
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Thanks for all the suggestions!! I wish I would have realized it was glued directly to the drywall before finishing the whole wall 🤦🏻‍♀️ live and learn for sure! Definitely going to seal the problem wall, skim coat, then texture and prime/paint. Then just skim coat over seams of existing wallpapers then oil prime over it. Question though! After applying the texture do I need to reapply the oil based primer or can I just use oil based paint/primer? There sure are a lot of steps and lessons learned here. In our bathroom it just pulled right off, it was prepped correctly. This room was an add on room so someone differently did it.
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palimpsest
last year
It also appears the wall may not have been primed or sized underneath so you are pulling off the paper on the drywall in some areas.
Susie .
last year
Agree with above. You will need to skim coat your drywall when you’re finished since the paper on the drywall is gone. We have used 1/4” drywall over the damaged drywall in some cases when this happens. Sadly, this is why my husband vetoes my wallpaper suggestions.
functionthenlook
last year
I don't know how old your house is, but it was common to have all wallpapered walls. They were not painted before they where wallpapered. We owned a rental property that when we removed the wallpaper it was raw plaster.
Sarah
Original Author
last year
House was built in the 70s. I’ve already removed the wallpaper from the hallway, living room, kitchen, dining room, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and all hallways. There was even wallpaper on the ceiling in 2 rooms. Some of the rooms were easier than others, but I hadn’t encountered this level of damage to the underlying drywall before.
Thanks all, for your comments. Sounds like there’s nothing I can do, just have to skim coat and sand before painting. Which I expected to have to do anyway. Just surprised by how much damage there is to the drywall.
Good news is that after this room there’s just the half bath and laundry room left. Wish me luck! :)
beeboo22
last year
Ugh, I went through this and had to learn to skim coat a wall. (Which was messy as heck but not that hard — I watched YouTube videos.) You will need to seal the wall before you skim coat— I don’t remember the exact product but there is a special Killz.
functionthenlook
last year
That is why, although pretty, I will never have wallpaper in my house. I've removed too much of it in the past to ever want to do it again.
PRO
BobH
last year
Try wiping DIF on the wall, let it soak in, then scrape off the wallpaper. Always works great for me.
Sarah
Original Author
last year
@beeboo22 thanks for your comment about sealing the drywall first. I hadn’t thought of that. A quick google search revealed that “The primer will seal the exposed surface and ensure the skim coat adheres properly and that the drywall paper doesn’t bubble.” I had that problem with other walls when skim coating, so I’m glad to find there’s a preventive measure. Thank you!

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