# Wall paper



## Whosnxt1776 (Oct 4, 2012)

A few times a year we get Rehabs where the contractor wants the wall paper removed and wall smooth for paint. Well I hate scraping the chit and wanted to know if you guys have any tips to get it off easier. We spray it with water and let it soak for a few min and keep applying while scraping. The last one we did a few months ago had a kitchen and two baths with paper. The kitchen had 3 layers of wall paper since the 70s. That chit was no fun! We also had to spray and scrape the ceilings and slick them. Which that isnt hard if the texture hasnt been painted.


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## DSJOHN (Apr 5, 2010)

Wet some mud down and roll it on the wallpaper-- let it set for 15 min than scrape it--works for me!!!


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

Theres a good product called DIF which is to be used a tiger roller to creates small holes for it to soak into. Can be found at SWP. Hot hot water with DIF works best. Wait 10 -15 minutes befores removing paper. Reapply as needed. If you have a bug sprayer that may come in handy for larger jobs.


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

There's a few different methods.
You can buy a wallpaper steamer or also a paper tiger. Neither are very expensive and they're both quite effective.
Here's an example of both from one of my buddie's YouTube channel.
He's not the most exciting guy to watch, but he gets his point across and does a good job explaining.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

boco said:


> Theres a good product called DIF which is to be used a tiger roller to creates small holes for it to soak into. Can be found at SWP. Hot hot water with DIF works best. Wait 10 -15 minutes befores removing paper. Reapply as needed. If you have a bug sprayer that may come in handy for larger jobs.


Sorta the same advice as yours

Rough sand the paper with a gritty sand paper, hot water, with lots of dish soap (soap makes water adhere to paper better and soaks in), then bug sprayer:yes:


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## Lloydnz (Oct 21, 2010)

Pt that's what I use it works great. A lot of our houses in New Zealand have wallpaper and people want it stripped of and scimmed ready for paint .you could specialise in doing it full time here:thumbsup:


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

Never used a steamer due to rental price. There around 100 bucks a day. Sandpaper or sanding sponge is a good idea. I also like to binz before skimcoating. If its in the budget. That way when skimming you dont get all the bubbles and drag marks from remaining glue bits of paper.


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## Whosnxt1776 (Oct 4, 2012)

We use a sprayer from lowes, home depot, or wherever. The kind where you pump the handle for pressure the use the wand. I have brought a steam buggy along but it did not seem to yield any better, faster or easier result. I will look into the DIF and soap, we have always used pain water and the sharp side of our 6s. If the pay was actually equal to the extra labor it wouldn't be as bad, but for only a few extra bucks Dad and I need to get that chit off quick and easy but haven't found that route yet lol. 

It actually depends on the paper used. Some papers come off easy and but most are a bitc you know what. Especially when it is multiple layers. I am certainly glad we only have about 5 jobs max a year doing this task.


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## Mudstar (Feb 15, 2008)

Whosnxt1776 said:


> A few times a year we get Rehabs where the contractor wants the wall paper removed and wall smooth for paint. Well I hate scraping the chit and wanted to know if you guys have any tips to get it off easier. We spray it with water and let it soak for a few min and keep applying while scraping. The last one we did a few months ago had a kitchen and two baths with paper. The kitchen had 3 layers of wall paper since the 70s. That chit was no fun! We also had to spray and scrape the ceilings and slick them. Which that isnt hard if the texture hasnt been painted.


Don't scrap the paper off. Rock n tape n finish mang! This is Drywall Talk!


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

Lloydnz said:


> Pt that's what I use it works great. A lot of our houses in New Zealand have wallpaper and people want it stripped of and scimmed ready for paint .you could specialise in doing it full time here:thumbsup:


Me too, Each paper has a different way of coming off, Some the top layer pulls off dry then you can soak off the bottom layer, Some wont so then the paper tiger to stab holes in it first, A 5litre garden pump up pressure sprayer with hot water and a shot of dishwash liquid sprayed on over and over again then a steam stripper to finish it off, Dont hit a dry wall with a steam stripper, It takes years for it to get wet enough, Soak it first then steam if you need to, Sometimes you dont, It all depends on the size they applyed first, If they put a good coat of that on then water hits it and the wallpaper comes off, If they havent then the wallpaper glue bonds to the board paper and its a nightmare, If its a vinyl paper then as mudcock said you can skim over it, They dont always need stripped back.

Wallpaper is changing to paste the wall papers here, The wallpaper is almost a tough fabric stuff, That removes dry it one go, One full sheet comes off so clean you could almost use it again.


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

I have stripped some amount of that sh*t in my younger days!
And yea it is all dif 2 come of as caz says! But hot water,dish soap,tiger and a steamer 2 about good as u get for the job! If the sh*t is straight onto the board then just skim over it as u will have 2 skim it after anyway!
Have fun i used 2 love that job!:blink:


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## chris (Apr 13, 2011)

DSJOHN said:


> Wet some mud down and roll it on the wallpaper-- let it set for 15 min than scrape it--works for me!!!


 if water dont work this way will:yes:


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## Tucker (Feb 2, 2012)

I dont use H2O...windex (glass cleaner) works better. I think its the ammonia in it.


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## DSJOHN (Apr 5, 2010)

chris said:


> if water dont work this way will:yes:


:whistling2ude,listen to Chris and me---we aint bs,s ya---it works!!!!:yes:


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## Philma Crevices (Jan 28, 2012)

VANMAN said:


> I have stripped some amount of that sh*t in my younger days!
> And yea it is all dif 2 come of as caz says! But hot water,dish soap,tiger and a steamer 2 about good as u get for the job! If the sh*t is straight onto the board then just skim over it as u will have 2 skim it after anyway!
> Have fun i used 2 love that job!:blink:


 I couldn't count how many comercial jobs we've coated over the vinyl :thumbsup: Usually not the case any more though, alot of hacks have ruined it for us around here by not giving it a proper prep, taking care of the seams and corners or loose areas. House wall papers nasty stuff though, never know if it's gonna blister all to hell.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

DSJOHN said:


> :whistling2ude,listen to Chris and me---we aint bs,s ya---it works!!!!:yes:


I say we should market a wall paper removal product, using everyone's ideas.

In a 5 gallon bucket, we shall place really watered down taping mud, along with dish soap and windex. Then sell it to the Kiwi's for a extremely high mark up:whistling2:


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## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

The dif and tiger roller method works pretty good. I also worked on some walls where the painter put some sort of paint over the wallpaper that makes it bond even better and eliminates most of the blisters that will show up if you just coat over it with mud. It worked pretty good and there was only a few blisters that were easily cut out and coated over. There was no need to coat out the whole wall with this method.


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## Philma Crevices (Jan 28, 2012)

thefinisher said:


> The dif and tiger roller method works pretty good. I also worked on some walls where the painter put some sort of paint over the wallpaper that makes it bond even better and eliminates most of the blisters that will show up if you just coat over it with mud. It worked pretty good and there was only a few blisters that were easily cut out and coated over. There was no need to coat out the whole wall with this method.


On bad removal jobs where peeling the paper pulls most of the drywall paper off with it we've had painters seal it after peeled with Gripper or another product I cant think the name of... This is before we get in usually so the painters never prep the board properly, sanding/peeling all loose paper left behind, but the stuff does great when done right


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## chris (Apr 13, 2011)

An oil base paint will work also, get the loose stuff off and roll it on, or spray it on. Give a FULL 24 hrs ( or more, helps with fumes ) to dry . A few touchups/blisters and it is ready for texture/mud. Or do like above and use mud


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## A smooth finish (Mar 19, 2012)

Im going to go fix a job this week. The home owner did it him self and took most of the paper with it. So i get to go fix it


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## fr8train (Jan 20, 2008)

I've always removed wall paper with hot water and vinegar.


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