All,
I need some advice, please. I have a customer who wants me to paint 9 rooms in her house. Of the 9 rooms, 6 are completely wallpapered.
First question: Does anyone have any tips on paper removal? I have tried various methods, devices and mixtures but it seems that warm water is the best.
Last question: If the paper comes off but leaves the backing, can I paint over the backing or should the it be removed?
Thanks,
dlb
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The Undisciplined Life Is Not Worth Examining.
Replies
It can be very labor intensive. The paper must be peeled. Warm water will work best, almost all wall covering glue is mearly a clay. Next, shellac everything. Then prep with drywall mud, or spackle as needed. Paint. I know of no short cuts that will work.
I've found that adding a little detergent to warm water helps it wet the wallpaper--I think that's pretty much what Diff and the other remover do. Somehow scoring the paper if it has a vinyl surface, being careful not to mark the surface of the wall will help the water penetrate. There are special tools for this (Tiger Claws or something like that) but I've found that metal sandpaper (like a cheese grater--I think it's called Dragon Skin) works well (until it clogs anyway). Someone here mentioned using vinegar in water really works--I've never tried it.
Edit: BTW, I found out the hard way not to let the wallpaper you remove just fall to the floor or you have to strip it a second time--from the floor!
Edited 5/21/2005 11:33 am ET by Danno
Remove all paper, including the backing. Dif from Zinsser works best for me. If the paper is vinyl with a paper backing, remove the vinyl first ,then hit the backing with the Dif. Mix the Dif in a 2 gallon pump sprayer, and get the hottest water you can to mix. Get the backing totally saturated and the paper should come off with ease. Next, on to the walls. Not all the paste will be removed with the stripping process, so the walls will have to be primed with a oil based primer, I use Kilz. Do all wall prep and trim prep before this step, so all you have to do is paint after you have accomplished all the above, Good Luck, Jim Z
Have you ever tried the upolstery attachment from a steam carpet cleaner ? Tried this once, and it worked really well (foil paper, marked first with wall-paper cutter) using high-traffic cleaning solution. But, working once is not the same as working all the time, so I'm curious if this has been tried elsewhere..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Phill, if you had a foil, you can strip the foil by putting a razor knife under the foil. You have to pull the foil off, then hit the remaining backing with the dif solution. Foil is hung with a clay base adhesive, it is messy as all hell when stripping. So, I use 2 5 gallon buckets, 1 to wash off the clay goo, the second to wash off the wall.
Good Luck, Jim Z
You'll price this by the hour rather than by the job, won't you?
...and just pray that they primed the wall before the paper was put on.
Do a search here you'll get all the info you need.
Good luck.
You need to strip the wallpaper. Whatever method you use to do this should be what works best for you. The chances that when you are finished the gyprock will be in a condition that can be painted are slim. You will most likely need to skim-coat and sand before you can prime and start to paint.
Charge by the hour, and explain up front that this is gonna be long, messy, and expensive. If she doesn't like that, you're walking into a loser for you. So turn around and walk the other way....
PS I learned this particular one the hard way. Profit from my youthful screw up....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
This is something we do a few times each year. After some experience we price the paint job but only do T&M for wallpaper removal. The reason is you never know how someone else put it up and how difficult it will be to take down.
A couple of years ago we did 3 rooms in a house. I flat priced it. 2 rooms took 4 hours to remove the paper. The third room that had half the wall covered in wainscotting took 11 hours. 3 layers, must have been put on with contact adhesive. (just kidding) We had to rent a steamer and it took forever. After that one we only do paper removal by the hour. DanT
All,
Thanks for the input & tips. The job is by the hour with a strict disclaimer as to the condition of the walls after the paper has been removed. I learned from removing paper from my home about the sticky situations that one can get themselves into so I decided not to repete those.
Thanks again,
dlb
.
The Undisciplined Life Is Not Worth Examining.