Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?

Subject: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Duckboots
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:31 AM

I know that musical questions get answered pretty fast here, so I'm hoping someone can bail me out. I thought I'd re-paint the kitchen while Rick was down in the States touring with the patons, but disaster has already struck.

I managed to steam off some very old wallpaper but it seems the layer with the glue ( maybe they used cement!) is still there. In short the walls are a mess. I've been trying to soak and scrape the residue off, but it's just resulting in a lot of scrape marks which I'm going to have to poli-fill in. Will ordinary wallpaper paste remover work or is there some really heavy-duty product I need to get. Any tips or family secrets appreciated.

Heather (Duckboots)

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: mousethief
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:38 AM

Sodium triphosphate should take it off, but it's nasty stuff.

Alex

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Allan C.
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:46 AM

mousethief is correct. You can find other tips on the subject here:

http://www.hometime.com/projects/howto/paintwal/pc2pw01.htm#remove

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Peter T.
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:46 AM

I have seen this wall in its new state, and the lady needs help, big time.
Have you thought about tiles?

In the meantime, I am praying for you.....yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: MMario
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:48 AM

we used a belt sander the time we had a problem with this.

another room where we took wallpaper off and found it had been appliad over old glue - we had intended to paint, ended up panaling.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Peter T.
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:50 AM

I have seen this wall in its new state, and the lady needs help, big time.
Have you thought about tiles?

In the meantime, I am praying for you.....yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: mousethief
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:51 AM

Here's some web sites. They all seem to imply there is a chemical you can get at the hardware store called "wallpaper paste remover" or some such.

http://www.learnfree-home.com/remove-paper/

http://www.homestore.com/Home_Improvement/DoItYourself/How_To_Guides/CreativeRemovingWallpaper.asp

http://www.handymanwire.com/articles/wallpaperremoval.html

Good luck!

Alex

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Bert
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:58 AM

Get off all the loose and laminated stuff with a scraper. Go over the wall lightly with a large sandpaper block to remove any high spots.

Get a tub of sheet rock mud and apply it with a wide (at least 12") blade. It takes a little practice to apply the mud but once you get the hang of it, it will go pretty quickly.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Matt_R
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 12:01 PM

I'll tell you what I used when my family stripping wallpaper. Boiling water mixed with windex. Let it sit a minute after spritzing it on, then scrape with a plastic scraper. It works. We did several rooms like this.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Matt_R
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 12:03 PM

I remembered this thread from earlier in the year.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: sophocleese
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 12:05 PM

When I removed 7 layers of wallpaper from this apartment I used some stuff from the hardware store for stripping wallpaper. It was made by the same company that makes polyfill etc. although I cannot remember its specific name. It worked quite well as long as I left it on long enough to soak in and as long as I didn't drastically overdilute it in an attempt to make it go further.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Duckboots
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 12:54 PM

Thanks for your quick response. Some of it may be helpful some of it confirms my worst fears, which is having to resurface the walls - a much bigger job than I'd bargained for.

Sophocleese, I'm heading off to the hardware store and will start with the wallpaper paste remover - if that fails, Matt R. I'll try your tip with the windex. However, having experience trying to undo what our previous owners did, I'm afraid it will come down to a choice of panelling or 'mudding' the whole thing.

I'll let you know what happens and thanks again

Heather

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: The Walrus at work
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 01:03 PM

Duckboots,

Depending on the type of walpaper paste used, hot water with a little liquid soap (or other "wetting agent") can often soften/loosen wallpaper paste enough to make removal easier. I am told that a hot water and vinager mix is supposed to work as well, but I've never tried it.

Good Luck

Walrus

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Morticia
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 01:17 PM

We had to use a steamer in this house ( built in 1910 and wallpaper never removed since, I reckon). You can buy a roller thingie with spikes that puts holes in the paper, then steam over, then it should come off reasonably easily, you can often hire steamers rather than invest in one from DIY stores.Good Luck!

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: MudGuard
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 01:45 PM

If everything else fails, try Trinitrotoluol. There is just one problem with it. It does not only remove the wallpaper but takes away the wall as well ;-)

Usually, lots of water and enough time to let it soak thru the paper should do the job. The spiked roller Morticia wrote about helps the water to soak thru.

Andreas

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Hollowfox
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 02:50 PM

Long ago, my family had a similar problem, and dwe used an electric sander. Whatever you use, mind you have ventelation for fumes, and a mask for dust. Good luck.

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: bflat
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 06:24 PM

Hi, I hope I can help as I've been involved with many such projects. Patience and warm water with the commercial wallpaper remover is best for removal of the glue along with the paper. How you approach the project depends on several things. What kind of paper are you removing i.e., Foil,vinyl on fabric, vinyl on paper or paper. The commercial product has excellent directions for its use.

What are you planning to do once the paper and glue is removed? You won't need to mud the walls if you plan to repaper. You may have to first install a liner but it isn't as messy as mudding. If mudding is needed, you've got sanding to do and that creates the finest dust which will be everywhere unless you take precautions to restrict the area with plastic floor to ceiling. Mudding also requires that you seal the surface with primer even if you then plan to repaper. That is why I like a liner.

PM if you have any questions about what I've said.

Best Wishes and don't forget to get some sleep. I feel for you.

bflat

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Duckboots
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 07:26 PM

At this point, Mudguard, I wouldn't mind if the walls fell off! Morticia, I tried the steamer thing last night, it took off the top layer of paper very easily but it didn't do a thing for the bottom layer which is well and truly bonded.

I've been trying a prepared solution,but it isn't working very well. Some paper comes off but there's a gluey residue that just isn't budging.

Bflat, how much patience am I supposed to have? How long is this supposed to take - I've put in about 10 hours now and still haven't got a clear strip. As far as I can tell, the wallpaper was just paper and it may have been up for as long as fifteen years. I want to have a nice smooth surface to put paint on. If I sand off the gluey stuff, do I have to mud to whole wall?

Heather

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 08:14 PM

Leave it rough, paint it and explain it away as the latest decorating style out of New York!

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Tinker
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 08:43 PM

I guess misery loves company. I'm stripping 50? 100 ? year old paper off at the moment too. My paper comes off amazingly easy as it was fabric backed and is really ripe with unknown layers of paint on top. The dried glue left on the walls has come off best with scrubber pads and straight windex. But some sections are not cooperative. I'm starting to understand why two of the estimates came in over a thousand dollars to do this job.....Every so often the paper comes down with a wall crater that then needs to be patched... I was told once cleaned and patched two layers of oil primer to seal the wall before painting... My standards of smooth wall seem to be bending a tad... Blessings Heather....

Tinker

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 09:37 PM

Are you guys dealing with sheet rock under the paper or do you face lath and plaster?

I ask, not becuase I have a solution but because I have to do the same job some day and it has daunted me for the last few years. This from someone who can build a house! Sheesh, what is this world coming to?

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 09:48 PM

Boots my dear.....................

When I was a kid back in Dennison, removing wallpaper seemed to be an ongoing thing all over town. Paneling was little known then and most of it was pretty hideous looking stuff (not unlike the wallpaper) so getting the old paper off was a "business" within itself. There was a local carpenter and general handyman, name of "Razz" Henry who got himself a wallpaper steamer and went into the business on the side. Now you have to remember that back then a "Wallpaper Steamer" was not some little thing. No, it was a beast on bicycle wheels standing about 5 foot high by 3 foot wide, cylindrical, with a massive steamer tank and a huge kerosene burner.

And talk about a noise? When Razz fired the thing up the roar and whooshing noise was pretty unbelievable. Matter of fact, the first time I heard a jet engine up close, I thought of ol' Razz. There were giant pan-like affairs you held against the wall that must have been 30 inches across. It did do a job though. Razz got to using some chemical or another in the tank and the smell was pretty fierce, which went nicely with the screaming beast. So you see, it was quite a show and you felt you really got your money's worth by the time it was finished.

I remember the date pretty well because it was on my birthday in 1957 that Razz got out of the business. He was doing a job on that hot summer day and he went out to his old Chevy pickup to get some more of the vile, foamy, liquid he used to add to his water, meanwhile leaving the monster howling in the front parlor of the old Victorian that had seen better days. About halfway up the front steps something went amiss and a massive explosion left Razz lying on the sidewalk where he had a good view of the ensuing fire that completely destroyed the old house in about 15 minutes. The local fire department elected to "save" the neighboring houses knowing it was hopeless to do anything else.

Now this story is true Boots......and you can take the message from it anyway you like. Either you can use this as an option, or you can consider that no matter how bad things look now, it could look worse.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Allan C.
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 09:53 PM

Duckboots, don't you make me have to come up there!

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 10:07 PM

Been there at my parents old house and have used steamers, electric paint strippers, sanders... have taken out chunks of wall, etc. I reckon that at times, patience and perseverance is the only answer. One good thing we found though was that woodchip or the Anaglypta type wall papers cover a multitude of sins.

Jon

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:17 PM

Duckboots, I had the same thing happen not long ago. After hours of soaking, scraping, picking at the wall, I gave up and just got the pointy bits off then swirl-mudded it with sand-added plaster and then finally painted it. Looks great.

Quick fix, after something that had looked like absolute hell.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: ddw
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 11:46 PM

Sympathies, Heather. As you might have noticed, Joyce is pretty good with wallpapering and she's gotten into some real messes in the prep stages. We've tried the steamers with only spotty results. Finally abandoned them every time we've tried. I'm sure some of the advice above might work, but we've always wound up resorting to just a sponge, lots of water and a 4" putty knife. It's slow going, but we haven't encountered any wallpaper glue get that wouldn't give in to it.

As for extensive mudding — if you have to resort to that, make sure you "size" the walls before you paint. It seals the mud and makes it hold paint much better.

Good luck,

david

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: bflat
Date: 01 Dec 00 - 08:24 AM

Heather,

I once removed three layers of wallpaper, plain old paper that was more than 30 years old. The commercial product worked well. It took several applications until the paper absorbed the commercial remover. This is tedious and repetitious until saturated. In the long run, less work repairing damaged walls from scrapping. Any questions, just ask.

bflat

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 01 Dec 00 - 08:32 AM

we use this stuff called sugar soap...

don't know what the ingrediants are exactly...

my guess is sugar and soap...

but then I don't know how effective this is...

sorry... not helping am I

E..

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 01 Dec 00 - 08:56 AM

With the benefit of 30 years experience of my D-I-Y skills, when I threaten to do any decorating "Her Indoors" says: "I'l phone Vic". (Vic being our local reliable decorator).
RtS

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: CarolC
Date: 02 Dec 00 - 03:34 AM

If, despite all of the excellent advice above, you still find yourself with an uneven surface, and you don't want to panel or re-plaster, you could probably apply a textured paint with good results. You'll just want to make sure you prep the wall for the paint first. The paint store people could tell you what is needed.

Good luck,

Carol

Subject: RE: Help! Wallpaper disaster! any tips?
From: rube1
Date: 02 Dec 00 - 06:23 AM

not a professional painter in the lot. Try DIF, wallpaper adhesive remover, or Downy fabric softener. Have enough patience to allow it time to work. Follow directions on bottle of DIF. (wet down entire area, wait 15 min. repeat. then work methodically on a section at a time) After scraping an area, semi-clean of paste, use sponge )industrial sponge) and fresh solution to scrub off residue. Wash area clean w/ hot water and clean sponge. Stubborn glue is removed in stages. Areas of torn drywall surface must be primed w/a specific product like oil base KILZ or a new product called SHIELDZ (latex based)damaged drywall primer, prior to patching w/ mud or (important*) bubbles will appear. Patch uneven wall surfaces, sand, skim coat entire area w/ thin coat of drywall mud if necessary to achieve smooth surface. sand area, remove dust. prime area w/ flat latex wall primer. Surface is ready now to accept finish paint of your choice. Two coats required for perfect finish.

Next time you think professional painters are overpaid, go back and read this.