wallpaper removal how-to (repost from old house web)

[melliroo (WavyGlass)]

Hiya folks,

I'm reposting my question from Old House Web, as it was recommended that I move on over here.

So...

My husband and I recently closed on a 1905 house in Massachusetts. I have a question about removing wallpaper. I would actually love to keep it, but it's not in great shape. Is it acceptable to just peel it off? The paper is fairly thick and seems to peel off very easily. There's only a single layer of paper and the plaster looks fine underneath.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[mjt]

We've done it in several rooms. Several rooms also had it on the ceilings. In some cases it came off quite easily once you got it started. Then we just wiped off the adhesive residue with a moist rag, repaired any cracks and painted.

There were some spots where it was more work and I had to do some heavier scraping first. Those ares required a little more plaster repair before painting. Examples of one room here: http://fixfarrington.blogspot.com/2012/01/removing-wall-coverings.html

[melliroo (WavyGlass)]

Thanks for the response, MJT. It's all I can do to not peel off a big strip of it every time I walk up or down the stairs! Alas, we have more pressing plaster issues to deal w/ before I tackle the wall paper.

[InGeorgia (WavyGlass)]

It's wonderful that it strips right off ! PO here pasted wallpaper right onto wallboard, sigh. I can peel off the top layer but then have to use a sprayer to wet the rest and scrape. It is time consuming and frustrating. Started out using water and fabric softener but found just water worked just as well.

[mjt]

I empathize. In a previous house (1940-ish) the wallpaper came off the plaster walls easily. The sheetrock walls were another story. We had to use a "paper tiger" and multiple applications of water and/or fabric softener. None of which really made the job any easier. We still ended up ripping off some layers of the wallboard paper and had to skim-coat the whole thing. Blech...

[Snickare85 (WavyGlass)]

i know that a good system is trying with vapor..like this small machine here..http://www.vapor-systems.com/products/v ... primo.html it is ecofriendly and you are not exposed to the fumes of the chemical wallpaper remover product for example..a equal mix of vinegar and warm water should also work well..

[Texas_Ranger]

Sometimes steam works, sometimes it doesn't. For me it didn't, ended up using a bucket of cold water and a big paint brush. Those handheld steamers really seam to polarise - people either love or hate them. I count myself among the latter group after having tried a small Black&Decker steamer. It was heavy, kept dripping hot condensate all over the place, the tiny water tank had to be refilled all the time using a tiny funnel and it didn't put out much steam - in fact so little that even a smallish patch would start to dry up again before you'd finished steaming it.