The Historic District

I need to open a couple of walls in rooms with old, and very dramatic, wallpaper. 40 years old, but long out of production. Does anyone know a way to remove it wthout destroying the pper?

If you're lucky you can cut the paper crosswise where you want to open the wall, then push a putty knife behind the paper with utmost care. The less the paper sticks to the wall the better the trick works.

Look at this video, he shows how it's supposed to work. If the paper is stuck well I don't think it could work though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oso7NWPOFyE

Thanks for the reply, but when I say "open the walls" I mean in big areas. They are exterior walls in a "plank framed" house. I need to take the plaster down and stud the walls in order to create space for insulation. The wall paper is expensive stuff, now out of production. I would like to save it rather than find new paper for the entire room.

Why don't you find a company to spray blown in or air crete into the walls for insulation. You wouldn't have to open any walls they can do it from the outside.

plastrr385 wrote:Why don't you find a company to spray blown in or air crete into the walls for insulation. You wouldn't have to open any walls they can do it from the outside.

You don't understand "plank framed", there is no space in the walls for insulation. The house is "post and beam", without studs. Planks are applied to the exterior of the frame and lath is applied directly to the interior of the planks, then plaster.

I get it my house is post and beam with studs. But if there are planks on the outside and lathe on the inside then there is space for the insulation...right

plastrr385 wrote:I get it my house is post and beam with studs. But if there are planks on the outside and lathe on the inside then there is space for the insulation...right

No, no studs just 1.5" X 18" chestnut planks. The lath and plaster are applied directly to the planks, so no space or "stud cavity".

Ah my bad sorry!

We recently removed wallpaper from no later than the 50s. It came off very easily in full sheets using no tools except for a putty knife to get under the bottom edge on occasion, leaving behind just the glue residue. It'd started curling up in a few corners (under windows) about ten years ago. Have you tried prying it up at all? Perhaps you'll get lucky like we did?

Unfortunately I have nothing else to suggest.

I left the steamer going on by mistake when I went for a break, and came back to a sauna. However the wallpaper virtually fell off the ceiling in complete strips.