Best way to remove wood chip wallpaper?

malteser

we haven't completed on the purchase of our new house but i'm thinking ahead!
The walls and from memory the ceiling are covered with woodchip wallpaper and as the house is 70+ years old there are probably thick layers of paint on top.

Whats the best way of removing them ? will a steamer do the trick?

what else should i be prepared for once they have been removed?

any other tips or tricks?

many thanks
m

Hellion

malteser wrote:

what else should i be prepared for once they have been removed?

m

If the paper has been up there for many years you may find old lathe and plaster walls, or mortar rendered walls. These can be messy and not very nice to try and secure things to.

squeaky

My ceilings were lath and plaster and it started coming off with the paper. I had two choices - rip the lot off and replace the ceilings completely, or just live with them and paint them any colour I liked. I chose the easier cheaper way.

Luis

Eek, I don't envy you - when I moved into this house there was a room with woodchip on the walls - I only managed to clear one wall and that took forever, it is EVIL stuff to get off. It also fetched off the (microscopically thin layer of) plaster too.

So what I did was take a scraper to the wall and scrape all the 'chips' off so it was flat - and papered over the top! Looks absolutely fine.

dougk_2

Woodchip paper is often there to hide the uneven and bad state of the walls.......

Unless you want to replaster etc, I would suggest you leave it and just paint over it again!

malteser

hiya
thanks for the replies, i'm just waiting for someone to post and say don't worry its really easy etc etc but its not gonna happen is it......!

i'm not sure what to do as i want paint on the walls instead of wallpaper and nice flat walls.
m

bunking_off

From bitter experience, a flamethrower may be in order...

criminal_smile

I had exactly the same problem last year. Same age of house, plaster and lathe walls, woodchip, and years of paint.
As it turned out, I used the edge of a paint scraper to scour the paper, diagonal lines about 3-4 inches apart, crisscrossing, so you end up with lots of diamonds. Don't use a knife, as the cut isn't really big enough to let the steam / water penetrate effectively.
I then used a steamer, giving it about 8-10 seconds on the paper, and it lifted quite easily. Always start stripping from the bottom with a steamer, as the steam rises, making it easier as you go up. You should find that the top 3-4 feet come off like a dream. Be warned that you'll find cracks, bits of plaster missing etc. You can get cheap plaster mix at any DIY store, and this is more than adequate for small - medium repairs.

malteser

Thanks, we get the keys in a couple of weeks so i'll be able to properly survey the damage. its pretty bad from memory though!
i think we will end up attempting removal and then getting a plasterer to skim over the wall.
will keep u posted!
m

fairenoughclough

After we'd really struggled getting woodchip off the walls of a bedroom, a "friend" advised what we should have done, 'Spray the paper with water mist from plant sprayer 2/3 times a day for 3/4 days and it virtually falls off'.


Never actually seen it happen though.

divadee

I had wood chip in my old place. It took about 3 days to get off and at the end of it i was tired grumpy and very fed up, but it was definately worth it in the end. I hate woodchip