Removing 70s wallpaper - how easy/difficult?

andycrichton

I wouldnt advocate a steam stripper unless the wallpaper has been gloss painted. The potential damage to plaster, it just isn't worth the gamble IMO.

First thing to save yourself time is to tape some plastic sheet to the skirting so when you have finished stripping, you just roll up the plastic sheet, nice and tidy, no mess.

As has been mentioned, the next job is to try peel the top layer off dry. Lay that top layer at the base of the skirting, it will absorb any water that rolls down the walls when you start wetting the base layers.

Personally I would have a bucket, 9" or 12" fluffy roller on a pole and sponge. Use HOT water and fairy liquid, or fabric conditioner or a product called DIF which breaks down glue enzymes. Being hot and with a bit of bubble, the water will stay in place rather than roll straight down the wall, so is a more efficient way of soaking. Roll from the bottom up and just keep on applying water, catching the runs, pushing them back up. Let the water do the work. No need to make a mess, just really steady and resist th eurge to strip until the backing paper is bubbling and can be pulled off by hand.

I dont recommend pulling it all off by hand, but that is the gauge for when to start stripping.

I use a 4" razor type scraper, thr long handled scrapers they are about £5 from th estore. Work out which is the right side of the blade (the wrong side digs into the plaster, the right side takes paper off only) Again, go at it steady, and make a game of not making a mark in the plaster, because filling you want to be kept to a minimum.

This approach is manageable, no steam in the room, "very little chance of ruining the plaster" (EDIT the plaster may still fall off, but it wont be because of water, it was falling off anyway!) . When the paper is off, let the walls dry and then you are ready for preparing them for whatever you do next.

Time involved, I would reckon worst case scenario 1 day per 8 rolls of paper stripped, tidied away, walls filled ready for sanding and further decoration. You may strike lucky and paper falls off, in which case 8 hours is loads of time, but experience says you will not be lucky over a whole house!

Hope that helps. Definitely a job that a capable and patient and tenacious DIYer can handle. But rest assured, it wont be the funnest job you ever do around the house.

Edwardia

In our house we were face with twelve layers of wallpaper in some rooms to get back to the plaster We did it all by hand and the old wallpaper stinks. On one wall we found pencil calculations, on another an Edwardian frieze and we used the paint colours as a guide to choosing new ones.

keystone

The vast majority of DIYers who find that plaster comes off with the paper when using a steam stripper are doing so largely through inexperience. The head is left in one place for far too long on the grounds of "getting through the paper". It is forgotten that it also goes though to the plaster, finds all those tiny little voids between topcoat and undercoat, expansion takes place and "pop" off it comes.

Cheers

Mojisola

keystone wrote: »

The vast majority of DIYers who find that plaster comes off with the paper when using a steam stripper are doing so largely through inexperience. The head is left in one place for far too long on the grounds of "getting through the paper". It is forgotten that it also goes though to the plaster, finds all those tiny little voids between topcoat and undercoat, expansion takes place and "pop" off it comes.

We've never used a steam stripper. There were just some places where the ageing plaster had blown and gone crumbly. The wallpaper was keeping it in place on the wall. As soon as the paper was disturbed, the plaster came away.

I imagine that a lot more of the plaster would have come off if we had used a steamer.

keystone

Mojisola wrote: »

We've never used a steam stripper. There were just some places where the ageing plaster had blown and gone crumbly. The wallpaper was keeping it in place on the wall. As soon as the paper was disturbed, the plaster came away.

I imagine that a lot more of the plaster would have come off if we had used a steamer.

Yes where the plaster is already blown there is nothing much you can do. I was specifically refering to the situation where people end up by damaging previously perfectly good plaster through overzealous application of a steam stripper. I should have made that clear - sorry.

Cheers

Mojisola

keystone wrote: »

Yes where the plaster is already blown there is nothing much you can do. I was specifically refering to the situation where people end up by damaging previously perfectly good plaster through overzealous application of a steam stripper. I should have made that clear - sorry.

That's why we didn't risk using a steamer. I'd seen people damage plaster in more modern houses so I didn't think our old stuff would survive the steamer treatment.

gibson123

There's only one way to find out, grab an end and see how far it rips.

My method, pull as much off without water and steam or a stripper. if it is old the top layers will come off easily.

get a bucket of hot soapy water and a squeegee mop. Mop the walls. Put the kettle on, have a cuppa, update facebook, start scraping, once all the wet bits are off, mop the walls, put the kettle on, just keep going,
Top Tip - buy some of those cheap garden waste buckets, (the floppy ones and pop the paper in as you go.

katejo

bluedrop wrote: »

Its a 1930s house. But we were told that the wall paper is 70s - cant count on what the EA said though....

If it is a 1930's house, there may be paper from that time under the 70's paper . I found some amazing layers when I stripped the hall and landing in my current house .

mart.vader

As per andycrichton's suggestion above, I found these to be very useful
http://www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-scraper/16530?cm_sp=Search-_-SearchRec-_-Area1&_requestid=632731

Remember to turn the blade round - they come with the blunt side outermost.

storytime

My DH is a decorator and he advises not to use a steam stripper on stud walls. You should only use it on solid walls. We had to strip woodchip from plasterboard walls and we had to resort to buying a product called Simplestrip from Amazon. It did the job and didn't damage the plasterboard.