How to strip wood chip wallpaper?

Mind_the_Gap

I agree about the stripping tool. Something like this is good:

http://www.tooled-up.com/product/personna-heavy-duty-floor-stripper-100mm-4-1-blade/184946/?Referrer=googleproductlisting&gclid=CNzk6I-itb0CFXGWtAodf10AmA

but it need not cost £20 - local hardware stores usually have them for about £8. Spare blades about £2.00

I do think the spiked tool helps in that the steam can get down behind the paper better if there are holes in it.

Artex...aaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh! (bellows in pain) Have they caught the person who invented it yet?

marmitepotato

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

In my house every wall was covered with woodchip and some ceilings (the ones they didn't put artex on). The wallpaper had multiple layers of shiny emulsion on top. Scoring, spiked rollers etc were no help in getting the steamer to work, all it did was make the paint a bit flexible.

I ended up scraping the walls with the wallpaper stripper (this is hard work) to take the top layer of the paper off. This causes the chips to fly around the room like shrapnel, and leaves a woody pulp layer underneath. This very absorbent and steams off easily, although the areas where the wallpaper had been glued (yes, really) to the walls rather than pasted required further attention.

If the walls were covered in woodchip it's usually because the plaster underneath is rubbish, so figure on re-plastering once you're done.

I only have the second bedroom and lounge left to strip and replaster now, but giving myself a break before tackling them!

We live next door to a prof painter and decorator, we asked his advice, and the above method was the one he recommended.

macman

If you are going to replaster anyway, why bother stripping the woodchip first?

Mind_the_Gap

macman wrote: »

If you are going to replaster anyway, why bother stripping the woodchip first?

Brilliant (not).

If you do not strip the woodchip wallpaper off first, the only thing that is holding the wet plaster to the wall is the ...er, woodchip wallpaper. The moisture in the plaster will bring the woodchip off.

Barking mad idea. Please don't do it. New plaster needs a sound substrate to which it can adhere. (Paper isn't one).

Buellguy

try this

http://newint.org/features/2008/06/01/nuclear-weapons-facts/
[IMG]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn<img src=http://static.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_smilies/angel-smiley-002.gif border=0 alt= title=You are wonderful smilieid=16 class=inlineimg>Nd9GcSsNTwa7VtPlCRqUj0tZfM7TrXQqatnACsSX7KXQd-Y1TDsciDTeQ[/IMG]


Guaranteed to work LOL


otherwise, what other people have said score and steam, we had to remove loads and it really does work. Have to keep the windows open though

trailingspouse

Steam yes - but instead of scoring (which risks damaging the plaster underneath) use a razor scraper to 'knock the top off' the chips. This will allow the steam to penetrate under the paint without risking any damage to the plaster.

Keep the stripper moving over the surface and it won't do any damage.

macman

Mind_the_Gap wrote: »

Brilliant (not).

If you do not strip the woodchip wallpaper off first, the only thing that is holding the wet plaster to the wall is the ...er, woodchip wallpaper. The moisture in the plaster will bring the woodchip off.

Barking mad idea. Please don't do it. New plaster needs a sound substrate to which it can adhere. (Paper isn't one).

Pardon? My interpretation of 'replastering' is the removal of the old plasterwork first, right back to the masonry. Obviously if the OP is doing a skim only, then the woodchip has to come off first.

ed110220

macman wrote: »

Pardon? My interpretation of 'replastering' is the removal of the old plasterwork first, right back to the masonry. Obviously if the OP is doing a skim only, then the woodchip has to come off first.

Well yes, if the plaster is unsound, as pre-gypsum plaster often is then you may as well take the whole lot off, but I think the assumption here is that the plaster itself is OK.

Mind_the_Gap

Buellguy wrote: »

...otherwise, what other people have said score and steam, we had to remove loads and it really does work. Have to keep the windows open though

Shifts teenage acne, too - all that steam opens up the pores like nobody's business!

Mind_the_Gap

macman wrote: »

Pardon? My interpretation of 'replastering' is the removal of the old plasterwork first, right back to the masonry. Obviously if the OP is doing a skim only, then the woodchip has to come off first.

So why did you suggest:

macman wrote: »

If you are going to replaster anyway, why bother stripping the woodchip first?