Remove Wallpaper - Plaster or Paint?

SavvySaver24

We are buying our first home and every room has a 'feature wall' with wallpaper. It isn't to our taste so we want it removed. It went uo a maximum of 18 months ago. We plan to take it off ourselves wuth a steamer but thinking ahead I am budgeting for trades people and wodnered whether a plasterer will be necessary first before we can paint?

I know it will depend on the condition of the wall behind, but as a rule of thumb if the wallpaper has obly been up 18 months is it likely to be OK to just paint the wall behind or will we need to go to the exoense of a plasterer too? And if so, what would be the rough cost of plastering ONE wall in 4 medium sized rooms and 1 small room?

Doozergirl

If it's been applied well enough, just paint over the paper.

Slinky

How long the paper has been up is unlikely to have a bearing on the condition of the wall behind it. The age of the property will be more likely to have more of a bearing. How old is it?

SavvySaver24

Slinky it is 1960's. I definitely wouldn't just paint over the paper.

simonineaston

Another suggestion: consider stripping the wallpaper you don't like, then simply repaint the walls in colours you think you'll like. Leave refinishing the walls until you've eased yourself into the house for a while. My thinking? 1) Give yourselves a while to 'learn' the house before you decide what you want to do with it. 2) If you do want to refinish any walls, it'll be better value to have them all done at the same time. 3) A simple strip & repaint is quicker, easier & cheaper than a proper refurb and you may learn things about your taste for colours and shapes while you do it...

LandyAndy

Are the other walls just plain plaster that has been emulsioned?

If so, the state of those walls will indicate what is likely behind the paper.

My house is 1960's and I would be very surprised if removing wallpaper significantly damaged the plaster. At most I'd expect to rectify small blemishes using filler and rubbing down after.

Slinky

If it's 1960s, it depends on how many coats of emulsion there are likely to be underneath it when you get the paper off. Our 1970s house the wallpaper pulled off several layers of emulsion in places but not evenly, so it was quite 'dimpled' for want of a better description. You can fill with a fine filler and sand down. In a couple of rooms we had them papered with a heavy weight lining paper which covered up the blemishes, and we then emulsioned on top.


It's unlikely you'll need to replaster unless you're particularly unlucky. Sometimes if the plaster is a bit loose, the steamer will cause the skim coat to blow in places. If you get this happening, ditch using the steamer and just soak the paper with a lot of cold water before removing.

ian103

We're just in the process of removing lining paper so we can paint the walls, we stripped the wallpaper the good old fashioned way - water, brush and a couple of scrappers, we avoided using a steam remover as in the past we have had issues with it removing the top coat of the plaster (skim) due to the plaster being in a poorish condition. It took 2 of us all day Saturday to remove the paper (about 18m run of wall). Im spending next weekend sanding and filling the exisiting walls and hope to get the first coat on. There are a couple of areas that need work to improve the finish.

FreeBear

simonineaston wrote: »

Another suggestion: consider stripping the wallpaper you don't like, then simply repaint the walls in colours you think you'll like.

Use a spray bottle & plain water. Steamers can sometimes soften up the plaster behind the paper (especially if premixed drywall mud has been used). Peel the top layer of wallpaper off and the give the layer underneath a good soak. Watch it change colour, and it should lift off with minimal scraping.

Fill in any big dings & holes, and then put up some heavy guage lining paper. Leave the tiniest of gaps between each drop (no more than one millimetre), give the wall a light coat of thinned down emulsion and leave to dry. Give the joints a quick smear of filler and sand down. Then paint the wall to your hearts content. The lining paper will cover all those little cracks and pits that would stand out like a sore thumb.

Next time you (or another owner) wants to get rid of the painted walls, it will be much easier to peal the lining paper off to get back to the plaster.

armchaireconomist

Please do not just paint over it. If the walls decent behind and its only been up >1 year you'll probably be alright. Take it off and see..