Wallpaper removal - how to avoid taking card layer off the plasterboard?

nLdn

Hi,

I have an ex council flat, built in mid 1970s and was stripping off the layers of lining and wall paper going back quite a few years (theres an outer lining paper thats got huge exposed seams that was papers over a few years worth of wallpaper which in tirn was on top of plaster).

Sadly, while stripping back what I thought was the wallpaper I realise now I must have taken off a cardboard layer that was part of the plasterboard as beneath it I've found greay dusty / chalky plaster thats very soft. The result is a total mess of layers of ripped carboard and wallpaper. It's hard to see one layer from the other and its nowhere near flat or smooth :-(

The area I did this on is behind a radiator and I'm getting a plasterer to replace that wall anyway.

I'm concerned though as elsewhere in the flat I'll need to scrape off walls and walls of the stuff before I redecorate. How do I ensure I'm just taking the lining and wallpaper off and not ripping into the outer card layer of the plasterboard?

I didnt even kinow plasterboard was made like that,

For reference I was using a wallpaper steamer, scrapers and a stanley knife.

Struggled to find much guidance on google.

thanks in advance

JulieM

Your walls could be what is known as 'dry lined', if you do a search for this phrase on the internet, you might find some information which will help.

Johnhowell

We have drylining and found the steamer is too aggressive and causes the top layer of plasterboard soften and come off.

We now only sponge gently, gradually removing the old wallpaper and hope to get to the thin original magnolia paint layer immediately over the plasterboard.

I would recommend washing down the paintwork before doing anything else. We did not in one room we did early on and can still see the ghost of the previous wallpaper pattern shine through the new paint!

Any damaged areas - and there will be - we use a fine paste repair powder, make small batches (one egg cup!) at a time as it dries very quickly, scrap it on and then sand it down. Tedious but better results.

Good luck

ed110220

I had a similar problem in my house, though in my case the plasterboard had been painted and wallpaper applied with no plaster. I found the finished result was a lot better if the old, damaged plasterboard was replaced rather than just plastering the old boards, especially as they were the imperial equivalent of 9mm rather than the 12.5mm that's better for walls. Didn't work out that much more expensive.

MsPisces

i have had great success with using a spray bottle filled with water and spraying all the wall then scraping off. Worked much n=better than the steamer as mentioned above that can make the plasterboard soft

Mistral001

I agree with others that steamers are too aggressive. I hired one years ago and found that they did not really do anything that wetting or even careful stripping with a scrapper without water would do just as well.


There should be a skim of plaster on the plasterboard cardboard, so look for that when taking off the layers of paper. When you reach this skim layer, stop and go carefully. Sometimes the plasterboard is not skimmed and plasterboard joints are just taped to hide the joints (a money-saving method sometimes used in the 1970's). If this is the case you will probabably have to get the whole wall skimmed.