Stripping painted lining paper

330d

Hello all,

I have just moved into a house where the walls are painted over lining paper. I have taken wallpaper off many times using a steamer, scorer and strip solution (warm water and fabric conditioner) which has worked quite well.

But dealing with painted lining is a completely different level, its a nightmare to take off.

I have scored the paper, soaked with strip solution and even then with a steamer its a pain to remove. I have only done 1/4 of a room today, with standard paper the whole room would of been done today.

The other issue was if I was using to much steam, the plaster was coming off.

Please has anyone got any tips or tricks to make this easier?

I have seen an old thread here where someone mentioned sanding the paper first? https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/arrrrgghhh-painted-lining-paper.15627/

Read more: https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/stripping-painted-lining-paper.553227/#ixzz6YbuzzxPe

Jeepers_Creepers

Could you - cough - just line-paper over it? 

330d

No not really. There were a few patches which I could of repaired but I wanted to do it properly. 

Homer_home

I've never had a problem stripping painted lining paper

What is yours painted with?

I just use warm water with a little washing up liquid , I soak the paper using a brush a minimum of three times , wait a few mins then strip it off , if after three times it's not easy to remove , I soak it again 

The trick is soaking the paper enough so that the bond is broken between the glue and the wall

Jeepers_Creepers

You've scored the paper - what with? You can get hand-held tools with serrated wheels which is easy to go over the walls with circular movements. These puncture the paper with thousands of holes. 

Then steam gently - ie pass the plate over at a slow movement, but keep going. Then leave it for 5 minutes so hopefully the condensed water soaks in without lifting the plaster. 

It can be a 'mare under certain circumstances depending on how the paper was applied. 

As a last resort - and especially if you want extra insulation on that wall - there's a stuff called 'Wallrock' - it's around 3mm thick and applied like paper, but it hides a multitude as well as adding insulation. Not cheap tho'. . 

330d

Jeepers_Creepers said:

You've scored the paper - what with? You can get hand-held tools with serrated wheels which is easy to go over the walls with circular movements. These puncture the paper with thousands of holes. 

Then steam gently - ie pass the plate over at a slow movement, but keep going. Then leave it for 5 minutes so hopefully the condensed water soaks in without lifting the plaster. 

It can be a 'mare under certain circumstances depending on how the paper was applied. 

As a last resort - and especially if you want extra insulation on that wall - there's a stuff called 'Wallrock' - it's around 3mm thick and applied like paper, but it hides a multitude as well as adding insulation. Not cheap tho'. . 

Paper was scored using a Orbital Wallpaper Scorer. 

I am guessing my main problem is the paper has been painted multiple times and possibly with the easycare durable paint. This is probably making the steam hard to penetrate the paper. 

Any thoughts on sanding it first to remove or weaken the paint?

FreeBear

Jeepers_Creepers said: As a last resort - and especially if you want extra insulation on that wall - there's a stuff called 'Wallrock' - it's around 3mm thick and applied like paper, but it hides a multitude as well as adding insulation. Not cheap tho'.

At nearly £50 per roll (to cover 7.5m²), it is darned expensive for very little insulation - The quoted R value of 0.0821 m²K/W will do little to improve the insulation of a wall. The stuff is very good at trapping moisture in a wall, which eventually gives rise to a host of other problems especially a solid brick/stone wall. [Stripped a solid brick wall that had been covered with polystyrene insulation last year - The wall was dripping wet, and much of the plaster just fell off the wall...] If you are going to insulate a wall, it is worth doing a proper job - Wallrock should only be regarded as a short term substitute for lining paper.

neilmcl

FreeBear said:

Jeepers_Creepers said: As a last resort - and especially if you want extra insulation on that wall - there's a stuff called 'Wallrock' - it's around 3mm thick and applied like paper, but it hides a multitude as well as adding insulation. Not cheap tho'.

At nearly £50 per roll (to cover 7.5m²), it is darned expensive for very little insulation - The quoted R value of 0.0821 m²K/W will do little to improve the insulation of a wall. The stuff is very good at trapping moisture in a wall, which eventually gives rise to a host of other problems especially a solid brick/stone wall. [Stripped a solid brick wall that had been covered with polystyrene insulation last year - The wall was dripping wet, and much of the plaster just fell off the wall...] If you are going to insulate a wall, it is worth doing a proper job - Wallrock should only be regarded as a short term substitute for lining paper.

That's probably the Wallrock Thermal liner stuff, there are cheaper Wallrock products.

bris

The paper was probably hung with ready mixed paste, a lot of that stull has PVA glue mixed into it for a stronger bond to the wall.
This PVA glue is a lot harder to get off than normal paste as its waterproof when dry. I had to do it once when the edges well fixed with PVA glue and all I could so was scrap it off, the steam wallpaper remover just didn't  soften it enough to do the job.

ST1991

I had similar in my living room - lining paper that was painted in silk emulsion.
I used a steamer, and the process was quite long winded...

In another room i scored the paper with a stanley knife in a criss-cross pattern (and apologised to the plaster underneath, but it was being patched/covered afterwards so...) and then with a big old bucket of hot water with washing up liquid and some cloths, i saturated the walls, left for 10 mins, scraped, then saturated again, and scraped.
It only took 2 passes, and everything came off! I soaked it 2 walls at a time, so by the time i got to the end os the soaking, i was ready to start scraping, and so on.

I think the key is to wait for the paper to soak before scraping. If you are struggling, try scoring the paper in more places.

330d

One further point, I am using a pressure garden pump sprayer to soak the walls. Could it be that this is not soaking it enough? I thought i was as the water was dripping down the walls and causing a puddle.