Wall paper removeal fail, or win? With PIC.

[Locut0s]

OK so I posted about redoing our kitchen before and about removing the wall paper and got some helpful replies. Thanks for all of those. Anyway we have started to remove the wallpaper and it's proving to be VERY time consumiong. This is not at all surprising however I'm also concerned that we are ruining the drywall. Take a look at the pic below. As we remove the wallpaper it's taking pieces of the drywall paper backing with it. I'm guessing this is not a good thing but try as I might it seems impossible to avoid entirely. We've tried several methods and all of them take some of the backing with it. The easiest method I've used is to rough up the wallpaper with some sandpaper to break the surface, then spray it with DIF (a chemical wall paper remover) and hot water, leave it on for 10mins then start pealing with a metal scrapper. This works well though still takes hours for even a medium sized area. And again some of the drywall paper backing comes with it.

I'm guessing that before painting we can fix these areas with polyfilla (Canadian brand of Spackling paste) and sand paper.

However what I want to know is, is it normal for this to come off. Is this wall paper removal FAIL? Is there a way to avoid this? Should we hire someone?

UPDATE: LOL my mother has found a REALLY good method that seems to work well. She makes up a paste from flour and water, like paper mache paste and paints this on the wall. This stuff sticks to the wall for a long period instead of just sliding off like water or even some of the chemicals. Then she carefully removes the paper. She's managed to remove large sections now without any damage. We are still getting someone in to give us a quote on doing it for us though.

 

[pcgeek11]

http://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/repairing-torn-drywall-paper.html

Warning:
DO NOT use spackling paste, it isn't designed to skim coat.
Use drywall mud ( Joint Compound ) to skim coat.


Very important to cutaway all loose pieces and seal/prime the drywall before skim coating.

It may take several skim coats to get it smooth. Make sure to not over mix the joint compound if you do you will have tiny air bubbles all over the wall and it will need another skim coat.

 

[Locut0s]

http://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/repairing-torn-drywall-paper.html

Warning:
DO NOT use spackling paste, it isn't designed to skim coat.
Use drywall mud ( Joint Compound ) to skim coat.


Very important to cutaway all loose pieces and seal/prime the drywall before skim coating.

It may take several skim coats to get it smooth. Make sure to not over mix the joint compound if you do you will have tiny air bubbles all over the wall and it will need another skim coat.

Ah ok, thanks for that! Still the question remains though if it's normal to be getting this kind of mess?

 

[Modular]

http://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/repairing-torn-drywall-paper.html

Warning:
DO NOT use spackling paste, it isn't designed to skim coat.
Use drywall mud ( Joint Compound ) to skim coat.


Very important to cutaway all loose pieces and seal/prime the drywall before skim coating.

It may take several skim coats to get it smooth. Make sure to not over mix the joint compound if you do you will have tiny air bubbles all over the wall and it will need another skim coat.

I agree with this, but just go the easy route and buy the pre-mixed joint compound. It's a few dollars more (literally 2-3 more) and completely worth it!

 

[Locut0s]

Any word from those who have removed wallpaper if this is normal?

 

[amdskip]

You might need to rent a wallpaper removal steamer.

 

[Locut0s]

You might need to rent a wallpaper removal steamer.

From what I've been reading it seems those tend not to work all that well when compared to modern chemical removers, which is what I'm using.

 

[pcgeek11]

Any word from those who have removed wallpaper if this is normal?

Yes most of the time there will be damage. How much is up to the remover depending on how much tedious work they want to do.

Wallpaper sucks.

 

[boomerang]

I haven't removed wallpaper in decades but here goes.

If it's a vinyl type of wallpaper (slippery, shiny surface to it) the chemical method is probably the best. But ditch the sandpaper and get a scoring tool. This is where you're going wrong.

wallpaper scoring tool

Then use the chemical remover like you're using following the directions.

If what's on the wall is truly a paper product, the steamer works the best.

If the wallpaper is on very securely as yours seems to be, you will get damage. What I would do is try to work around those stubborn areas and hit them with another dose of stripper and come back to them.

Your results don't look too awful bad. I think with a little better technique and putting the proper tool in the mix, you'll do as well as can be expected. It's difficult not to have some damage.

 

[Wyndru]

From what I've been reading it seems those tend not to work all that well when compared to modern chemical removers, which is what I'm using.

When we took down wallpaper in our bedroom the same thing happened. We used a scoring tool to perforate the paper, then used the chemical to soak it and peel it off. We also used drywall mud to smooth those spots out before we painted. It sucked, very time consuming.

A guy I know who does this stuff for a living told us we should have steamed it, I don't know if it would have been better or not, it might be worth a shot. I think you can rent the steamers at Lowes/Home Depot.

 

[Vette73]

I would not use drywall mud for that. Get some good spackle and use that. It will not shrink or flash the paint like drywall mud. So one good coat and then sand is all you need. Should not need much.

 

[geno]

Any word from those who have removed wallpaper if this is normal?

The previous owners in our house painted over some of the wallpaper in the house. The only place it refused to come off nicely was in the master bedroom, where it peeled off just about all of the paper from the drywall. I saw where this was going and stopped after pulling up a couple square feet worth of paper and just decided to skim it / paint over it until I can re-drywall the room. So I don't know if it's normal for that to happen, but it happened to me too, and no amount of Dif or warm water would make it come loose.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

fffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.....

this makes me dread the wallpaper removal i need to do in the living room/dining room. 1 30ft long wall with 4 layers of wallpaper.

 

[dfuze]

When I took down the wallpaper in my house last year I used a mixture of warm water and a little liquid fabric softner. Apply it to the wallpaper with a sponge, let it sit for a few minutes, then used a 6" drywall knife (best tool I had for the job) to remove 95% of it like butter.

 

[DesiPower]

 

[TwiceOver]

No it is not normal. The person who did the install forgot to put a coat of sizer down before installing the wallpaper. Sizer allows for you to easily remove the paper later on.

As stated in the first reply, skim coat (whole wall if possible), prime, paint.

 

[Squisher]

Yeah, I had to do this last summer. Like others have said, skim coat with mud. Use a light touch when sanding otherwise you'll sand through and get a bunch of texture you don't want.

I see a chair rail in that pic. If I hadn't, I was going to say if there aren't any features on the wall I'd think about throwing up some 3/8 drywall right over it. It's much easier to sand screws and joints than skimming an entire wall.

 

[Wyndru]

Those are 2 of the banished words of 2010

http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

 

[Codewiz]

I am paying someone $500 to removal all the wallpaper from my kitchen and two bathrooms.

It will be his problem not mine. It would take at least 12-14 hours for me to do that work. That comes to about $35/hour. Well I get paid more than that so it makes sense for me to pay someone to deal with the hassle. I tried steam, home remedies, and finally commercial chemical removers. It took scrapping every piece. I said screw it and called someone.

 

[BurnItDwn]

yikes.
I plan on removing the wallpaper from my living room, not looking forward to it, but will probably be starting in a few weeks, that way I can paint it bright orange

 

[Iron Woode]

From what I've been reading it seems those tend not to work all that well when compared to modern chemical removers, which is what I'm using.

I bought a steamer from Home Depot 5 years ago to remove 30 year old wallpaper and it worked great. Was way faster than chemicals and didn't damage the drywall underneath.

It does make a mess though from the damp wallpaper clumps on the floor.

 

[Codewiz]

I bought a steamer from Home Depot 5 years ago to remove 30 year old wallpaper and it worked great. Was way faster than chemicals and didn't damage the drywall underneath.

It does make a mess though from the damp wallpaper clumps on the floor.

It really depends on the glue and wallpaper type. It wouldn't touch my wallpaper. I even ripped the face off the wall and it still couldn't release the glue. Only thing that worked was chemicals and it didn't work very well.

 

[alkemyst]

if the wall wasn't prepped properly prior to wallpaper, it's almost impossible to avoid some drywall damage.

 

[pcgeek11]

if the wall wasn't prepped properly prior to wallpaper, it's almost impossible to avoid some drywall damage.

This and Most People do not prep properly. As mentioned earlier sizing...

 

[zinfamous]

I don't think I would have noticed those patches any more than the other patches had some rapscallion not made them obvious with those bright orange arrows!