How can I strip wallpaper that has been painted over?

py2006

Hi folks,

A couple of years ago I got really lazy and just painted over the wallpaper in my bedroom. The wall paper had been there since childhood. At the time I just couldn't be arsed stripping it so I just painted over it.

I am now regreting that as it looks awful. I would like to be able to strip it all off and paint it again but apparrently you can't use a stripper over paint.

Is there any way around this ?

Thanks

Peace

Depends, sometimes you have to scrape the paint off first sometimes just use a wet sponge to soak the paper and then scrape.

See which works and go with it.

patrickolee

Should be no problem. The stuff we had to strip off, had been painted a few times. You can get a tool, to perferate the wallpaper, so that the steam from your wallpaper steamer can get in. We bought one of the them, but ended up not using it. It was wood chip wallpaper, so we just used the scraper itself to lightly score the paper surface before using the steamer.

BTW, I would buy a steamer if I were u- they're fairly cheap, but make it much easier. Don't bother with the chemical strippers, way slower than the steamer.

py2006

Thanks guys! A friend advised me against getting a steamer as it just melts the paint or something!

hughm

steamer wont melt the paint. If you over steam you are more likely to damage the plaster underneath than you are to melt the paint.

py2006

hughm wrote:

steamer wont melt the paint. If you over steam you are more likely to damage the plaster underneath than you are to melt the paint.

So do you think it would be ok to just run a steamer over the paint?

hughm

i have never had success steaming off painted paper....Mind you i never really scored it come to think of it. Worth trying having scored 1 panel of paper. If it is not happening for you try my way.

I always find it easier to peel the painted layer off by hand (no steam no mess) and then steam the paper backing off afterwards. Usually if the paper is painted it comes away from the backing relatively easily in large sections and quickly and is not messy.
then you are left with the paper lining which has all the paste. Steam that off but don't hack at it too much. Dontbe tempted to pull as much of the lining off dry as you can this makes life much harder. Keep the lining intact and it will oftern come off in one go from floor to ceiling and there is little scraping involved.

good luck.

py2006

Thanks for that hughm, I will give it a try! I must remove the clutter from the room first!

The crazy part about living at home at the age of 29 is that everything you own is in the one room. :eek:

ircoha

first question, is the wall a soild plastered wall or a dry lined/ partion wall.

if the latter, u must proceed with care as it may not in fact have been plastered before it was painted and in this case it is VERY easy to actually start peeling off the paper off the plaster slab.

you can prove this by experimenting , for example behind the bedside locker above the skirting board.

A steamer will work fine on painted paper if you can get one, they can be hard enough to source now due to the decline in wallpaper use in favour of paint.

The trick with the steamer is to keep it long enough in one palce to make the paper almost peel off, but if you leave it in one place for too long, you will pop the skim off the wall:(

As noted else where if u can soak the paper with water, warm, with a little sugar soap then perfect- do not use ordinary soap as it will make the new paint peel.

Once it is all off, wipe down the walls with a sugar soap solution to get rid of all the slime and then paint once dry.

else where it was noted to perhaps scratch/ score the paper to let the water/steam in.
Fine in theory but if you overdo it u scratch the wall and u will see it in the new paint work.
pm me if u need more

trillianv

My grandmother is a housepainter and she swears by a plain ol' hair dryer. The heat will make the glue on the wallpaper become pliable and the paper should peel off. Not sure about it being painted over but worth a shot and won't damage anything by trying.

dubtom

I've always use warm water with a little washing up liquid, score the paper, apply water with a brush or sponge, leave for 5 minutes and repeat, paper should come off fairly handy.

mad m

trillianv wrote:

My grandmother is a housepainter and she swears by a plain ol' hair dryer. The heat will make the glue on the wallpaper become pliable and the paper should peel off. Not sure about it being painted over but worth a shot and won't damage anything by trying.

You sure that hairdryer is not a heatgun...:)

If its painted over and over the years I reckon once you get a start with it,it might fly off.Get a scraper like this Link

Wishbone Ash

dubtom wrote:

I've always use warm water with a little washing up liquid, score the paper, apply water with a brush or sponge, leave for 5 minutes and repeat, paper should come off fairly handy.

I find that to be the best method too dubtom. Steamers are cumbersome and messy. They also require full concentration - it's very easy to hold it for a few seconds too long while you search for a ringing mobile, resulting in a nice bit of replastering.

Paper which has been hanged (hung?) by a professional decorater is usually much easier to remove. Amateurs tend to use way too much paste.

py2006

dubtom wrote:

I've always use warm water with a little washing up liquid, score the paper, apply water with a brush or sponge, leave for 5 minutes and repeat, paper should come off fairly handy.

Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean by "score" the paper?

Wishbone Ash

py2006 wrote:

Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean by "score" the paper?

Scratch the lining to allow water to penetrate through. ( washable wallpapers resist water).

py2006

ircoha wrote:

first question, is the wall a soild plastered wall or a dry lined/ partion wall.

Not entirely sure, I would assume its a solid plastered wall!

Thanks for your advice!

Wishbone Ash

py2006 wrote:

Not entirely sure, I would assume its a solid plastered wall!

Thanks for your advice!

Tap it with your finger knuckle. If it's plasterboard (i.e. a studded wall) you will hear a hollow sound. It will probably have both anyway unless it's a newer house with plasterboard on exterior walls.

py2006

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Tap it with your finger knuckle. If it's plasterboard (i.e. a studded wall) you will hear a hollow sound. It will probably have both anyway unless it's a newer house with plasterboard on exterior walls.

The house is almost 30 years old. My knuckles detect that its hollow.

Lemo

py2006 wrote:

Hi folks,

A couple of years ago I got really lazy and just painted over the wallpaper in my bedroom. The wall paper had been there since childhood. At the time I just couldn't be arsed stripping it so I just painted over it.


If you have kids, get them out of the house before starting the job. You'll be doing a lot of swearing :-)

I stripped a lot of paper (layers of it) off the walls in my house and I found the steamer was pretty useless.

The old-fashioned way is the best, in my experience. Get as much off as you can while it's still dry. Then score with a Stanley knife and soak it. I use a spray bottle with warm/hot water and washing-up liquid. Leave it for a few minutes and scrape off with a scraper.

Good luck.

Wishbone Ash

py2006 wrote:

The house is almost 30 years old. My knuckles detect that its hollow.

It is possible then that the paper was directly applied over the plasterboard, an occasional economising method used in the 1970s. If so it will be probably be necessary to have the walls plastered before painting unless you are unfussy!.

Lemo wrote:

If you have kids, get them out of the house before starting the job. You'll be doing a lot of swearing

I think the OP said he lived at home with his parents (at 29 :eek:)(only joking )
Maybe he should get the folks out of the house

trillianv

mad m wrote:

You sure that hairdryer is not a heatgun...:)

Link

Actually no...it's just a regular hairdryer.

Wertz

Get yourself a paper tiger http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/z/ZINPTS/

I use the 3 headed one and bucket of plain old cold water.
A paper tiger won't scratch or scrape the wall like blades will...the wheel underneath allows it to randomly score tiny little hole over a large area quickly, then you sponge down with cold water and move onto another wall, then come abck ten minutes later with a wide blade working from the bottom up to the top (since most paper is hung from the top down, it usually comes off handier going in the opposite direction for some reason).
Be careful around plugs and light switches.

Are you gonna re-paper or paint?

py2006

Wertz wrote:

Are you gonna re-paper or paint?

The plan is to remove the paper and paint!

ircoha

Lemo wrote:

py2006 wrote:

Hi folks,

and I found the steamer was pretty useless.

The old-fashioned way is the best, in my experience. Get as much off as you can while it's still dry. Then score with a Stanley knife and soak it. I use a spray bottle with warm/hot water and washing-up liquid. Leave it for a few minutes and scrape off with a scraper.

Good luck.

blame the steamer, rather than the technology :there are a lot of crap ones around, I have been using them for 25 years but always a quality machine, not something that came with cereal or Green Shield stamps!!

The stanley knife will mark the wall if u not careful: bad for repainting

washing up liquid contains silicates which are Vbad for ensuring subsequent adhesion of paint.

Wertz

py2006 wrote:

The plan is to remove the paper and paint!

Okay word to the wise. Wash the walls down with a tepid sugar soap solution then rinse with cold water, especially if it's a previously painted surface. Then give it a light sanding. This is to remove any remaining paste after the paper has been stripped.
Otherwise, old paste will bleed into the emulsion you're putting on, dulling the finish, leaving a texture to the paintwork, retarding the drying time and undermining the adhering quality of the paint.

Bob the Builder

Get a bottle of Nitromors, it will remove the paint and the top layer of the wallpaper, After that its just a matter of removing the paper layer of the wallpaper which is simple...

Wertz

Good god, the amount of nitromors you'd need to do a whole room would add another 50-70 quid onto the price, not to mention the pissing about trying to avoid burning yourself and then having to neutralise the stripper.
Nitromors should only ever be used on wood or metal of a relatively small surface area anyway, and is far more effective for oil paints than emulsions...

If you insist on using a chemical stripper use zinsser DIF...it's an enzyme that breaks down adhesives and paste, is non-toxic and safe for skin....but you still need to score the paper first. At the end of the day clean cold water does the exact same thing over a slightly longer timescale