Swashbucklers Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Will be moving into a bigger house soon and will need to strip some wallpaper. The last time I did this, I remember it not being that much fun using DIF and digging into the drywall in some spots. Anyone have a tried and true method to make this task any less arduous? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 (edited) Will be moving into a bigger house soon and will need to strip some wallpaper. The last time I did this, I remember it not being that much fun using DIF and digging into the drywall in some spots. Anyone have a tried and true method to make this task any less arduous? TIA! I used DIF, but got that little Paper Tiger tool that breaks up the surface a bit to let the DIF get behind the paper and into the adhesive. It worked like a charm. I wouldn't do it any other way. Link to tool and instructions Edited June 4, 2008 by Kid Cid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Man I can empathize. I've been through this a few times and it sucks so bad that I vow when I look for my next house it will not have wallpaper to strip. That being said, I used a wallpaper scorer and Wagner steamer along with a scraper. It takes a loooong time and then the walls are left sticky from the glue left behind. That cleans up pretty good with TSP solution. Hopefully somebody elses method is easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 just demolish the house!!! what a horrible job. we did it in our michigan house. used krud cutter with hot water and worked much better then the dif. plus dif is chemicals and not too good if your have kids. the krud cutter is safe, atleast it says it is. you may have to do it a few times to get all the glue completely off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vt700guy Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 We ar about to start stripping wallpaper in our new house also. All the bedrooms, the living room, and the dining room have that crap up. I've decided if it becomes too much of a pain I'm just going to knock the walls out and put up new sheet rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I have removed literally thousands of pounds of drywall in a former life as a painter: SOAK the walls with DIF with a nice big natural sponge. Paper tiger the walls but just lightly, you dont want to have to skim/mud the walls any more than you have to. After you tiger the walls another SOAK with the sponge. Be very liberal with the solution, its worth the money. Let it sit for a minute or two and you'll start seeing the edges and perforations from the solution creeping between the paper and the wall. Then you take a big, thin mud knife preferabluy and start working on a corner. If the person who put up the wallpaper primed the walls before he put on the glue this step could be a breeze with the paper falling away from the walls in sheets. If the walpaper guy didnt prime the surface right you could be in for lots of sponge and scraper action working little pieces loose. Remember to remove all the glue after you have the paper off. It will make paint orange peel and really cant be sanded. If you have any issues, just post em here. There isnt much in wallpaper removal I havent dealt with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Don't they make steamers that are supposed to work better? I've had to remove some wallpaper from my house as well & we soaked with Dif. Some places it worked ok, but in our bathrooms we just said screw it & put up a textured wall covering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Don't they make steamers that are supposed to work better? I've had to remove some wallpaper from my house as well & we soaked with Dif. Some places it worked ok, but in our bathrooms we just said screw it & put up a textured wall covering. I'm old school. Havent been in the home remodeling biz in like 10 years. Do the steamers really work? They werent readily on teh market when I was doing that stuff. Anything to make that excruciating chore easier has my blessing. That was always "new guy" work on most sites I've worked on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I'm old school. Havent been in the home remodeling biz in like 10 years. Do the steamers really work? They werent readily on teh market when I was doing that stuff. Anything to make that excruciating chore easier has my blessing. That was always "new guy" work on most sites I've worked on. I honestly don't know since I've never actually used one. At the time we were doing ours we considered renting one, but then decided on the textured covering, which is basically a textured wallpaper that you can paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I honestly don't know since I've never actually used one. At the time we were doing ours we considered renting one, but then decided on the textured covering, which is basically a textured wallpaper that you can paint. I've gone that route as well. Just prime that shiz with some Kilz and spray knock down on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 The steamer I used wasn't commercial grade (it is a Wagner that is relatively inexpensive). Without that, I couldn't imagine trying to scrape the paper off. It is tedious but effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I used DFI and the Tiger tool. Worked very well. But keep in mind, this is an incredibly messy process. Lay down a lot of plastic to aid in clean up afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Don't they make steamers that are supposed to work better? I've had to remove some wallpaper from my house as well & we soaked with Dif. Some places it worked ok, but in our bathrooms we just said screw it & put up a textured wall covering. We had some serious hard-core wallpaper to remove (2 layers of it with 2 layers of paint besides) and the steamer worked best by far. Although I will add that it worked even better when we first scored the wall and sprayed some chemical stuff first to help it along (not sure if it was DIF or not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Agent Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Chainsaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Sawsall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Unless it's that really cheap vinly wallpaper.... rip out the sheet rock and reinstall.... my opinion. One other option is to rip or steam off as much as possible, and skim coat the wall. The lightweight spackle works goos for this, but if you are lame at spackling....NEVER paper over a skim coated wall. The you WILL do a sheet rock replacement for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBoog Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 We ar about to start stripping wallpaper in our new house also. All the bedrooms, the living room, and the dining room have that crap up. I've decided if it becomes too much of a pain I'm just going to knock the walls out and put up new sheet rock. This was actually my first thought. It is a suck job. If it is only one wall or room, and depending on the texture you want, new sheetrock may be the way to go. It may take as long or longer, but you will have clean, ready to do whatever you want with walls when you are done. It also gives you an opportunity to spray mold preventer into the structure and re-insulate if it is an exterior wall! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.