Removing that old wallpaper
Now, “Why did I put that in?”
Most houses built in the 80s and 90s have wallpaper somewhere. I know, because I installed a lot in Northwest Arkansas during those years. But, like the hairstyles of the 60s, we are willing to put that behind us. So how do you remove the wallpaper?
For starters, rest assured that what you went up can come down. Some of that is a bit more difficult. Do yourself a favor and go to Lowe’s or The Home Depot and buy a wallpaper steamer, which will cost you between $ 50.00 and $ 75.00. This is the secret sauce, the Genie in the Bottle, the magic wand. With this tool, most wallpapers will subdue and loosen the death grip it has on walls.
The reason most wallpapers don’t come off easily is that no one wanted to use a primer on the rock sheet before hanging the wallpaper. And some even thought that if they used a wall size, that would be enough. Well guess what, it worked fine. The size of the wall made it stick even more. So, get the steamer and a 6-inch metal scraper and this should help remove the wallpaper.
When you use the steamer, the wallpaper will peel off the wall to the rock plate. Sometimes the front layer of the wallpaper will peel off and then it can soak through the remaining backing. Do this with a pump sprayer with a wallpaper mixture and pull or scrape the backing. Take your time and try not to pierce the wall too much. Every time you gouge, you have to fix it. More work.
Use a wallpaper stripper solution in the sprayer as mentioned above. NO VINEGAR, NO SOAP! You can buy a wallpaper stripper in a concentrate. It was created for such an occasion. It will work better than anything else you may be tempted to use.
Sometimes, though rarely, the wallpaper just won’t come off. In such a case, you will need to go over the top of the wallpaper, in particular at the joints with rock sheet compound to smooth it out. This is because if you just paint on the wallpaper, you will see the seams. They will be a different color.
Once you have removed the wallpaper or run it over, you will need to texture the walls. This will produce a look we all want on our walls. All the walls are textured with one type of finish or another. Once this is done, a good coat of primer and 2 coats of paint and you are done. It’s hard work, but the result is a room or home with “updated” wall finishes.
Some wallpapers are coming back into fashion, but they are expensive. And the more expensive the paper, the more expensive to install. The sad truth is that as a wallpaper installer, there is no way you are going to install $ 100.00 for a single roll of wallpaper for $ 20.00 dollars. I don’t think that wallpaper is back in fashion or as popular as it once was. I know, flared pants are back and those ’60s colors are all the rage, but wallpaper has taken the death toll IMHO. And painted walls are much easier to change than wallpaper. There are some themed borders for kids rooms, but wallpaper is out of stock anymore. That is a clue.
Well, let’s continue with the topic at hand. Make this a family project and get all the help you can. Most rooms can be removed, textured, primed, and painted in 3-4 days by “DIY.” The pros are much faster, so you can consider how much your time is worth. Try not to stress yourself out and work at a steady pace. No paper tigers! It is a tool on the market that claims to help remove wallpaper. All it does is damage your walls. Save your money. Use the steps and tools I have mentioned and you will get the results you want.
Happy painting everyone
Known
