Must you pull the wallpaper off? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

atari · 02-09-2006, 01:45 AM

Can't you just skim over it?

atari · 02-09-2006, 01:47 AM

I'd imagine all that steam to remove the paper could wet the drywall and cause future mold and mildew problems.

**slickshift** · 02-09-2006, 07:20 AM

Depends what you're trying to do
Paint?
Yup, it's gotta come off

Steam and water is the best way to remove it, but if you dry it properly, and you will have to, if you want to paint it, mold and mildew from the removal process is not an issue

The drywall should have been primed before being covered, so the moisture shouldn't get into the drywall too bad

atari · 02-10-2006, 10:44 AM

yes, for painting.........i'll make sure the painter dries the paper very well.

thanks for the feedback.

**slickshift** · 02-11-2006, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Anderson

provided that there are no air pockets...skimm any seams...followed by a sand and an **oil** prime..then **oil** based finished ct...

thats the easiest and smartest way of dealing with wallpaper...

It may be the easiest, but it's by far the smartest

Some situations require the method described
Like improperly applied wallpaper (directly to the sheetrock-no primer), or mobil homes (some you can't remove the covering)

But in most situations that method would be considered a 'Hack" job

George Z · 02-11-2006, 11:44 AM

Assuming the air pockets and seams are not an issue
sometimes the wall paper surface is much more stable than
the damaged "skin" of the drywall despite all skimming
and all Guardz or oil priming.

copusbuilder · 02-18-2006, 11:49 AM

I still have customers that think the paper has to come off come hell or high water.
I try to calmly explain that we always try to get the paper off but if it is coming of in 1/2 inch strips then it will be rather expensive to remove? That coupled with the fact that you are removing the paper from the drywall is causing more damage and compromising the product. Skimming and priming with an oil based primer is perfectly acceptable today...at least to the people I talk with

DCA1GR8P8R · 02-24-2006, 10:17 PM

yeah ..steam it and remove it..then run a dehumidifier, turn it on when your have pulkled all the paper and leave it on when leaving the job at night and should have gr8 dry results in the am

anytime
rog

rob3429 · 02-25-2006, 05:29 AM

I was working in a hospital back a year or so ago and they had us come in and bid a painting job for them ...the walls were all covered with paper .. we gave them our bid and all then they asked us to come back and bid it again without removing the wallpaper and just regluing rough edges and painting over the paper ..so we did and we got the job ...turned out looking pretty good ..but guess what happened about 6 months later ....they called us to come give them another bid on remoing paper and repainting so we did and got that job too...the moral of the storey is that they could have saved themselves alot of money by doing it right the first time

Patty · 02-25-2006, 11:40 AM

I've removed a ton of wallpaper and always had success with a product called DIF. You just get a large bucket, fillit with HOT water, add the appro-
priate amount of DIF (read instructions as to ratio of DIF to H2O) to it, apply it with a sponge very generously (tarp the floors cuz this is messy) and let it sit for 15 minutes. Go back and re-apply the solution. Let wait 15 minutes and it should scrape of beautifully. You clean the walls with clean water, let dry and begin priming and painting. It really works well for hard-to-get-off paper.

Has this not worked for someone? Did you have wallpaper that was glued on improperly? I would never paint over wallpaper. Too many problems later on.

copusbuilder · 02-25-2006, 03:56 PM

We've been going over it for years and have never had a problem. Why would anyone damage the wallboard just to remove? I am not talking about the stuff that was sized and can be removed I am referring to the strip in inches paper. Properly done it provides great results at a fraction the cost and usually leaves a much more sound wall?
We have done this hundreds of times and have never had a call back??

Maybe we have been extremly lucky??

George Z · 02-25-2006, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patty

I've removed a ton of wallpaper and always had success with a product called DIF. You just get a large bucket, fillit with HOT water, add the appro-
priate amount of DIF (read instructions as to ratio of DIF to H2O) to it, apply it with a sponge very generously (tarp the floors cuz this is messy) and let it sit for 15 minutes. Go back and re-apply the solution. Let wait 15 minutes and it should scrape of beautifully. You clean the walls with clean water, let dry and begin priming and painting. It really works well for hard-to-get-off paper.

Has this not worked for someone? Did you have wallpaper that was glued on improperly? I would never paint over wallpaper. Too many problems later on.

Did you ever remove wallpaper from unprimed drywall?
What about wallpaper installed one hour after primer on new drywall
We have come across countless of horror stories like that.

"Has this not worked for someone?" You are correct.
As far as DIF goes, there are better products out there

Richard · 05-20-2006, 10:02 PM

Funny subject, I have a job coming up where I was planning on painting over wallpaper. Its in perfect condition and to save on mess I was just going to skim any seams and oil prime. I've never actually done this, but I've seen jobs where it was done and it looked fine.

Cuz · 05-20-2006, 10:23 PM

its just not suggested, others will think of you as a hack and the home owner will not be happy down the road. no matter at what cost the paper is best if it's removed before hand. and yes do a few and you will have a nightmare or even a horror story. but its all good $$

Brushslingers · 07-27-2006, 10:08 PM

There are quite a few products to "skim" over wallpaper, much like rolling drywall mud over everything however... they are correct. If you aren't 100% sure that paper isn't going to come loose with the weight and moisture of the paint you are applying... you better remove it first.

Luke's Dad · 12-20-2006, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Z

"Has this not worked for someone?" You are correct.
As far as DIF goes, there are better products out there

Other than using fabric softner, what else is out there? I like DIF, but I'm always up for trying something better!

**ProWallGuy** · 12-20-2006, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke's Dad

Other than using fabric softner, what else is out there? I like DIF, but I'm always up for trying something better!

Safe and Simple

paintme84 · 01-31-2007, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Z

Did you ever remove wallpaper from unprimed drywall?

Ive come across this many times. Steam and Scraping can leave bad blemishes on the wall and I've had to reskim several times.

I find it best to seal off the room and leave my steamer on in the room for an hour or so. Come back and the paper removes so easily the drywall stays in great condition.

Normally i would let the drywall dry normally overnight other than using a dehumidifier as ive found using instantly can crack the skimming.

boman47k · 02-01-2007, 12:08 PM

A few months ago, I removed paper in a bath and painted. Did I remove all the paper? No. Removed what I could, primed with oil, skimmed, primed with oil and painted. So far so good. For the guys who remove, do you actually remove all ? If not according to what is being posted, do you not still run the risk of problems? This is the way I always do it. Always thought it was reasonable. Have seen some that seemed to be almost an integral part of the wallboard that will definitely damage the board if removed.

**slickshift** · 02-01-2007, 12:20 PM

I'm not sure what you are looking for there bowman

It should be removed
That's not always possible
I did three in the last few months where it was not possible to remove all the paper and/or adhesive

In two I used Gardz (as a large amount of adhesive couldn't be removed), repaired and primed
On one I used oil primer, repaired, then primed