Wallpaper Removal : / - Pittsburgh,PA

Updated on March 01, 2011
D.P. asks from Beverly Hills, CA
16 answers

When we bought our house EVERY room (except one) was wallpapered. fast forward to now...we are down to the last room--the dining room and it's a DOOZIE. The wallpaper seems to have been applied right onto the original drywall (Thanks previous owners!) and it is a NIGHTMARE getting it off. My husband is using Pirhana which has worked fairly well in the other rooms and a scoring tool but it is a mess. Does anyone have any better ideas? Tips or techniques?

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

OMG, this is my first break since 9:30 this morning. I have been removing wall paper in my dining room. UGH! Mine was coming off in about 1 inch by 2 inch strips. I actually called a wall paper removal guy because at this point I would pay anything to have it gone... But my husband went to the hardware store and rented a steamer for $35. The paper and paste is coming off with no problem. I just called the remover guy back and cancelled my estimate. good luck! (ps I tried Piranna Remover, hot water and vinegar, and scoring the wall etc. but nothing worked until the steamer.)

1 mom found this helpful

A.C.

answers from Cincinnati on

When my parents bought their house they had wallpaper everywhere too. The kitchen was the ugliest though. We just used water on a sponge. We got it went using the sponge & let it set for about 2 minutes. It peeled right off. Good luck.

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B.R.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Our house was built in the 60's and when we bought it over 4 years ago, the original wallpaper was still on the walls and not even beginning to show signs of peeling. Some of the wallpaper (kitchen and bathrooms) was applied directly to the drywall. We tried steam, DIF and then steam and DIF together without success. O. of DH's clients saw something called Walwik on the DIY network. We were desperate! We bought the stuff and while the steaming took us weeks to do 1/4 of our daughters bedroom, it took me 1 1/2 days to finish her room, do the living room and the dining room (the stuff in her room and the dining room was that thick, shiny paper that came off a millimeter at a time). With the walwick the paper was coming off in full sheets. Its kind of expensive but sooo worth it. Ohh I just remembered, on HGTV a few weeks ago they were having a similar problem. The guy took newspaper, wet it down with warm water and stuck it to the wall (after the wall was scored)...again same thing, the paper was coming down in sheets. For really tough stuff, I'd recommend spraying the newspaper with warm water and let it work for atleast 15-30 minutes.

Best of luck!

2 moms found this helpful
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R.K.

answers from Boston on

Ugh....that is a nightmare! That's how it was done in two of our rooms. All we did was wet the paper with hot hot water it peeled off in pieces in two layers but we only had to fix a few small areas of the drywall.

2 moms found this helpful
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B.P.

answers from Philadelphia on

I know exactly what you mean. Last summer my son, my daughter, her husband, my husband and I were all working together to try to remove the wallpaper in our kitchen. We tired Dif, steam, soaking till the water ran down the walls and formed puddles on the hardwood floors. Nothing worked. It came off in O.-inch slivers and we all got frustrated and exhausted. So my husband and I finally called a professional wallpaper remover to finish the removal and paint the room. Best decision we ever made. Months later we called the same guy to do our master bedroom and bathroom. It was so worth the money. I will never again buy a house that has a lot of wallpaper. Ugh!

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T.B.

answers from Washington DC on

I tried all the fancy wallpaper remover with little success. Then I tried mixing fabric softener and hot water (saw it on hgtv) that worked like a charm for me everything peeled right off and had very little scrapping to do.

2 moms found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Cleveland on

Yes, use the Wagner Power Steamer! I think we got it from Lowes for about 50 dollars and it works so well. It is a little pricey, but It is well worth every penny. We just moved a few months ago and our new home had wallpaper borders in every room. We tried using those small gadgets to remove the paper and it was so brutal. Then we found this and it was unbelievable how easily the wallpaper came off.

Trust me, it works! Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.!.

answers from Columbus on

I second trying the steam.

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A.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Warm water & vinegar, works better then anything you buy. Spray it starting at the top since it will run down, let it set for a while then start peeling it back with a putty knife. My gf just did it after she put in some elbow grease to her wall=paperd kitchen, she couldnt believe how quickly it came off. PS if it is indeed adhered to the drywall its going to peel off that paper too, you may want to texture those walls to rid of any inperfections.

1 mom found this helpful

K.I.

answers from Los Angeles on

No tips, sorry.

Just wanted to give you a shout-out, I know exactly how you feel and it sucks!

~When we bought our house EVERY ROOM was wall papered too! We have done all the bedrooms and the bathrooms and the kitchen but have not yet conquered the rest of the house because the rest of it is the SAME and we do not know where to start? Oh, it sucks!

My boys' room was the hardest, we went down to the drywall and had to sand and re-texturize...we had the most success with fabric softner and A LOT of patience!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.I.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Steam it is the best!!

1 mom found this helpful
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J.R.

answers from Glens Falls on

This happened to me once - that the previous owners hung the wallpaper directly on unprimed drywall. I had a professional wallpaper hanger come out to look at it because it seemed I was just tearing up the drywall. She told me to paint 2 coats over the top of the old wallpaper with KILZ. Sorry, I can't remember if she told me the oil based Kilz or the latex. The new wallpaper went up fine and stayed up fine. Of course, I don't like to do things the wrong way (and I feel sorry for the next person) but that paper wasnt coming off without tearing down the drywall, too, and I couldn't afford that. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

A.G.

answers from Houston on

ive always had luck with fabric softener and then a metal spatula

1 mom found this helpful

A.S.

answers from Iowa City on

You might have to steam it off.

1 mom found this helpful

D.M.

answers from Denver on

We have the same problem. We hired someone else to do the worst of it. He was a professional and tried to talk us into sanding and painting over it after he got started and realized just how bad it was! We were paying him a bundle and refused. Basically, he had to scrape it all off.

If you have some extra $ and know someone who needs work, maybe you could pay him/her to scrape. Seriously...it's an UGLY job.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.S.

answers from Houston on

sray bottle get it wet comes rjght off

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