ARRGGGHH!!! Can't get this f$cking wallpaper off!

[Tim Downie]

Many moons ago, we redecorated our younger daughter's room by peeling off the exisiting vinyl wallpaper and simply painting over the remaining layer of paper.

Fast-forward a good few years and we're trying to remove that thin layer of painter paper. No amount of perforating, soaking, steaming or blow-torching (you can tell I'm getting a little desperate) will enable us to scrape off this wretched stuff at a rate faster that 1 square foot every 20 minutes to half an hour!

I don't know whether it's simply the effect of the paint making the paper waterproof of some strange paste used many years ago before we bought the house.

Any suggestions?

Tim

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

Have you tried one of those wire scratchy pad things (technical term) from B&Q etc.? They're supposed to work well. Also, soak the stuff for ages after it's all scratched up - 20 minutes or so. Ok, not ages, BYKWIM.

Si

[Pete C]

Hi,

Maybe it's some sort of lining paper stuck with strong glue. Try scoring the paper through to the plaster, spray with water with detergent in, and wait for the water to soak behind the paper. Then give it some welly with the steamer and scrape off in strips using the scores made in the paper earlier. Don't leave the steamer on too long or it may 'blow' the plaster off the wall, let the plaster cool down and come back to it if need be.

The best thing I've used for scraping is a 'hand hoe' which has a 2ft handle and a rectangular blade at 80° to the handle. They can be bought cheaply from pound shops etc, make sure the blade is sharpened so it's really sharp. Then use both hands and scrape the paper off in strips using part of the blade.

cheers, Pete.

[Rob Morley]

No angle grinder? :-)

[mogga]

Paper over it?

I tried to remove wallpaper which had been painted over with bathroom paint (Nothing to do with me - previous occupier of the place) and it was a living hell. The steamer made the paint stringy and scratching the surface didn't make much difference... In the end I decided if it was that well fixed on then it could stay!

[Christian McArdle]

If you still get no luck, you may find it easier to remove the plaster (preferably just the skim layer) and replaster. Messy job, though. You'd need to use a respirator, open the window and tape the door closed behind you. At least you get perfect flat walls using this method.

Christian.

[Martin Pentreath]

I have no connection with, and have never used this, but look at

'd be interested to know how you get on with it if you do use it. I've got several rooms of woodchip which I'm trying to ignore, but I know I'll have to face the inevitable soon.

[stuart noble]

news:...

It's not plasterboard is it? I've had lining paper stuck to the paper film on baseboard before now. Impossible to get off without destroying the surface.

[Tim Downie]

Went to B&Q and couldn't fnd one of those wire scratchy things but I did buy one of those 4" razorblade-on-a-stick things made by Harris. Should have bought one years ago! Combined with more vigorous perforating & steaming, the wallpaper is at last succumbing.

Thanks to all.

Tim

[Dave]

blow-torching

I had exactly the same problem and what I did was to buy a Tiger (a sort of toothed wheeled thing that you use to score the paper) I would imagine most decorator shops know about them. What I did find useful was to get the room's humidity has high as I could and the paper fell off the walls. To get the humidity up, try putting several trays of very hot water into the room and keep the steamer running. When you can feel as if you have walked into a tropical rain forest, then you know it is time to strip the paper.

HTH

Dave

[Chris Howard]

I used wallwik to remove the woodchip, which was stuck directly onto plasterboard.

It's absolutely brilliant.

The only problem is that you can't buy it in the UK - I had to buy it mail order from the states.

- it was worth the wait.

You basically score the wallpaper, and then soak the wallwik sheets in diluted wallpaper stripping solution (I found this worked best, although the instructions suggest you should use washing up liquid). You then stick the sheets to the wallpaper. You have to keep spraying it to keep it wet.

After 20 - 30 mins, you remove the wallwik sheets, and then the wallpaper comes off in huge sheets.

If you score carefully, you should have no damage to the wall behind.

- I took a photo of mine - have a look at

[Rob]

I also recommend Walwik for woodchip - compared to when not using it - the walppaper came of MUCH easier. I has a whole house covered in the stuff and I believe that it saved me a couple WEEKS removing the disgusting stuff.

I soaked mine in a mixture of warm water, fairy liquid and vinegar (the fairly liquid helps them 'stick' to the wall) - and then have a pressurised spray gun (the pressurised ones just save your hands and use the the same mixture in) and just make sure to keep them damp.

I bought mine (many years ago) from QVC - not sure if they still sell it - but worth a look.

Rob

[Rob]

Chris

Just looked at your photo's - I even used the same spray can! - lol ;-)

Rob

[Owain]

"Rob" wrote | > I used wallwik to remove the woodchip, which was stuck directly | > onto plasterboard. | > It's absolutely brilliant. | > The only problem is that you can't buy it in the UK - | I bought mine (many years ago) from QVC - not sure if they still | sell it - but worth a look.

They've had it within the last couple of years because I've seen it.

Owain

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

Might have been Wickes...

Good, aren't they? They get rid of artex too, if the material the artex is stuck to is up to it. Walls in my case.

Jolly good :)

Si

[Pete C]

What are they, some sort of thin absorbent mat?

cheers, Pete.

[Rob]

Yes - here is a link to their website

[Jase]

Just stripped a bathroom that had painted over wood chip paper. In the end I resorted to using paint stripper (NITROMORS) which took off both paint and paper very effectively. All the sheds stock it. It's very caustic and so you need to take all the precautions, mask, old clothes, thick pair of rubber gloves, cover anything within splashing distance and make sure the room is well ventilated.

Rgds.Jase

[wounded horse]

[Bob Smith (UK)]

What's special about wallwik? Could you use any old cloth?

How is it different to wallpaper pasting a binbag to the wall as suggested once as a cure for artex? (the binbag would not need to be kept wet?)

Bob