I have just spent over a day removing Woodchip wallpaper from the upper half of my Mums bathroom, not a big room at all. It was a b*****d to get off! I have done it now but in case I have to remove anymore does anybody have any tips. I used a steamer, scored the paper, used sharp scrapers, etc. etc. and it still took an age to get it off. Why does this paper stick like s**t to a blanket? Whoever invented it should be made to go and remove it from all the walls it is stuck to. I have told my Mum if she wants anymore decorating doing it had better not involve removing woodchip!
Woodchip is marvellous stuff. It covers a multitude of minor surface cracks, blemishes and general unevenness. A remarkablly cheap and easy to use product. I papered the whole house with it, then painted it with Homebase matt white emulsion. Looked very 'modern'.
It was a cheesey American TV series about a family called the Bradys (funnily enough) made in the seventies and more recently revamped into a couple of dire films.
The recent films outrageously turned the whole thing on its head by portraying the family in modern day America but stuck in a 70's way of life.
Hey baby, I guess you're just not a happening groovey chick. Get with it hot stuff.
Your point being?? I have refurbed more bathroom, toilets, kitchens, (including tiling!!) than I care to think about as this is the way I make my living, but I have NEVER had cause to remove woodchip wallpaper until today Please DO NOT make uneducated assumptions from a question asked by somebody who is merely asking for advice or opinions. Maybe I should have included an attachment of one of my business cards or letterheads at the bottom of the question to avoid any confusion or sarcasm. As my Gran used to say "If you cannot say anything nice then say nothing".
With ordinary wallpaper paste a steamer should strip it without problem.
In my old house they had stuck the woodchip with PVA glue which made it almost impossible to lift. Using a steamer would lift not only the paper but the skim coat plaster.
As it's in the bathroom I wonder if that is what has happened in this instance?
I apologise, because I seem to have annoyed you, I didn't mean to. I didn't use bad language, as you felt the need to in your frustration, because I don't like causing offence..
I'm sorry, honestly, I wasn't being nasty. I wondered why your mum wasn't doing it herself. It seems to be a big change from woodchip to complete tiling.
I've had to remove woodchip paper, in my teens my boy friend and I earned a living by stripping wallpaper - a job which some people even in those days (the late 50s) were reluctant to do themselves. It was a niche market before the term had been invented. In those days we had a bucket of water and a wallpaper stripper, it was before the days of chemicals and technology. I've never had the need to remove woodchip since but I suppose I assumed that it would be easier than some of the heavily embossed and painted wallcoverings we removed.
In my opinion woodchip is a good, versatile finish for walls simply because it doesn't peel off easily and it can be painted with any finish. It's far better than painted plaster. We have it in several rooms, we don't notice that it's woodchip (but obviously don't mind it) and it's painted in flat colours, satin or gloss according to the room's purpose. Those which need washing have a very durable gloss finish. If we feel the need for a change (we rarely do, which is why we chose something inoffensive in the beginning) we can paint in a different colour or design our own patterns. We don't like patterns.
You make your living by supplying people's wants. That's fine, so do we (nobody NEEDS tiled bathrooms or bone needles!) but there are simpler means to an end. Well painted woodchip is good and cheap and, as you've discovered, more permanent than tiling :-)
Once again, I'm very sorry to have roused your feelings and I sincerely hope that you will accept that it wasn't intended as rudeness. If I'd intended being nasty there'd have been no doubt ...
Which just goes to show, doesn't it. If there is one thing I detest more than patterned wallpaper, it's woodchip. And if there's one thing that I detest even more than woodchip, it's painted woodchip. In every house I have ever lived in, I have painstakingly removed all wallpaper and reverted to smooth painted plaster, because that's what I like :-)
Oh well, to each their own. It's a pity that in this case, my own means that I get all the hard work! (Steamer, stripper, sugar soap to remove the old paste... yuck. Lucky you, Mary...)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.