Friends of ours are moving into their new house and asked if it was possible to take the wallpaper off with a steamer. Sounds like the paper has gone up over plasterboard, but wouldn't there be some sort of lining paper? If not, what's the easiest way so as not to damage the walls? They want to paint directly onto the plasterboard which I'm dubious about.
I'm tempted to say no just so I don't get asked to do it :)
I've always been against papering direct to plasterboard for this reason. Whatever you do, steaming it off will also wet the boards surface,best solution is to steam it off and let it dry out then have it skimmed.
The plasterboard surface should be sealed before papering, specifically so you can get it off. Apparently it often isn't in newbuilds.
I really doubt you will be able to and get acceptable results, unless the plasterboard was properly sealed. Otherwise it will need a skim of plaster first. Can they paint the paper, or is is textured?
I don't know if it's flat, textured or what. I made the mistake of listening to my wife who went round there, and as usual I get half a story ;)
I've got this problem in my house. It's damn near impossible to get the wallpaper off even with a steamer. If you try, it takes ages and you don't know when the wallpaper stops and the plasterboard paper starts. It's even more difficult to spot the join when it's all wet and steamy. Once you start, you're committed so think about it carefully first. If possible, decorate over the existing paper. The only wall I've managed to renovate successfully required new plasterboard and a top skim. I was removing wood chip if that makes any difference. Good luck
John
You should listen properly!
Mary
Hey, that's what SHE said!
I bet she's fed up of saying it too.
Mary
If you had done that, you would still be scratching your head. Very few people an convey what they mean by speech, let alone a wife.
Sorry Mary :-)
Dave
While the weather is set to rain, get as much steam into the room as is possible. Pots of boiling water, as many electric kettles you can find, steamer going full blast, until you think you are in a tropical forest.
You will now find that the paper will almost drop off the walls without a scraper being used.
Oh! I forgot. Do this very early morning, or late at night, assuming that there has not been any heating in the house. If there is heating on, even at this late stage in the year, turn it off and open all doors and windows for several hours before bringing up the steam levels. This way, all the walls will be as cold as you can make them and the steam will condense all the more onto them.
HTH
Dave
replacing unskimmed PB is a fairly quick easy job, I wouldnt bother trying to steam it. For composting fans, Gypsum is safe on the garden.
Use PB screws, not nails.
NT
Don't apologise for your lack of comprehension :-)
I bet I'd have understood what she said, the problem is that husbands make things too complicated. They can't understand incisive, elementary words.
Mary
When I was a kid, my uncle used to use the bottom half of a hot water tank on legs with an immersion in to boil water in the room, leave 1/2-1hour and walk in and just pull all the paper off by hand. I am sure health and safety would have a major wobbler if they saw this type of thing today.
Hmmm! at todays electricity prices, I guess the OP would take a wobbler
Hmmmm. Electric at say 10p/unit. 3KW immersion for 1hour -> 30p. A bargain if it gets the job done quickly.
yes, cost effective way to get electrocuted.
NT
Why? It's only a big kettle with no lid.
The best way I've found to remove paper from plasterboard is wallwik.
You can now get it in the UK from
Here are the photos from when I used it :-
Although I've used a steamer, I've found using a garden sprayer filled with warm detergent water far more effective and less messy. The spray nozzle is very accurate. Spray one or two sections, seam to seam and top to bottom, wait 15 minutes, spray one more time, wait 15 more minutes, and the paper should almost fall off. It's worth a try.
The steamer makes an enormous mess, water eventually running down the wall onto the floor, and I soon was also steaming.
Doesn't water from a spray run down a wall?
Mary
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