I have been requested to re-decorate some rooms which are all dry lined (stone property) where the wallpaper has to be removed and re wallpapered and painted.
Do I dare use a steamer to help me remove the old wallpaper ? Any thoughts ?
Mike P
If the wallpaper was applied onto the dry lining, you've got a problem. Our house had wallpaper applied onto plasterboard. A steamer struggled to remove it. I managed about 1/2 square metre in an hour. The other problem was damaging the paper finish of the plasterboard. Removing the wallpaper and not the plasterboard paper was difficult. I ended up replacing the plasterboard. If the dry lining has been painted before being papered, you should be OK.
Good luck
John
My usual advice to this problem is the same as I give every one who asks this question.
Close all the windows in the room, choose a cool day, make sure that all doors to the room are closed. Paint the walls with water with a little washing up liquid in it. This helps the water to penetrate through to the paste that is holding the paper to the wall, and then generate as much steam as you can. Steam stripper, electric kettle, pans of boiling water all help. When you get the impression that you are in a tropical rain forrest, the time is right to strip the paper. You will find that the steam condenses on the walls and the paper will almost fall off.
If you are trying to remove paper that has been painted over, or is impervious to water...
Go to your local decorating store and buy a 'tiger claw'. This is a device that has 3 sets of double wheels that are out of track. When rubbed over a wall papered wall, this results in lots of perforations in the wall paper that the steam can get through.
Fill the room with steam and wait a while. The paper falls off.
Done it, but I haven't time to make the Tee shirt. :-)
Dave
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