Got some old foil wallpaper we're trying to remove. It has been partially scraped off, but its nasty work and it looks like we're doing a better job texturizing the wall than removing this stuff. Scoring, chemicals don't work, won't soak through at all. A steamer probably won't work as the room has been "steamed" for years. It's like an aluminized plastic, we're at our wit's end. Any ideas?
Get the Paper Tiger a scoring tool and a steamer, have fun.
Tried heat? Like a sunlamp or a hairdryer, or even a heat gun on a low setting? I've found that often makes plastic/glue interfaces soften up.
If the wall is already that beat up from prior efforts, it may seriously be less work, and not much more money, to coat the wall with a layer of 1/4 inch drywall. Really bad spots you may want to demo and re-rock. Lemme guess, this is a bathroom?
aem sends...
Ah flock on foil. You've got a nasty job in front of you.
You need to break the face of the material in order to get water to penetrate to the backing. I'm assuming you have drywall as opposed to plaster. If this is the case, you can plan on doing some damage to the wall. Try using a garden sprayer to soften the foil face. Sometimes this works to pull the face off. Use lots of water & be patient.
Sometimes it won't & all you can get is little pieces (a few square inches). In this case you'll need to penetrate the face with either a 'papertiger' do a search. Or VERY heavy sandpaper. Like 36 grit.
I've never heard of heat working.
You have my sympathies.
No kidding, have had in-laws helping. about a third of the way through it after two days. Not getting large pieces, paper tiger is not effective, but razors seem to get the biggest pieces.
3rd eye wrote:2 days, you coulda demo'd, re-rocked, and mudded entire bathroom. Sometimes, starting over the easiest solution.
aem sends...
Uh yea, after you remove the toilet, cabinets, undid the plumbing for the sink, remove the trim without breaking it, putting it back up, assuming it still fits........
No kidding. Anyway, we figured out how to make pretty quick work of it. We didn't want to demo the walls cause they are old and thick. 1/2" plaster over sheetrock (very quiet between rooms.)
How to remove foil wallpaper
(for those Googlers)
I had clean, smooth, paintable walls after this process. One person will get about 10-20 square feet an hour. Two or more working in stages will go even quicker.
I cannot over-stress the importance of keeping the area to be scraped wet with wallpaper remover. Makes it go quicker. I did this without beer and it wasn't too bad, once the process was nailed down.
next time you have to remove wallpaper use this stuff
used w/ a scoring tool this stuff make removing wallpaper almost fun (in a sick sort of way)
cheers Bob
I've removed foil wallpaper, but not flocked. Coarse sandpaper, spray bottle of warm water. Score lightly HORIZONTALLY back and forth with coarse sandpaper on block, taking care not to dig into the wallboard. Horiz. will hold water better when you spray it. Spray, wait 15, spray, wait 15, scrape gently. Repeat. I've removed lots of wallpaper, never had trouble getting it off the wall. Messy, yes.
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