Good quality and properly installed wallpapers can last over a decade. It can even last three times longer than paint. Given its longevity, wallpapering is undeniably a cost-effective choice when decorating your home’s interior.
But let’s admit it – having the same look on your walls for many years can be tiring. With design trends changing quickly these days, you may want to give your house a new look even when your wallpapers are not dated or peeling. When you do, you are going to realise the disadvantage of wallpapering – that removing it isn’t a walk in the park.
Stripping wallpaper can be challenging, especially if it is still tightly adhering to the wall and not showing signs of wear and tear. The thing is that this task needs to be done the right way because having clean walls is necessary to achieve a successful output – be it a painted or wallpapered one.
But don’t let the horror stories on removing wallpaper deter you from updating your home’s interior. All you need to do is follow our guide below and you’ll be able to remove wallpaper with minimal hassle.
Step 1: Prep Work Before Stripping Wallpaper
Clear the Walls
Make sure that the wall is empty before you start working. Remove decorative items and other trinkets that are hanging on them.
Remove Movable Furniture and Furnishings
The goal is to keep the room as bare as possible as it is easier to work in an empty space. So, all movable decorations and pieces of furniture should be taken out of the room.
Cover Adjacent Surfaces
Just as you would when painting a room, you have to put a protective cover on areas that you wouldn’t be working on as well as things you can’t take out of the room. Put painter’s tape on the trims. Place towels along the baseboards and drop cloths on the floor. All these prevent your trims from getting messed up or damaged.
Also, the area you’d be working on has a light switch or socket, cover them with plastic for safety purposes.
Step 2: Actual Stripping of the Wallpaper
Once you are done with the prep work, you can now proceed to the actual task which is removing the wallpaper. The method you are going to use depends on the type of wallpaper you used and its current condition.
Removing It by Hand
If you have the peel-and-stick or strippable wallpaper, then you can easily remove it without causing any damage to the surface. All you need to do is to check the bottom edge if there is a part which you can lift.
Alternatively, you can use a putty knife to pry the edge or a wet sponge to lift the edge of the wallpaper. When doing the latter, make sure you wait around ten minutes or so before tugging a small area.
Here’s the thing:
Strippable or removable wallpaper comes off easily. Once you pull away the corner, it will keep coming up.
Now, how do you properly remove it? Hold the lower corner of the paper and pull it away until both corners of the strip come off. Next, grab the bottom edge and pull it until the whole strip is free from the wall.
What if the paper won’t come off?
Get a razor knife and hold it perpendicular to the wall. Create successive horizontal strips that are at least 10 inches apart. Choose a horizontal section to loosen and rip it with your hands.
Using Solutions
Let’s go to the challenging part – old-fashioned or professionally installed wallpaper and the backing paper of a vinyl-coated wallpaper. It is tough to remove these as you wouldn’t be able to remove them just by using your hands. You would have to employ some techniques and use some tools to clear them.
When dealing with these materials, you would need to do some scoring – poke little holes on the paper. Doing this allows the solution or steam to soak through the wallpaper, effectively weakening the bond between the paste and wall.
Some may suggest that you buy a scoring tool, but if you are trying to minimise your expenses, you can use a fork that you won’t be using anymore.
After making as many nooks as you can, soak the paper in a solution containing warm water and any of the following items – white vinegar, corn starch or fabric softener. You’ll find that there are solvents or chemicals specifically formulated for this task. But the homemade items mentioned earlier typically works, so you don’t really need to buy commercial solvents.
Take note:
For this to be effective, the solution needs to be really warm. Also, if you are unsure which solution to use, you can make three of them and test them on different spots to determine which one works on your wallpaper.
When applying the solution, you have the option to use a sprayer or a sponge. If you use a sprayer, go easy and only lightly mist the surface. If you are using a sponge, dip it in the solution but make sure it isn’t dripping wet. You just want it damp enough to wet the wallpaper.
Remember:
You want to soak the wallpaper without damaging your plasterboard. Also, only wet scored sections that you can scrape off in 15 minutes.
When scraping, start from the bottom and work your way up if you don’t want to kneel on the dirty and soggy wallpaper.
Steam-Stripping
What if soaking the paper in a solution doesn’t work?
This is where the steamer comes in. The device is meant to soften the adhesive between the paper and the wall using boiling water.
Steam-stripping is undeniably a strenuous task because, as the name suggests, you have to steam and strip at the same time. For this part, you might have to ask someone to help you out.
Step 3: Clean Up After Stripping Wallpaper
Work doesn’t stop after you’ve removed all the paper on the wall. You have to ensure that the surface is clean – no specks of glue and paper left – or else, your wallpaper or paint won’t stick well.
Wiping the surface with soap and water should do the trick. If there are stubborn bits of glue or paper, you can sand the surface after it dries. Run your hand over the surface to determine if it is already clear and smooth. If it feels uneven or rough, give it another pass using higher grit sandpaper.
Undeniably, stripping wallpaper is a tough task. But you should not worry about doing this if you hire a trusted contractor to do the wallpapering. These professionals won’t just hang your wallpaper but also do all essential prep work like removing old wallpaper.
Thinking of stripping your wallpaper and hanging a new one to give your home a fresh look? Let us help you make this as hassle-free as possible with our professional wallpapering services! Call us at 86 608 1817 / 085 139 0233 today to request a quote.
