How can I remove wallpaper hung with Elmer's glue on untreated drywall?

Question

I am redecorating a room in my church that was an office but will now be a nursery. I have tried hot water & Zif and also a wallpaper steamer. The paper comes off eventually but in tiny strips and pieces and I am afraid of damaging the drywall with the steamer. I've taken off wallpaper before in my home and it was not this bad. I have managed to remove paper from one small wall and am considering painting over the wall paper on the remaining walls because it is so hard to remove. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

If, and only if you must(to avoid extra damage and cost) paint over it on those remaining walls.( I cant believe I said that). Use products from sherwin-williams and you'll be ok. For a primer, you can use zinsser 1.2.3 latex primer and for the finish, maybe use promar 200 in a satin finish....

Make sure before you paint that the surface is somewhat clean and free of anything loose or dirty.

I'm suggesting this only to save you some hassle, I NEVER recommend a home owner to do this (it's an easy way out) because eventually the wallpaper will come down and putting paint on it(extra weight, etc.) will only make that happen quicker...

See ya, good luck

Answer 2

I know you said you tried Zif, but did you try it with the scoring tool? It is a cheap hand tool that you can get at the Home Improvement store. You just run circles of it all over the wall then spray the Zif so that it can soak in under the top layer and reach and eat the glue. Also with this scorer, if the Zif doesn't work, try using some Goo B Gone, since you said it was Elmer's glue, it might work better, than the Zif

Answer 3

I just hand wallpaper hung well to i used water mixed with fabric softner it worked.

Answer 4

goe to www.hgtv.com
its an homeimprovement show. I think they had a solution in the past on one of their shows. I cant remember the process. so look it up. hope that helps.

Answer 5

paint over it but first use a good quality primer