what's the best way of stripping wallpaper of a wall without taking the old paint off from underneath it?

Question

i want to paint my son's bedroom walls but it has wallpaper on it, i've tried to strip some off but it's taking chunks of the old paint off underneath and leaving the walls looking uneven. it will leave an uneven finnish. please help!

Answer 1

Use steam. You could do this with the steam function on a typical clothes iron. There is also a machine that you can get too.

This is time consuming, but it should work.

Answer 2

I would bet that the walls are drywalled.

What the problem is is that the wall wasn't prepared properly before wall papering.

Any moister use on the wall seeps in to the drywall which is paper covered & that comes off.

When that happens what is needed is a thin coat of joint cement on the walls to smooth them out. Sad to say this isn't a task that is easy.

Is the paper just paper or does it have a plastic finish?
if it has a plastic finish you need to break the surface with tiny holes. There is a tool that has little teeth what you run over the walls. This lets the water get to the paper backing.

When I take off wall paper I use a garden sprayer & mist the walls
trying to keep the paper backing of the wallpaper moist but not real wet. Mist the walls & try to keep them moist but not wet. When the paper will roll of easy with just a little washing motion you may be able to save the walls. try a small area keeping it moist but don't be in a big hurry. Let the water do the work. If you can do it right the drywall won't get to wet.

All in all this is't going to be easy. And all because some one tried to say a little time & money when it was first papered.

It isn't the best thing to do but if you only have a small area to smooth out, & the wall paper is in good shape. You could just patch that area & then prime & paint over the wall paper. Use only
as a last resort to the problem.



Put a cloth or papers down on the floor around the walls to protect the flooring.

Answer 3

I've only stripped wallpaper off once, but there were two layers and unfortunately the walls had not been primed before the wallpaper had been applied so by the time I had the paper off gouges and strips of the drywall had come off.

Are you using a wall paper stripping spray before you strip the paper? Some have also suggested some liquid fabric softener and some water in a spray bottle. I know this works to soften the paper. But I think no matter what you use you are going to have to reconcile yourself to the fact that you are going to lose paint in some areas.

This is easily rectified however once the paper is off and you have cleaned off any remaining adhesive by a coat of primer before you paint the walls. You can even have primer tinted close to your paint color so it will require fewer coats of paint to cover the walls completely.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Use a steamer and a wide scraper. Take off the top layer of the paper carefully so as not to dig in the scraper. Then using warm soapy water take off the backing layer again without digging in the scraper. If you do it this way the emulsion paint underneath will not "melt" with the heat of the steamer and come off in patches. Once you have areas where the paint comes off it is then best to steam the whole wall and take off all of the paint as well.
Be careful with the steamer as if left on the wall too long the plaster is likely to lift and that could fall off in pieces.
Good luck.

Answer 5

i have always used a scorer and a solution of fabric softener and warm water. i score the paper, spray the solution, let it sit for about 15 minutes, spray again, then it almost just peels off, little scraping needed. if the paint still comes off, then you might consider using a sponge painting techique one color 2 or 3 shaded different over the base color. does a pretty good job of concealing defects. i know, i have an house over 100 yrs old, with plaster walls, that were covered with wall paper, partially, i think, to keep the walls in place. i had to fill in more cracks..looked like a road map when i was done, but did some technique painting, and it looks fine..good luck

Answer 6

A bucket with hot soapy water and a mop. Soak the walls with the hot water (being sure not to allow any water to drip into electrical sockets) and allow it to soak through the paper (old sheets to soak up excess on floor). When soaked enough even a ruler scraped across should remove it-but be sure not to allow it to dry or you are back to square 1
To fill the uneven patches you've created buy some polyfiller (can buy already made in in a tube nowdays) and fill the holes using a filling knife and scratch across the hole to create a smooth finish
I expect it is this tool you have used to scrape the paper off, but if not flat against the wall it does tend to dig inwards and create holes.

Answer 7

How are you stripping it? If you get a spray bottle and fill it with warm water, spray it thoroughly, let that sit maybe five to ten minutes, then peel it off with the assistance of a broad tool like a spackling spatula, it often comes off pretty easily. Afterwards, you should wash down the wall anyway, and then touching up the chips in the paint won't be that bad.

Answer 8

get a decorative wallpaper striper it is steam powered and is great for getting paper off walls. when you do it don't leave the steamer on the spot for to long it will go into the plaster and make it bulge and fall off so be careful. the more you use it the better you will be at judging the time to take it away. hope this helps.

Answer 9

You'll need to spackle where the paint comes off in chunks. If you have textured walls, I believe you can buy a product to repair small patches.

Answer 10

what i do its my trade is do as little damage as possible,then give the walls a coat of any matt emulsion,let it dry then mix some artex to a soft paste and skim over bad patches with a plastic calker only a couple of pounds any diy has them,when dry a light rub with sandpaper will leave a flat finish to emulsion over.hope this helps bye