I am buying a house that has outdated wallpaper in it what is the best way to get this off? or can I paint?

Answer 1

PLEASE.. do not paint over the wall paper.. many people do and regret it later..

I do not know how tightly the wallpaper is on the wall.. The best way is to mix water/vinegar.. perhaps one gallon of water to one half gallon vinegar(white).. use a spongee and lightly spong the wall.. not too large of a section at a time but a large section.. sponge it again lightly.. then again.. then try pulling the paper off from the top down or from the bottom up... If the paper is on very tightly, it might take some of the dry wall with it.. this is normal in a lot of cases but the hole in the dry wall can be patched... after the paper is off... I always like to sand the walls smooth... then if you are going to texture the wall... you can have it done then.. dry... then paint probably two times.

Answer 2

I moved into a house about 5 yrs ago that had this terrible looking Christmas type wallpapaer on the walls. Hot water and Vinegar is much more effective than plain water and just as good as the steam cleaners.....with a lot less expense. If the vinegar smell is too strong, dont mix it at so high of a strength. The smell goes away within a cpl of days. Use newspaper to catch drips of whatever kind of removal technique you use. Worked best if the paper is cut and allowed to sit a cpl min before peeling off. Be careful if the paper is attached to drywall with any removal technique so you don't scar the drywall. Painting over is NOT recommended, since the paint will make the paper wet and it will start to pull away from the wall.

Answer 3

There is a special steamer that can be rented to help remove the wallpaper. You steam sections and then scrape with wide blade putty knife. I saw the steamer on The Old House episode. I had to remove old wallpaper a few years before I had seen the episode about the steamer. I used large sponges soaked in very hot water and dampened sections of the wallpaper and then scraped. After paper removal wash walls once or twice with TSP cleaner to make sure you got all the glue off or it will affect your paint. You will probably to apply an under coat or sealer before applying your paint on an absolutely dry wall surface so that if there is any remaining residue it will not affect your paint.

Answer 4

Removing wallpaper is not too difficult. You need "Dif'...
http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=17
If the wallpaper is vinyl or you have layers, you might want a tool called 'The Paper Tiger'.
http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=20
It will help perforate the surface so the Dif will penetrate. Use rubber (dishwashing) gloves. Get some good scrubbing sponges with scotch-brite on one side. Cover the floor. Score the wall with the paper tiger and sataurate a section with the Dif solution. It takes a few minutes to work. Use the scraper to get the paper off and scrub the wall clean of glue with a sponge. The work goes pretty quickly once you have the rythym of it.

Answer 5

Lots of good advice so far however sometimes the wallpaper is holding the plaster and if it's removed then large chunks will fall off.Gently push on any raised areas and if you see it moves in and out then the plaster has separated from the wood lathe.
Unless you're into plaster repairs I suggest priming the wallpaper with an alkyd (oil based) primer to prevent activating the wallpaper glue then apply latex finish coat.

Answer 6

There are a lot of methods. If you want it gone or if its damaged you can rent a wallpaper remover that uses steam to get it off or you can use a paper tiger(buy at wal-mart and it makes small holes in the paper to let liquid seep behind it to loosen the glue) and use water and fabric softener mopped on and let set to get it off. Its messy but I've heard it scrapes right off. Here's a site with a few recipes for success

Answer 7

my house is 140 years old, but i was lucky in that there was only one layer of wallpaper that i had to get off. i bought a wallpaper scorer, soaked it good with a solution of liquid fabric softener and hot water, let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, soaked it again and it pretty much came right off, not a lot of scraping needed, then i washed the walls to get any remaining old paste off. let it dry, prime and paint.
the problem with painting over wallpaper is that it may cause the old paper to buckle with the wetness of the paint. i guess it is a chance you need to decide to take.
good luck..

Answer 8

you could use a steamer or i used some WONDERFUL gel like stuff i bought at the local paint store....it smells like glue but you spray it on and about 5 mins. later it is just like melting off....it's a great thing...wish i could remember what it was called but if you go to a store that sells paint supplies then you can always ask what would work best...

Answer 9

Warm water and fabric softener...mix it togetherapply litterally to the wall with a sponge....let sit for about 10 minutes and it should pull right off. Or scrape it with a large "putty knife" You may have to re-apply your solution to some areas that are"really stuck", but most of the time you only have to apply it once. Hope this helps...Good luck!

Answer 10

rent a steamer for wallpaper and use a scraper then clean the walls and do whatever you want to them.