Painted walls with wallpaper underneath.?

Question

The home owners before me painted over the wall paper, how do I get it off?

Answer 1

I had luck using a product called DIF removing wall paper. You may want to call someone in and have them do it. Do you know what is underneath the wall paper? If it is sheet rock, which it probably is, you will end up having to patch with joint compound in places after you scrape the walls. If it's plaster (found in older homes) you may want to just have someone skim coat over the existing wall treatment and start from there.

Answer 2

We had the same problem in the house we just purchased.
To remove the painted on wallpaper, you need to get the following
5 gallons white vinegar, a couple of empty spray bottles, a couple of very sharp utility knifes, a couple of paint scrapers.

With a utility knife carefully score the wallpaper. Use big x marks all over the stuff you want to peel off. Be careful not to cut into the drywall.
MIx 1 half white vinegar and 1 half water in the spray bottles. OPEN ALL WINDOWS AND DOORS. Spray the wallpaper with the vinegar and water mixture. Wait 20 minutes and spray it again. Use the paint scrapers to peel off the paper. If it still sticks
spay again.
When the paper is off, some glue will remain. Use the vinegar and water to spray the glue. LET DRY COMPLETELY. The glue with flke off really easy with the scrapers.

This job is really messy. Wear old clothing. Get lots of garbage bags for wall paper. Get new vacum cleaner bags too. We went through 5 in one room to vacum up all glue that came off.

You can just paint over the painted wallpaper, but depending on what color the wallpaper was, the patter on it might bleed through and look awful (experience). Best bet is to remove whole thing and start over.

Don't forget to buy primer to put on the drywall before you paint.
Don't use white paint for primer (it doesn't work.) I know I tried it.
Good Luck.

Answer 3

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 4

rent a wallpaper steamer from a tool rental store. buy a wallpaper scorer, stiff putty knife (about 4-6"), a wallpaper scraper( it's a sharp knife like blade at a slight angle about 4 or 5"), some stripping liquid, sponges, tsp, plastic sheeting (to cover your floors), rubbergloves (that go up to your elbows), and a cheap garden type sprayer. gather up all of your old towels or buy some cheap ones that you can throw out. now prepare to have the worst weekend of your life! start by emptying the room and putting down the plastic right up to the bottom of the wall. then score the wall, work one wall at a time. mix up the liquid and hot water in the sprayer and some in a bucket and apply it to the walls. fill the steamer and when it gets hot start steaming the wall, i liked to start at the top as the liquid soaks in as it runs down the wall.in about a minute the wallpaper should lift a little and you can scrape it off. move on to the next section and dispare as you start to realize how long this is going to take! go slow though, so that you don't cut the drywall underneath the wallpaper or you'll make bigger problems for yourself. when you have removed all of the paper make up more liquid and hot water and scrub all of the paste off of the walls with scotchbrite pads. when it appears to be off make up a bucket of tsp(tri sodium phosphate) and hot water. wash the walls again, then rinse with hot water and change the water often. it is very important to get all of the paste off of the walls or you will have problems with the paint not sticking to them.

Answer 5

I dont have that exact problem, however if you can pull off the paper with the paint underneath, once you have that off, I have read in here that you can use liquid fabric softner and warm water to take off the paper underneath. I used this last night on my walls and I will tell you, it works great after you soak it down and wait a few. It peels right off. But you may want to get a constant sprayer to spray the walls, I used a spray bottle and it was kind of hard after a while.
Good Luck.

Answer 6

Paint tends to seal the wallpaper to some degree, depending upon the quality of the paint that was used.
You have to breach that seal, scratch it with sandpaper, or you can get a cutter that will do the same thing.
Then, you soak the wallpaper with soapy water and remove it as it softens...or use wallpaper remover. Use goggles and rubber gloves if you use strong chemicals.

Answer 7

The paint or the wallpaper? repaint an dont take it off. Get a wallpaper steamer from a tool rental store, it is quick and efficient. U will love it. O course now u will skim coat the sheetrock, sand, prime and paint. Your choice if u got the time.

Answer 8

You have to use wallpaper remover. There is this wheel thing that puts grooves in the paper then spray this stuff on it and scrap it off. It's going to be really really messy with the paint and wallpaper coming off. Good luck.

Answer 9

The best method (which is also the easiest) is to steam it off (you can get a rental somewhere like home depot), then fill in any gaps and use a power sander to smooth the surface before applying the base coat.