Rewallpapering first and part of 2nd floor; previous stuff
put up 30 or 40 years ago.

(Well, actually we're just removing the wallpaper so we
can paint the walls -- wife says she wants a change...)


This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

We've tried steam from kettle just off stove, boiling --
no effect.

Also *very* hot water (just short of boiling) -- no
effect (ie, no incremental improvement -- although
on the other rooms, yes, it did help there).

DIF does help, but not enough -- the back side of the
paper ("backing"?) and glue stick to the wall, and the
only way we know to get it off is the scraper, difficult
inch by difficult inch, taking a *huge* amount of time.

Is far more difficult than in the other rooms, with
a better class of wallpaper having been put up
(also 30 to 40 years ago).

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

(2) Currently, we're using DIF brand.

Anything better?

(Especially if you've actually tried DIF, and discovered
yourself that some other brand works better!)

(3) Any hints?

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?


Thanks!

David

(David Combs) wrote in
:

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

No idea (sorry).

(3) Any hints?

Sometimes plain water has worked better for us -- especially if the
patterned surface could be torn off, leaving just the paper backing stuck
to the wall. Soak the paper with a sponge, wait a few minutes, and then it
scrapes off easily.

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?

If the blade is too sharp, it will just cut into the plaster or drywall.

"David Combs" wrote in message
...
Rewallpapering first and part of 2nd floor; previous stuff
put up 30 or 40 years ago.

(Well, actually we're just removing the wallpaper so we
can paint the walls -- wife says she wants a change...)


This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

We've tried steam from kettle just off stove, boiling --
no effect.

Also *very* hot water (just short of boiling) -- no
effect (ie, no incremental improvement -- although
on the other rooms, yes, it did help there).

DIF does help, but not enough -- the back side of the
paper ("backing"?) and glue stick to the wall, and the
only way we know to get it off is the scraper, difficult
inch by difficult inch, taking a *huge* amount of time.

Is far more difficult than in the other rooms, with
a better class of wallpaper having been put up
(also 30 to 40 years ago).

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

(2) Currently, we're using DIF brand.

Anything better?

(Especially if you've actually tried DIF, and discovered
yourself that some other brand works better!)

(3) Any hints?

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?


Thanks!

David



What I learned by scraping the wallpaper off almost every wall in a 1800 sf
house -

1. Let the water work. Wait a while. If you have to scrape, the water
hasn't soaked through to the glue. If it won't go through the outer paper
because it is foil or vinyl, use a paper tiger.

2. There are vastly different kinds of wallpaper in the same house that may
have been applied at the same time. In the bathroom, we had a foil covered
type that made it difficult to allow the water in. We used a paper tiger.
In the kitchen, the wallpaper looked as thick as paneling. Probably 10x as
thick as the bathroom paper. It all comes off different.

3. DON'T SCRAPE WITH ANYTHING SHARP. You will gouge the wall, then have to
retexture, which is not hard, but an unnecessary step, and tricky if you
haven't done it before. Use the plastic drywall mud spreaders to scrape
where you have to, and use light pressure. You only want to get the
wallpaper, not the drywall paper.

4. Get all the glue off. Even when it looks like it is all gone, mist the
wall, and look at it at an angle. You will be able to see the blobs of
snot. Removing this will give you a better paint job. If the wallpaper was
put on some time ago, they probably used cellulose glue, and all you have to
do to get it to release is get the water in there. If they used a modern
"glue", all bets are off.

5. It takes time. Lots of time. Lots of spraying. Lots of rubbing. Easy
it ain't. Patience it takes.

HTH

Steve

This is why it is important to apply sizing before wall papering a new
wall. It makes the subsequent removal sooo... much easier.

RB

David Combs wrote:
Rewallpapering first and part of 2nd floor; previous stuff
put up 30 or 40 years ago.

(Well, actually we're just removing the wallpaper so we
can paint the walls -- wife says she wants a change...)


This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

We've tried steam from kettle just off stove, boiling --
no effect.

Also *very* hot water (just short of boiling) -- no
effect (ie, no incremental improvement -- although
on the other rooms, yes, it did help there).

DIF does help, but not enough -- the back side of the
paper ("backing"?) and glue stick to the wall, and the
only way we know to get it off is the scraper, difficult
inch by difficult inch, taking a *huge* amount of time.

Is far more difficult than in the other rooms, with
a better class of wallpaper having been put up
(also 30 to 40 years ago).

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

(2) Currently, we're using DIF brand.

Anything better?

(Especially if you've actually tried DIF, and discovered
yourself that some other brand works better!)

(3) Any hints?

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?


Thanks!

David

In article , (David
Combs) wrote:

This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

I have used DIF and found it worked very well on some ancient wallpaper
over plaster. Are you letting it work long enough before scraping? (15-20
minutes.) Try a second coat of DIF after the first, before scraping.

--
Jedd Haas - Artist
http://www.gallerytungsten.com
http://www.antijazz.com
http://www.epsno.com

One tip that you might find useful is to buy a 6 in putty knife and round the
corners with a file. That will help prevent gouges.
Good luck, your going to need it..........

v/r
Jerry

I found this link on the Lowe's website and it really helped me:
http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howT...emovewallpaper

I tried different techniques before I found what worked best in my case. I
tried spraying with soapy water (using a garden/pesticide sprayer). But,
what worked best was to FIRST peel off whatever paper I could while it was
dry -- just find corners, peel them up, pull paper away from wall in
sections. Then, I sprayed soapy water on what was left -- brownish
backing -- and it came right off.

Before doing that technique, I was wetting the paper and trying to peel
and/or scrap, but the wetting made the paper too soft to peel off from the
backing without breaking apart, and not soft enough to just scrap off. So
peeling it off DRY first, then wetting and scraping worked the best.

"David Combs" wrote in message
...
Rewallpapering first and part of 2nd floor; previous stuff
put up 30 or 40 years ago.

(Well, actually we're just removing the wallpaper so we
can paint the walls -- wife says she wants a change...)


This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

We've tried steam from kettle just off stove, boiling --
no effect.

Also *very* hot water (just short of boiling) -- no
effect (ie, no incremental improvement -- although
on the other rooms, yes, it did help there).

DIF does help, but not enough -- the back side of the
paper ("backing"?) and glue stick to the wall, and the
only way we know to get it off is the scraper, difficult
inch by difficult inch, taking a *huge* amount of time.

Is far more difficult than in the other rooms, with
a better class of wallpaper having been put up
(also 30 to 40 years ago).

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

(2) Currently, we're using DIF brand.

Anything better?

(Especially if you've actually tried DIF, and discovered
yourself that some other brand works better!)

(3) Any hints?

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?


Thanks!

David

RTLP wrote:
I found this link on the Lowe's website and it really helped me:
http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howT...emovewallpaper

I tried different techniques before I found what worked best in my case. I
tried spraying with soapy water (using a garden/pesticide sprayer). But,
what worked best was to FIRST peel off whatever paper I could while it was
dry -- just find corners, peel them up, pull paper away from wall in
sections. Then, I sprayed soapy water on what was left -- brownish
backing -- and it came right off.

Before doing that technique, I was wetting the paper and trying to peel
and/or scrap, but the wetting made the paper too soft to peel off from the
backing without breaking apart, and not soft enough to just scrap off. So
peeling it off DRY first, then wetting and scraping worked the best.

The simple logic is that water has to reach the paste in order to
dissolve it and get the paste and paper off the wall. "Strippable"
paper (in my experience) pulls away, top layer only, very easily. Then
spray the remaining paper - there is now no vinyl coating - let the
water soak in, spray again, and start lifting the paper away with a
scraper. When the paper isn't strippable, I use coarse sandpaper and
care not to cut too deeply with it. Sand horizontally to cut through
the vinyl surface, back and forth just enough to make close cuts through
the surface. Solid vinyl wallcoverings need the same approach, just a
little bit more cutting through with the sandpaper. I don't know what
advantage the chemicals are supposed to have - enzymes? The plain
simple truth is that water still has to reach the paste. I've stripped
paper in four homes, and never had trouble getting paper off with this
method. Usually takes two tries, as the paper won't be cut deeply
enough in places - I'm careful so's I don't cut into the paper covering
of the wallboard. Lots of rags and newspaper, coffee, something to do
during the "soak" cycle. Messy. Not rocket science. Let the whole
mess dry a day before washing the wall down for a final time to get the
last remnants of paste.

I don't know when vinyl coated papers became the most common, but unless
the paper is really antique it probably has some sort of waterproof
coating, if not solid vinyl. The only time I've had difficulty getting
paper off was where somebody used a repair adhesive to reglue seams that
came loose - the stuff was like Elmer's Glue, and had to use a razor
scraper to shave it down because it would not soften with anything.

"Personally, I think anyone who thinks "Hey, how about wallpaper?" ought
to be shot, but that's just me."

I couldn't agree more! That @%#$@# should have been erased from the gene pool
but.........you know, it kinda funny that after all of the hours of blood and
sweat removing 5 rooms of wall paper and patching drywall and priming and
texturing and painting, my wife goes; "you know, a nice boarder would look good
in here"......AHHHHHHHHHH!


v/r
Bravo



Darwin is alive and well.

BRAVO52 wrote:
"Personally, I think anyone who thinks "Hey, how about wallpaper?" ought

to be shot, but that's just me."

I couldn't agree more! That @%#$@# should have been erased from the gene pool
but.........you know, it kinda funny that after all of the hours of blood and
sweat removing 5 rooms of wall paper and patching drywall and priming and
texturing and painting, my wife goes; "you know, a nice boarder would look good
in here"......AHHHHHHHHHH!

Without us, the species will die out. Or go back to caves. Half belong
in caves, but not my half ) When you line up the firing squad, save
room for amateur plumbers who reverse the direction of one of the
faucets when they change the washer. Get them first )



v/r
Bravo



Darwin is alive and well.

In article ,
(BRAVO52) wrote:

"Personally, I think anyone who thinks "Hey, how about wallpaper?" ought
to be shot, but that's just me."

I couldn't agree more! That @%#$@# should have been erased from the gene
pool
but.........you know, it kinda funny that after all of the hours of blood and
sweat removing 5 rooms of wall paper and patching drywall and priming and
texturing and painting, my wife goes; "you know, a nice boarder would look
good
in here"......AHHHHHHHHHH!


Bravo-

Have your DW help you remove the wallpaper next time. Her appetite for
boarders will most likely be diminished.

Or, how about asking her if a stencil border wouldn't look better?

I'm in the middle of the worst wallpaper removal job I've ever come
across & (as usual) I'm glad I don't have a gun... I believe wallpaper
in kitchens is pure evil.

"David Combs" wrote in message
...
Rewallpapering first and part of 2nd floor; previous stuff
put up 30 or 40 years ago.

(Well, actually we're just removing the wallpaper so we
can paint the walls -- wife says she wants a change...)


This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

We've tried steam from kettle just off stove, boiling --
no effect.

Also *very* hot water (just short of boiling) -- no
effect (ie, no incremental improvement -- although
on the other rooms, yes, it did help there).

DIF does help, but not enough -- the back side of the
paper ("backing"?) and glue stick to the wall, and the
only way we know to get it off is the scraper, difficult
inch by difficult inch, taking a *huge* amount of time.

Is far more difficult than in the other rooms, with
a better class of wallpaper having been put up
(also 30 to 40 years ago).

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

(2) Currently, we're using DIF brand.

Anything better?

(Especially if you've actually tried DIF, and discovered
yourself that some other brand works better!)

(3) Any hints?

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?


Thanks!

David

Wall paper is slow going, on the farm mom and dad rented a wallpaper
steamer. Like a steam iron on lots of steroids. The paddle was about 10
inches square. Placed on wall pull trigger and steam for a few seconds. I
will bet we went through 30 gallons of water before we were done, whole
house. Some of the layers of wall paper numbered 5 most were 3. It takes
time no matter what you do. A sponge a bucket of water and make the wall wet
in an area. Repeat until it peals off. As long as you do not let it dry then
it goes pretty fast. relatively.//////

Just slap some 1/4 drywall over and and be dont with it. I bought a 100
year old house and one room had three layers of wallpaper (asshats) Some
sections fell right off other wouldn't come off if a plane hit the house. SO
I just covered it up. Help with sound just a slight bit as well.



"David Combs" wrote in message
...
Rewallpapering first and part of 2nd floor; previous stuff
put up 30 or 40 years ago.

(Well, actually we're just removing the wallpaper so we
can paint the walls -- wife says she wants a change...)


This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

We've tried steam from kettle just off stove, boiling --
no effect.

Also *very* hot water (just short of boiling) -- no
effect (ie, no incremental improvement -- although
on the other rooms, yes, it did help there).

DIF does help, but not enough -- the back side of the
paper ("backing"?) and glue stick to the wall, and the
only way we know to get it off is the scraper, difficult
inch by difficult inch, taking a *huge* amount of time.

Is far more difficult than in the other rooms, with
a better class of wallpaper having been put up
(also 30 to 40 years ago).

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

(2) Currently, we're using DIF brand.

Anything better?

(Especially if you've actually tried DIF, and discovered
yourself that some other brand works better!)

(3) Any hints?

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?


Thanks!

David

Why go thru all that bull**** trying to remove it? According to several
people here, you can just paint right over all that wallpaper no problem
ever.

Personally, I think anyone who thinks "Hey, how about wallpaper?" ought
to be shot, but that's just me.

AJS


In article ,
(David Combs) wrote:

Rewallpapering first and part of 2nd floor; previous stuff
put up 30 or 40 years ago.

(Well, actually we're just removing the wallpaper so we
can paint the walls -- wife says she wants a change...)


This room's (hall and stairwell) paper was cheaper than
the other, and is proving damn near impossible to get
off.

We're using enzyme-stuff "DIF" brand.

We've tried steam from kettle just off stove, boiling --
no effect.

Also *very* hot water (just short of boiling) -- no
effect (ie, no incremental improvement -- although
on the other rooms, yes, it did help there).

DIF does help, but not enough -- the back side of the
paper ("backing"?) and glue stick to the wall, and the
only way we know to get it off is the scraper, difficult
inch by difficult inch, taking a *huge* amount of time.

Is far more difficult than in the other rooms, with
a better class of wallpaper having been put up
(also 30 to 40 years ago).

QUESTION: (1) are these different brands of wallpaper-
remover chemical all the same, or do some use *different*
chemicals from the others?

(2) Currently, we're using DIF brand.

Anything better?

(Especially if you've actually tried DIF, and discovered
yourself that some other brand works better!)

(3) Any hints?

(4) Does making the blades eg razor-sharp help (they're
already pretty darned sharp)?


Thanks!

David

AJScott wrote:
Why go thru all that bull**** trying to remove it? According to several
people here, you can just paint right over all that wallpaper no problem
ever.


Trouble is, it looks like crap. At least, not as good as either alone
(except for that red velvet stuff)

Personally, I think anyone who thinks "Hey, how about wallpaper?" ought
to be shot, but that's just me.


My opinion of people who paint over wallpaper, and then spackle where
the paper tears )

Thanks so much for all the help!

-------

Wife finally tried some other things, eg ammonia, DIF paste, etc --
nothing worked on that final paste -- then she tried rubbing
alcohol -- WHOOPEE!

Straight -- not mixed with water. (doesn't work)

Cheers!

David

I've also had some success with WD-40. The time which comes to mind was a
friend's minivan, one of the kids had put a sticker on the inside of the
drivers door window right at eye level. Very irritating.

--

Christopher A. Young
Join Alt-Hvac Moderated
A free, easy to use Yahoo! group



"David Combs" wrote in message
...

Thanks so much for all the help!

-------

Wife finally tried some other things, eg ammonia, DIF paste, etc --
nothing worked on that final paste -- then she tried rubbing
alcohol -- WHOOPEE!

Straight -- not mixed with water. (doesn't work)

Cheers!

David

In article ,
David Combs wrote:

Thanks so much for all the help!

-------

Wife finally tried some other things, eg ammonia, DIF paste, etc --
nothing worked on that final paste -- then she tried rubbing
alcohol -- WHOOPEE!

Straight -- not mixed with water. (doesn't work)

To make clear: only when diluted, with water, did
it NOT work.

It did work, wonderfully (as compared to almost impossible,
that is) "straight".

David

" wrote in message ...
AJScott wrote:
Why go thru all that bull**** trying to remove it? According to several
people here, you can just paint right over all that wallpaper no problem
ever.


Trouble is, it looks like crap. At least, not as good as either alone
(except for that red velvet stuff)

Personally, I think anyone who thinks "Hey, how about wallpaper?" ought
to be shot, but that's just me.


My opinion of people who paint over wallpaper, and then spackle where
the paper tears )

I'm in the process of removing 3 old layers of wallpaper from horse
hair plaster walls. First I would say that I finally bought a cheap
wagner steamer from Lowes and it's working great. The walls are in
great condition considering the age of the house of 60 years. I'm
impressed with the "hardness" of the existing plaster. I wouldn't
consider painting over the wallpaper unless I was a worthless
homeowner who planned on cheating the next owner. Sorry for the
comment but I have ran into those types Just my 2 cents which can be
worth a dollar or just 1/2 cent.