What's the general consensus on wallpaper removal machines? Waste of money
or invaluable aid? I've seen a couple at the local Focus for about £20-25
(didn't recognise the brands). Any advice much appreciated - I've a hell of
a lot of painted over wallpaper to remove over the next few months!




a

al wrote:
What's the general consensus on wallpaper removal machines? Waste of money
or invaluable aid? I've seen a couple at the local Focus for about £20-25
(didn't recognise the brands). Any advice much appreciated - I've a hell of
a lot of painted over wallpaper to remove over the next few months!


Do you mean a steam stripper? Yes, indispensible! Together with one of
those funny hand-held devices with spiky wheels in which you run all
over the paper first, to perforate the surface to allow steam under.

David

"al" wrote in message
. uk...
What's the general consensus on wallpaper removal machines? Waste of
money or invaluable aid? I've seen a couple at the local Focus for about
£20-25 (didn't recognise the brands). Any advice much appreciated - I've
a hell of a lot of painted over wallpaper to remove over the next few
months!

I presume your talking about steamers.

Well worth it, will be at least three times as quick if not more, so do your
sums.

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Do you mean a steam stripper? Yes, indispensible! Together with one of
those funny hand-held devices with spiky wheels in which you run all over
the paper first, to perforate the surface to allow steam under.


Sorry, yes, I do mean steamers. Interesting about the spiker ... I didn't
see any of them, will have a look on Screwfix, etc.

Any good results with particular brands of steamers?




a

al wrote:
"Lobster" wrote in message
...

Do you mean a steam stripper? Yes, indispensible! Together with one of
those funny hand-held devices with spiky wheels in which you run all over
the paper first, to perforate the surface to allow steam under.


Sorry, yes, I do mean steamers. Interesting about the spiker ... I didn't
see any of them, will have a look on Screwfix, etc.

Pretty sure Sfix don't stock them. Try B&Q etc though.

Any good results with particular brands of steamers?

Basically they're just glorified kettles so not a huge amount to choose
between them. As it happens, my old Earlex model (B&Q, about 15 years
old) broke recently, and I've just replaced it with the Bosch from
Screwfix. Haven't used it yet, but it does look good; also incorporates
a pipe/cable tidy and a slot to store the steam plate - sounds trivial
but the Earlex (a 12" square cube) really irritated me with all its bits
always disgorged all over the place! On the other hand the Bosch looks
quite low capacity, so may run out of H2O too soon, I don't know.

David

wrote in message
...
Well worth it but be careful not to "blow" the plaster. That is easily
done until you get the hang of it.

I take it that happens if you wet it too much by being too slow?




a

or invaluable aid? I've seen a couple at the local Focus for about £20-25

Invaluable - I bought one two days ago to strip the wallpaper in the
bedroom, in fact, several layers of wallpaper. I started with wet cloth and
scraper and it was so painful, I drove straight to Wickes and bought one for
~£20. I also bought a wallpaper scraper & spare blades which helped
considerably.

Only problem I had was that it also lifted some of the plaster off the wall
in a few places. This was just finishing plaster over a painted wall. I came
across a few patched holes anyway so I'm guessing it was a poor plaster job
in the first place and it needed to come off anyway.

Cheers, Rob.

PS. Not sure how effective on painted paper though.

Well worth it but be careful not to "blow" the plaster. That is easily

I did that in a few places but it was so unpredictable across all four walls
that I assume the plaster was poorly attached anyway. Still, it's only
skimming plaster.

Cheers, Rob.

I take it that happens if you wet it too much by being too slow?

Yes, that will happen but I think it often highlights poor adhesion in the
first place. I assume there's an air gap behind there that the steam heats
up causing the plaster to flake off.

Cheers, Rob.

It's easy enough to patch largish areas with finishing plaster as
long as the undercoat is sound and you damp it down first.

I was tempted to give the exposed wall a quick coat of PVA/water solution to
give the plaster something to bond to first.

Cheers, Rob.

I have used both the Bosch and a heavy duty Earlex achine for the last few
years.Both are excellent although the Bosch is extremely portable and costs
£25-30 in B & Q. I wouldn't be without a steamer. Incidentally I have found the
plaster to get damaged when people try to score the paper too heavily before
removing it. The orbital scorers are much better as you do not apply too much
pressure. You can pick these up in most of the DIY sheds for about a fiver