Kitchen and Bath Remodeling: Wall Paper Removal Guide

When conducting kitchen and bath remodeling, removing wall paper can be tricky. If you don't mind the mess typically created by removing wallpaper, there are several methods of removal.

METHOD 1:

Rent a wallpaper steamer that sends steam through a hose to a flat metal plate. Pressing this plate on the wall forces steam into the wallpaper, softening the paper and paste and allowing you to strip the paper using a wide putty knife.

Unfortunately, steaming can damage wall-boards the wallpaper is adhered to, especially if the wallboard wasn't properly sealed prior to wallpapering. If the wallboard has been coated with sizing, this sizing usually seals enough to allow the wallpaper to stick, but offers little protection to the walls.

METHOD 2:

This method involves using a chemical enzyme agent that soaks into the paper and dissolves the paste. Although this method takes a little longer than the steamer, it is less damaging to wallboard. But in using it there are two things you should keep in mind:

1. Allow time for the chemical to do its work. If you begin scraping too soon, it will not likely be as effective.

2. The paper should be kept wet with the chemical until the paper is loose enough to scrape off.

The chemical stripper is applied with a sprayer, hand-held for small jobs or a pump-type, pressurized garden sprayer for larger areas.

To avoid getting the chemical on the floor, cover the floor with plastic tarps with newspapers over the tarps to absorb the excess spray. As waste accumulates on the papers, simply replace these papers with new ones.

Vinyl Wallpaper

If the original wallpaper is a non-porous vinyl, neither the steam nor the chemical stripper will easily penetrate. In this case, you may have to rip the vinyl face from the wall before using steam or the chemical remover.

If you find that the vinyl wall covering is difficult to pull off, even after using the steam or chemical method, you can make small perforations in it. This will allow the steam or chemical to pass through the perforations. There are two ways to accomplish this. One way is to use a Paper Tiger. By rolling this tool over the wall it will make pin-like perforations in the paper, leaving the wall underneath undamaged.

Remove the Residue

After the paper is removed you will need to also remove the residue paste that is left. You can do this by using hot water and a wall washing detergent, using the wallpaper stripping chemical as a final wash. If there is an excessive amount of paste left on the wall, you may need to re-spray the walls with the chemical stripper. Then, use a scraper or putty knife to remove the residual glue, followed by a final rinse with a sponge dipped in the stripper.

If you are going to wallpaper again, your job is almost done. Just give the walls a light sanding to smooth any roughness on it. Be sure to clean up dust from the sanding before beginning the wallpapering process.

If you are going to paint, first apply a coat of a sealing/stain killing oil-based primer. This may leave more roughness that will require you to sand again. Failing to sand and coat with a latex paint will make it difficult to remove the roughness later.

After the primer is fully dry, sand again, clean up dust from the sanding, and you are ready to begin painting.