Wall paper on wall paper

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by Mark, 7th Mar, 2017.

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  1. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    Just bought a house with wall paper on the walls of three bedrooms. Removing them is very time consuming. Has anyone tried putting new wall paper on the existing one? Did it work well?
     
  2. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Have you tried using a steamer?
     
  3. Stoffo

    Stoffo Well-Known Member

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    Read the title on thought "where else would you put it" o_O
    :p Sorry :oops:

    Dont do it, it'd be like painting over it :confused:
     
  4. wobbycarly

    wobbycarly Well-Known Member

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    Make one of these your new best friend.

    WALLPAPER STEAMER

    I was in a similar dilemma, and these things are awesome! Make sure you hire (or buy!) a "proper" one. I was loaned a steamer once by a mate, but turns out it was a clothes steamer, and did NOTHING to wallpaper.
     
  5. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    Thanks a lot for the advice. I tried to peal off the wall paper with a scraper and it did not work well. I will try a steamer.
     
  6. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the advice and link. That's very helpful.
     
  7. wobbycarly

    wobbycarly Well-Known Member

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    Did the same. Scraper a disaster, steamer is salvation. I can't emphasis enough! :)
     
  8. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    I tried this first up. Then these. Not much luck with either.
     
  9. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Definitely try the steamer. If you can rip off the top layer first (especially if it is a thick top layer) to get to the paper under-layer, then a steamer is great. You may have to use one of the little pin-prick tools to allow the steam through, especially for the plastic type papers where steam and/or water don't get through. \

    Make sure you get it really clean with the steam. Don't leave any bits of paper thinking you can go back to them. You need to get the wall clean of bits of paper and old glue while it is still wet and steamy.

    I've steamed off a fair bit of wallpaper, but one house we hold and had painted over the paper I decided to finally steam it off. It took me a whole day to do one half wall. Lots of swearing later, I gave up and ran a stanley knife down the corner, steamed to that corner and painted over the rest. It would have taken several days to get it off (very large room and long hallway). I don't know what they glued it on with but it be standing when the rest of the house is gone I reckon.

    Another room in another house, we got all rooms off but one was so stubborn, we ripped off the plaster and replaced it with new. It was quicker.

    So, do a small length of wall as a test to see how it comes off. Don't start on a big wall in case you have big problems getting it off.

    If it is just too hard, you could paint over it. It's not ideal, but can work.
     
  10. 8650

    8650 Well-Known Member

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    I renovated my proeprty and it had the lovely late 70s wall paper. I tried steamer and it was still hard to remove.

    I went to Bunnings for some advise and they said half/half sugar soap and water in spary bottle, spray on wall paper leave for a minute and scrape off. Worked like a charm.
     
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  11. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the detailed advice.
     
  12. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    Will give it a go! Thanks
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 14th Jun, 2018
  13. WestOz

    WestOz Well-Known Member

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    You maybe already thinking it, after you get it off maybe don't re-paper.

    Parfix 1L Sugar Soap Concentrate
    Oates 12L Translucent Rectangular Window Clean Bucket
    Easier to wash ceilings & walls - Sabco XL Total Microfibre Mop
    Depending how much patching you have to do = volume - Sika 5L Filler-101 Fine Surface Filler
    Flexovit 100mm x 5m 180 Grit Painted Surface Sandpaper Roll
    Taubmans Trade Pro 15L White Prep Undercoat Paint
    Ceiling if wanting Flat - Taubmans Trade Pro 15L White Flat Interior Ceiling Paint
    Walls & Ceiling - Taubmans Trade Pro 15L White Low Sheen Interior Wall Paint
    Bath, Loo, Laundry, Kitchen - Taubmans Easycoat 15L White Interior Walls Low Sheen Paint
    Trim will depend if you want it coloured or not, water or non waterbase (harder) and what deals they have on, can't find the one I get on the site, ask the staff at the paint counter.
    Brushes and other accessories are a personal choice, get what you pay for, i.e. hairs falling out of brushes into paint.
     
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  14. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    Wow, it will make the DIY so much easier. It will save me heaps of time in figuring out what to do with the painting. Really appreciate your advice.
     
  15. WestOz

    WestOz Well-Known Member

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    No prob, consider sticking with white, off the shelf, if tenants do any damage (wear & tear) u can simply patch & paint that bit rather than the whole wall/area, no issues with color matching.

    Might look sterile at first but with flooring, window treatments & furnishings it comes up sweet
     
  16. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    I was thinking of something similar based on removing wall paper at my last reno. Except I used a window cleaning mop and a scraper too. Here is the equipment:

    04102013801.jpg

    Soapy water in the bucket.
    Use the mop to wet down the wall paper. Wait.
    Wet down the wall paper again. Wait.
    Peel off wall paper. If it is stuck, use the scraper.
    If any glue is left behind, wet again. Wait.
    Use the scraper or the scourer gently to remove glue. Don't scrub the walls hard or you will damage them.

    I did three rooms like this:

    04102013794.jpg

    04102013803.jpg

    It probably took about an hour and a half per room.
     
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  17. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the advice. Will stick to white color. Keep it simple.:)
     
  18. Mark

    Mark Well-Known Member

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    It seems very effective. 1.5 hours a room is pretty fast. Any concern of using scraper to remove the glue as the plaster boards of old houses usually contain asbestos?
     
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  19. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I've never heard of plasterboard containing asbestos. Do you mean wallpaper over the top of asbestos sheets?
     
  20. WestOz

    WestOz Well-Known Member

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    Geez Mark! Thought u would have had that steamed off over the weekend ;)

    Being "Perth"guy he may not have had plasterboard, we have brick internal walls with render over here. Still dig into it with scraper but a lot easier to patch