Removing wallpaper and painting My Old House
By cryllie
@cryllie (49)
United States
January 20, 2008 10:26pm CST
Hey ya and hello, I'm gonna paint my dining/family room a nice mellow Tuscan yellow...if I ever, EVER get the old wallpaper off. I think they SUPERGLUED it on-even with the paper "tiger" thing and the enzyme stuff, it's coming off in tiny little shreds. Which only makes my inCorrigible Cat Corrigan happy. Hey, it's only about 12 feet wide and 24 feet long, plus foyer. Hubby helped-well, he got the easy-off paper higher up-but my sections are really going slow. Have any of you painted over paper and liked the results? Any advice here? Anybody up for a paperstripping party? I"ll make lasagna!
I want to do a kind of colorwash over my yellow base...maybe glaze it...hmm. Or not.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@Bee1955 (3882)
• United States
21 Jan 08
ok, several things you can do -
1) go rent a steamer and steam the wall and scrape along as you go. This is especially for those walls where you feel SUPERGLUE has been applied or something like it...
2) get an empty spray bottle and fill it with one half hot water and 1/2 fabric softener (I found DOWNY the best) and spray the walls, satuyating them and them scrape. I would score the walls first before spraying for best results. Some use plain hot water, but the fabric siftener works better,
I had a Victorian Bed & Breakfast in Kansas a long time ago and stripped the wall paper in 5 bedrooms using these techniques. Good luc!
1 person likes this
@cryllie (49)
• United States
21 Jan 08
Wow, bee, thank you for the tips! I knew about the steamers but was worried for my original woodwork-original finish; but the hot water/Downy could really help, I think, and I have never even heard of this one before. Thanks so much! I bet your B&B was awesome! Victorian is absolutely my first love too.
@dania_elm (421)
• United States
21 Jan 08
a mixture of one fourth vinegar and three fourths water
also works very well!!!! it just peels off once u spay it on let it sit for a couple minutes. alos you can paint over wallpaper if u primer the surface first to help seal it
if not the paint will all absorb into the paper
good luck
@casinocat (284)
• United States
3 Jul 09
Just popping in to this discussion to get some answers. I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions on removing wallpaper, as I have some in my home that MUST GO! I have never done it before, so am really worried I'm going to screw it up and make it look worse than just ugly wallpaper! Thanks everyone for sharing your ideas.
cryllie, Tuscan yellow sounds gorgeous!
