no primer used

[skf1030]

I am trying to remove wallpaper that is 15 years old. It was put on drywall when the home was built. The area where the painters oversprayed on the trim comes off without any problem. But the largest part of the wall is the problem. I have scored the wallpaper and sprayed Dif on it. But it is causing the paper to come off some of the drywall. Would steaming it work better? Or can I paint over the wallpaper? I would appreciate any help.

[Bill Archibald]

Sheila,

You are now experiencing the absolute necessity of priming sheetrock prior to installing wallpaper. I am sorry to hear you have been put to such agony over someone saving a few pennies.

Your options are very limited, none of which are very good.

Scrape, pull, shave, tear it off, taking the facing of the sheetrock with it. You can then use a one of two products to seal the drywall before patching, and ONLY one of these two products. The first is the original Dry Wall Repair named Draw-tite. Made in Calif by Scotch paint and impossible to find. The other is Zinsser's clone of D-T named Gardz, it is easier to find around the country. After to apply two coats you can sand the "fuzzies" off, patch and sand with your favorite patching compound, apply another two coats of D-T/Gardz and then redecorate. If you prime the whole wall, you will be able to hang new wallpaper without the fear of going through this stripping hell again.

Another solution is make sure all the loose wallpaper is off, sand the edges smooth, and prime with one of two products made for this situation by Roman Decorating Products : Multi-Task™ PRO-900 Universal Primer or No Strip!™ GH-90 Universal Primers. I have used neither of these products, but this is exactly what they are for. You can read more at http://www.romandecoratingproducts.com/pro.html

Neither of these solutions will be fun. But you are between a rock and a hard place. This is NOT what you should be faced with. You are a victim of shoddy workmanship by some unscrupulous builder wanting to make a quick buck by cutting a few corners.

good luck

-Bill

[golfologist]

Gang, I took off wallpaper that had n primer on the existing drywall, a 6 or 7 hour ordeal for a small bathroom!. I did not gouge the drywall significantly, but some of the paper did peel off the existing drywall. Being a rookie, I simply smoothed with joint compound and sanded to prepare for new primer. I did not use Draw-Tite or Gardz. Have I done wrong??!! the wall is now smooth, and looks ready for primer, but after reading these above threads, I fear I may hav erred? Advise, please!!

[Gary Lucas]

The best thing you can do at this point is to give the walls one or two coats of Draw-Tite or Gardz - if you are planning on new paper. If you are going to paint, just prime and paint. You should be good to go.

Gary Lucas

[Steve Seidman]

As for removing the paper, try www.safeandsimple.com MUCH better then DIF. If your going to use GUARDS one coat has always been good for me. Guards dries VERY hard and as insurance you can either lightly sand or size it or not ( live dangerously ). When you use Guards pour from a 1/2 empty container, Guards is VERY watery and tends to splash all over from a full can.
Steve

[Badams]

Gang, I took off wallpaper that had n primer on the existing drywall, a 6 or 7 hour ordeal for a small bathroom!. I did not gouge the drywall significantly, but some of the paper did peel off the existing drywall. Being a rookie, I simply smoothed with joint compound and sanded to prepare for new primer. I did not use Draw-Tite or Gardz. Have I done wrong??!! the wall is now smooth, and looks ready for primer, but after reading these above threads, I fear I may hav erred? Advise, please!!
I wouldn't worry too much ,IF your joint compound did not make the drywall bubble or blister. If the wall is smooth to your liking, then you would need to use some kind of primer/sealer. Draw-Tite is good, but in my opinion not worth the hassle of trying to find. Gardz made by Zinsser is more readily available. Sherwin-Williams also carries a similar product called Drywall Conditioner. If you are wallpapering these are not absolute and you could get a premium acrylic primer/sealer for the finish work that is to be applied.