stubborn wallpaper glue. help. please!

[roadk]

i have removed 4 rooms of wallpaper, but my living room is the pits.
it was vinyl wallpapaer that was removed, just by pulling from the corners. then the paper sizing behind it was soaked with DIF and that was removed.
what's left is some glue that appears to be from maybe a layer of wallpaper removed long ago...
and they couldn't get it off, so they put wallpaper on again, to cover it up.- easier than removeing it to paint.
the glue is pretty tough- and when i get it soaked, it will get SLIGHTLY softer and it can be 'balled' up. you gotta really scrub it, and even then , it doesn't even scrape up as it's still too sticky to the wall. in the end, nothing dissolves it though.
we scrub with DIF, with TSP , softener, vinegar. nothing works.
should i be looking for an adhesive remover like the floor adhesive removers?
thanks for any info you can give.
-thomas

[Cliff Hayes]

It sounds like you're trying to remove a layer of high-tack primer. Honestly, your best bet is to let the wall dry fully, sand everything down with 100-grit sandpaper as smooth as you can get it (basically knock off the loose stuff), then prime over the whole surface with Zinsser Guardz. Guardz is a damaged-drywall sealer that is water-based, dries quickly, and can be skimmed over with spackle. Think of it as liquid plastic. You'll seal what's currently on your walls, and then spackle, prime & paint as if starting from scratch. Guardz can be bought a most major paint-supply chains. If they don't stock it, they can at least order it for you. It's a runny product, so plan to protect your floors real well. Cliff

[Chris Nelson]

What Cliff says is true, but if you can get Draw Tite,(imo) is a better product,here is their #
1/800/404/2878

[Boston Hangman]

the glue is pretty tough- and when i get it soaked, it will get SLIGHTLY softer and it can be 'balled' up. you gotta really scrub it, and even then , it doesn't even scrape up as it's still too sticky to the wall. in the end, nothing dissolves it though.
we scrub with DIF, with TSP , softener, vinegar. nothing works.
should i be looking for an adhesive remover like the floor adhesive removers?
thanks for any info you can give.
-thomas

The dreaded PSSS syndrome strikes again :rant: ...this seems to be the price we pay for all the R-35's and prep coats we used so freely (heady times) :D

I like the Draw Tite/ Gardz solution, but only as a last resort.
I would try to remove it by any means possible, 4" razor stripper blade
scrub pads ie: Heavy duty scotch brite types, etc.

Bill was just faced with this problem maybe he has something to offer...Bill?

Good Luck
Mark

[Bill Archibald]

DARN, If only I could remember. That's the problem with working too much, all those walls blend into one :cuss:

No seriously, it was luckily for a customer that wanted quick and dirty, not my preference of perfection - or close to it. I applied Draw-Tite No Run, let thoroughly dry, and then sanded LIGHTLY, but some areas still wanted to ball up. I did not have luxury of time to patch and sand. Tha paper was busy enough to diguise the mess underneath.

My next thought would be use an oil primer, something that can really harden up, and then sand, but all the oils are so soft now-a-days. I wonder if BIN would work ?? (that's a QUESTION, far from a tried and true solution)

I do not think we have come up with the absolute best solution for the dreaded Peeling Sunburn Skin Syndrome (PSSS)

-Bill

[ProWallGuy]

If you use an oil, it should be a slow-drying, heavy-bodied, long oil. Benny Moore still makes one.

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/wrapper_pg3.asp?L=prod&K=intprods&groupid=15&productid=55#article

[roadk]

thanks for all of the help.
i'm going to attempt to get as much of it off as possible.
then i'll look into that BM oil based primer.
it's amazing how difficult it is to remove.
figures that it's in the living room, and not one of the spare bedrooms!
i'll let you guys know how it ends up.
thanks again.
-thomas

[Bill Archibald]

Thomas,

YES, please do let us know how it goes. If you find something that works that we haven't covered PLEASE tell us.

This is a common problem for which we need a solution.

Can I assume from your post that you will be painting and not re-installing a beautiful wallpaper in your main living area (is that an unsubtle promotion of wallpaper ? :lol: :lol: :devil: )

thanks,

-Bill

[roadk]

bill,
i will be painting the room. sorry.
but wallpaper will be going up in the bedroom.
as for the progress:
we've found that a strong mixture of the 'mex' brand product worked the best.
i ordered both products from safe and simple, and they did both just as poorly on this particular glue as the rest of the wallpaper removers out there.keeping the walls wet for 20-30 minutes with a mex loaded sprayer loosened the glue enough to scrub with a brown scouring pad. this only would 'ball up' the glue though. it would not come off with this pad.
a wet microfiber towel was used to scrub again, and it picked up these balls of glue. a few more times with a cleaned mmicrofiber and it was finally clean.
now we only have 90% more of the room to do....
i'll be using one of the primers mentioned here though, just to be sure.
the benjamin moore suggestion IS hard to find.
i guess i won't be using that one...
thanks again guys. drinks on me. http://www.ngpp.org/lounge/images/smilies/banana.gif
-thomas

:banana:

[Kathy Mullin]

Okay guys--

Need to add another complicated situation. Painted my sons' bathroom a few years ago with a Behr paint (will NEVER use again). It went on like glue and remained tacky for days. Had no choice though -- needed to get it painted before contractor installed new tile, vanity, etc. So, we left it. Unfortunately, decided to add a "self-adhesive" border after the paint finally dried. Learned the hard way not to put one of those in a hot, steamy bathroom. Went to Ben. Moore and purchased a tube of "wallpaper paste repair" and used it on the places where the border was lifting. Fast forward a few years.....Now I have removed the border, and the "repair paste" appears to have dried like Elmer's glue. Can't remove it without scrubbing......the scrubbing is taking that thick, rubbery paint right off the walls. It peels off in a little circle, and if I continue scrubbing, more just comes off. To answer a few questions you may be asking -- this was new drywall, and yes it was primed. I tried sanding as mentioned above, but am concerned because I can still see adhesive -- am afraid new paint will just peel from the adhesive. What do I do about this rubbery paint/adhesive situation? HELP!

[ProWallGuy]

Kathy, I personally would seal over the adhesive with an oil-based primer. Then you can use joint compound to 'float out' those areas, meaning to apply thin layers to build up the wall around the adhesive spots. If done correctly, you should be able to lightly sand these areas, and they will blend in to the rest of the wall. You will obviously need to repaint the whole room at this point.

[Bill Archibald]

Hey Kathy,don't beat yourself up too much about putting a self stick border up in a hot steamy bath, they do not stick ANYWHERE for very long. :cuss: :cuss:

And not to disagree with Tim to vehemently (especially now that we are all even :lol:) , I would ASSUME that the repair adhesive is equivalent to a Vinyl Over Vinyl adhesive. (refined polymers). These adhesives to not rewet with regular stripping solutions. Safe and Simple (www.safeandsimple.com (http://www.safeandsimple.com)) has a specially formulated solution to rewet and soften these so that they can be stripped. The solution number is 826 and can be found at:
http://safeandsimple.com/new/826.htm

As with any stripping solution, it needs to soak for a while before properly softening the adhesives. There will still be work to be done, but 826 helps a lot.

If the 826 doesn't work, then do as Tim says. I'm just afraid of priming over paste. It never turns out well.

-Bill

[ProWallGuy]

Yeah, Bill nailed it about the polymer type GLUE. To add to what Bill advised, sometimes you can hit the spots with a heat gun, and use a putty knife to scrape it off also.

[Kathy Mullin]

Thanks for the speedy responses. I looked at the tube of adhesive I used, and there are no ingredients listed. It's made by Roman Adhesives and is called Stick-Ease Wallcovering Seam Repair. Is this the polymer type you talked about? I'm guessing it is, because DIF barely budged the stuff. I do have one more question, though......This paint I used previously. Because of the rubbery quality to it, do you think I should re-prime the whole room? Honestly, it held up well and didn't start to peel off the wall until I started to scrub so hard on the adhesive. If I'm going to skim-coat over the areas that I sand the adhesive off, I'll need to prime anyway. Any suggestions on a brand name of primer to use? Bin? I hesitate to use oil-based.....one of my sons is asthmatic. Will do & send him to Grandma if it's the only way to go....
Thanks!

[Bill Archibald]

Kathy,

I've been under the impression that Roman's Stick Ease is the same as their Border Adhesive (similar to VOV, but different). They both look, smell, and act the same. Yes, it is (as far as I know) a polymer based GLUE formulated to adhere vinyl to vinyl.

Priming over the old paint: I've been out of the painting business for over fifteen years and have not kept up on the changing technology. I'll defer to Tim about that.

BTW, B.I.N. is a pigmented shellac coating. It uses alcohol as a vehicle. It is not an "oil" paint. Not sure it would be good in this instance as alcohol likes to dissolve most latex paints. But then again, maybe dissolving and then drying would give an excellent bond.....hmmmm. Gotta ask a REAL chemist, not one of us who likes to mix products.

-Bill

[ritaann]

Thanks so much for all the helpful posts. I have removed the wallpaper and repaired the damaged drywall (small areas where the drywall paper came off) . It looks real good, but if I wet the wall and scrape again more glue continues to come off to no end. I have spent hours doing this on just a few square feet. My question is can I just apply Gardz over the remaining paste? I know that it is always better to remove 100% of the paste but will gardz work even with some paste left on the walls?

Drywall.
Wallpaper installed 1990.
Plan on painting wall.

[Bill Archibald]

Rita Ann,

I think it is Gardz that says on the back that it is suitable for use over paste residue - or some such wording. Maybe not Gardz, don't have a can in front of me.

Obviously I can not make guaranteed claims about a commercial product, so take my opinion for what it's worth - the same amount you paid for it :lol:

That said, your approach is probably correct. Get as much off as you can, get it smooth, and then seal with Gardz.

Read the can and see if it mentions paste residue, just to clear your conscience.

-Bill

[Chris Murphy]

It says it can be used over "paste residue," an amorphous term that doesn't mean much. You wouldn't want to use it over an 1/8" thick layer of paste, for example, but you could. It would need a couple of more coats until the paste was coated enough to not react to the water in the primer. In most stripping situations residual means that left over after washing; but it still may need a second coat. A lot easier than continued washing, which may or may not get all the paste off anyways.