Betty

[Betty]

HELP!!!!! I am trying to remove 20 year old vinyl coated (cheap) wallpaper from a non-sized, before papering, drywall. We want to paint when removed. I have tried "Dif" and scoring but paper does not want to come off. It was pre-pasted wallpaper and seems to be stuck very well. It isn't budging!!! All I can get are extremely small pieces to come off. Any suggestions?

[Chris Murphy]

Go back and click on the Forum title, Wallpaper removal. Scroll down, and under Display Options, change the option that starts, "From the" to "the beginning," and browsw through some of the threads there. Many in your same situation have been given a lot of advice.

[papernpaste]

Over the years, the adhesive behind your paper-backed-vinyl "seems" to have bonded with the porous painted surface. That isn't really what happens. The paint's grip on the wall is compromised by the adhesive. This combined with the porosity of the [probably] unprimed wallboard makes for a hard removal job.

An enzyme removal solution will probably work better than a Steamer. Diff gags me and is pricey. I like "Safe and Simple"-a removal solution concentrate- a California Product. You can google it and actually order, online.

What makes this type of job difficult is the fact that the wallboard is porous (wherever you have been able to remove the paper-backed-vinyl's vinyl surface) and that porous wallboard surface will suck up the solution. The trick is to wet the current wallcovering to the extent that solution attacks the dried, cured adhesive so that you can lift the wallcovering off and, at the same time to use a little solution as possible so as to not compromise the wallboard's paper surface. The wallboard surface,when wet is easily damaged and will, sometimes, tear off when the wallpaper is lifted from it. This wallboard surface damage needs to be kept at a minimum. Sometimes, even the angle at which you are pulling the wallcovering off can affect the amount of wallboard surface damage. You have to experiment with this process and find what will work best.

Attempt to remove as much of the vinyl surface of the current wallcover, WHILE IT IS DRY. Attempt to get a corner of the vinyl to peel up and then gently, slowly pull it on a 45 degree angle to the side seams, attempting to get as much as possible to peel off in one piece, dry. If you cannot get much to come off this way, use a "paper tiger" to score the surface. Use enough pressure to perforate the vinyl but not so much as to poke holes in the wallboard. Then, spray (use a garden sprayer like Ortho's) the perforated vinyl surface; wait five minutes between sprayings; a spray again, and again. After three sprayings, try to lift both the vinyl surface and its paper backing from the wallboard. You'll get areas where the surface of the wallboard is going to come off with the paint and the paper. This is unavoidable but, less is better. Zinsser makes a product, Gardz, that is thinner than water (it seems) and will penetrate this whole mess, ONLY AFTER all remnants of paper are off the wall (as it is not a sandable product, and will seal down and encapsulate everything so that the wall can be skim coated with a vinyl spackle (I like Duron's). Once you get the spackle sanded, then you can coat, again, with Gardz. Then, you should be good to go- to paint. It is a long tedious process that will drain your patience and physical strength. It would probably pay to pay a professional. Skim coating, alone, takes some level of expertise. I usually have to go around a room, twice, to get the quality of new surface that looks new and paintable. This can take days of work, start-to-finish. Not for the faint-of-heart. Best of Luck ;)