Removing Grasscloth

[jlg2905]

Acquired a house with Grasscloth in large living room and dining room. Grasscloth is 20 years old and was applied to wallboard that was neither sized or painted. Top layer (Grass) pulls off the wall in complete sheets. There is then a residual laminate on top of another layer of paper which is then glued to the wallboard. Have tried Dif and vinegar with no success. I want to remove this paper and then paint. Any ideas on technique or products would be appreciated. I am at my wits end.

[Chris Murphy]

How long have you allowed the wetted paper to soak? Have you gotten down to the sheetrock in any spots? What is the paste like there- color, thickness, texture?

[jlg2905]

As I said, the grasscloth itself peels off the wall in sheets. What's left is a glue that gets crumbly when soaked and is very hard to scrape off. One gentlemean suggested it may be a clay based glue; it is yellowish in appearance. Underneath that appears to be another layer of paper ( a liner?) which is on top of sheetrock which was not painted or sized. The paper is on really well and impossible to get off. All I've managed to do is make small holes in it trying to remove it.

[Chris Murphy]

I have to guess here, but here's my take: the yellowish stuff is the adhesive for the grass to it's paper substrate. This paper should absorb water easily, and that water is what will break the adhesive bonds on the sheetrock. Let it soak by rewetting every 10 min. or so for 45 minutes, and then gently try to remove the paper.
If that doesn't work, contact Mike at Safeandsimple.com

[Bill Archibald]

Chris, did you see the passage that says the wallboard was neither sized or painted? If that is the case, would you not agree that the substrate is now probably married to the wallboard? If that is DEFINITELY the situation I would suggest sanding what is rough, and using the last gasp solution; D-T or Gardz.

jlg2905,
this is not something I recommend lightly, and something I do only after being positive the layer of paper, liner, or substrate WILL NOT come off the wall board without substantial damage.


-bill

[jlg2905]

Did some more experimentation. The glue layer is so thick and impervious to water that I must use hot water and constantly wet and scrape to get down to the liner. Very time comsuming as I have miles of this paper, Yes, the substrate is married to the wallboard. The only place it comes off is when it is over the joint compound at the seams of the wallboard. I will try to loosen the glue with steam, although I always use this last because of the heat( I'm in Texas) and potential damage to the wallnoard. Thanks for all responses

[jlg2905]

I think I said something wrong in the last post. The liner paper is married to the wallboard. On top of the liner paper is the thick impervious glue which then has the grasscloth backing paper on top of it.

[Chris Murphy]

'Married' to the wallboard or not, I've always been able to get the stuff off. If you are hitting an 'impervious ' glue, it could be vinyl-over-vinyl, and Safe and Simple has a formulated stripper for that.
If steam works, water will work. Putting some dish detergent (a squirt per couple gallons) helps keep the water on the wall. The secret is keeping the paper wet. Ask Mike for a sample of his S&S VOV remover.

[Rusty]

I hope you guys do not mind if I make a suggestion.Any way that you look at it you have a lot of work on your hands.You can strip it like Chris suggested,or if you do not have alot of bubbles on the joint compound you can seal with a primer(latex-pro block or a oil base sealer) Then refloat the walls. and then paint.The way it sounds striping is tearing up the walls.So you will be doing some floating anyways.You might want to rewallpaper with grasscloth again it is coming back in style Good luck !Rusty

[jlg2905]

Thank you for all the suggestions. For closure, I could not bear spending the time taking off the underlying paper an inch at a time. I was penetrating the glue since the wallboard paper was being soaked but it would not come off easily. And when the wallboard paper got soaked it started getting wrecked. I decided to get off whatever loose backing paper I could and then painted the walls with oil- based Kilz. This sealed the paper and hardened up the surface. Then I did a light sanding of the wall and ran a thin coat of joint compound over the small imperfections in the paper. Still a lot of work but walls are coming out flat as can be. I always have removed paper before painting but this situation was impossible. Again, thanks for all of your help.

[Chris Murphy]

Kilz is OK, but using Gardz or Draw Tite clear drywall sealers is probably easier cleanup and surely easier on the body/nerve cells.

[Chris Nelson]

Kilz is OK, but using Gardz or Draw Tite clear drywall sealers is probably easier cleanup and surely easier on the body/nerve cells.

Boy, do you have that right!:disco: