Wallpaper – Is it a thing of the past?
Wallpaper removal is often a must when doing those renovating projects, especially in homes that were decorated when paint was in less common decorating use. It can be time consuming and irritating to remove if you are not acquainted with proper techniques for stripping the wallpaper away without damaging the drywall or plaster underneath. It is important to remove the wallpaper correctly to avoid unnecessary wall damage that will have to be fixed before the walls can be repainted or papered.
A variety of techniques for wallpaper removal are available. if you are in luck, the wallpaper will be newer and able to be dry-stripped. If this is the case, simply use a putty knife or flat blade to lift a corner. The sheet can be worked free across the bottom, and then simply lifted slowly and evenly to remove. This technique is mostly applicable to newer wallpaper, or on walls which have only had one layer of wallpaper applied. Older wallpaper, which may have become brittle with age, will instead tear in small pieces, and will not be easily removed by tearing.
If the wallpaper is older, it may not be as easy to remove. If it is not a dry-stripping wallpaper, the next best thing is to use a spray bottle and douse an area at a time with hot or warm water. Once an area is sufficiently damp, use a putty knife to lightly score it, so as not to damage the wall material underneath. Once it is scored, you may scrape away the wallpaper with a putty knife. If there are multiple layers of wallpaper, it may be necessary to repeat the process to remove all of the layers. If the wallpaper is resistant to this technique, or a non-porous type of wallpaper, it may be necessary to roughen it with a sander or sandpaper before spraying it. Repeated spraying with the spray bottle may also be necessary to keep the wallpaper damp enough to scrape easily.
If the wallpaper you are working with is particularly difficult, or was perhaps improperly applied, or has many stubborn layers, it may be necessary to rent a wallpaper steamers. These machines can be tricky to work with, and should not be used on drywall, as drywall is highly susceptible to water damage, but they allow wallpaper removal with ease on plaster, which will allow the paper to be easily replaced, and leave the renovator with a fresh wall with minimum damage.
