For those of you that have removed wallpaper before....

[happy2bamom]

I need help! I don't know what I"m doing. I have removed the wallpaper (which took the better part of 2 weekends). Now my walls look horrible. Some areas there is just the drywall, but on most of the wall there is another layer of something. It looks like paint or primer, but I"m not sure. When heated with the steamer it does peel off, which is why parts of my wall has it and others don't. What do I do? I can't possibly paint it as is.

I'm assuming that I either have to 1) take the steamer to all of that stuff and get down to the drywall on the whole room or 2) somehow sand it so that it is smooth or 3) hire someone to fix what I've done to the walls.

Help please. I"m so stressed about this. I didn't expect this to be such a huge undertaking.

[TamiRuns]

Wallpaper removal, fun stuff! We've removed wallpaper from our whole house in stages. What you see on the walls is the adhesive.....you must, must, must get it off before painting. Use the steamer everywhere. If that doesn't work, go to home depot or lowes and ask for help. I can't remember the product we used - its blue. They have it at Sherwin Williams too.

Good luck!!

[khm]

I removed drywall to discover that the builder put the wallpaper on naked drywall, he did not put the texture on the wall. (Look at your painted walls, they are a bit bumpy, no?)

So panicked. :) Found this site
http://www.contractortalk.com/f21/wallpaper-removal-24098/

What I ended up doing was getting off as much as I could. Using Gardz to "bond" what was left onto the drywall. Gardz is a super penetrative substance that affixes what's left. There was a bit of repair that my husband did, but nothing excessively difficult. (Mainly patches at a corner).

After it was Gardz-ed, we used Dutch Boy Old World Plaster (http://dutchboy.com/products/interior/wall/special-finishes/old-world-plaster/index.jsp). It is a thicker paint that you put on and burnish. There are videos on their site. It is forgiving and you can really work at the burnishing or leave it rather smooth. It changes color a bit as you burnish it (giving a bit of visual depth), as well as the actual texture of it.

We considered getting the wall texturized but with the cabinets in place and the openness of our kitchen to living room.... ugh. It didn't sound at all appealing. But, we thought putting regular paint on super smooth walls would be difficult as every imperfection would show.

[kochh2]

we used the paper tiger to score it, then the blue adhesive remover and a scraper, and UGGGHHHH it still took forever, in a teeny bathroom..... good luck!!!

[TamiRuns]

we used the paper tiger to score it, then the blue adhesive remover and a scraper, and UGGGHHHH it still took forever, in a teeny bathroom..... good luck!!!

Yes - must use the paper tiger to score, along with the blue stuff....and then I STILL had to use the steamer!! It does take forever but it's worth it!!

[Pinky]

How long had the paper been up? We took some down in our previous home from the 1940's and it was awful. We ended up having to do a skimcoat with drywall compound in order to get them looking good enough to paint. It was a real mess!! Good luck.

[ccather]

The Blue Stuff is called Dif. My old house had wallpaper hung DIRECTLY on unpainted, unprepped drywall. In some spots, there were three layers of paper with some painted layers. Oh. And wallpaper on the ceiling. Apparently in the mid 50's, it was upscale to hang paper. You just didn't paint. I was baffled by the ceiling stuff, since it was just plain paper painted white.

What a nightmare. When you got close to the drywall, it was hard to tell what was wallpaper and what was dry wall. My walls were chewed up when we were done. I had to skim coat with spackel (the ceiling too) and then a coat of Kilz over it all.

You need to finish getting the stuff off the walls. Skim coat the rough spots, sand then prime. Miserable, but worth doing. When you're done, you're done.

My new house....not a scrap of wallpaper and there never will be.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Wallpaper was almost a dealbreaker when buying my house. The tiger tool, Dif and lots of scraping. We didn't own a steamer back then. HGTV always has the tip to use water and fabric softener vs Dif (I'm sure the proportions are online somewhere).

Beth

[Sillygirl]

I think half the motivation for DH quitting his job to be a SAHD was to deal with the wallpaper we inherited from the previous owners. It is a BIG job. We have lots of thick wallpaper that peels off in layers - so all the color is gone, but a rough underlayer of paper remains. We have found the scraper that shreds it all to be more trouble than it's worth. After peeling off the upper layer in big sheets, my DH applies a dilute mixture of unscented Downy and water, copiously, then scrapes the softened paper off. Then he washes the walls with TSP, then with water. It's time consuming, but he's not dealing with little shreds and wall gouges.

[ohsara430]

OP if it's paint or primer that's left on your wall you just need to sand it. If it's actually the paper backing of the wallpaper then you need to remove it. There should be paint under the wallpaper (if it was done correctly). If it's the paper backing it will feel papery and get soft and mushy when wet. Not a good idea to steam off the paint or primer though because you don't want your drywall getting that wet, and it's really not necessary, just sand and you'll be ready to paint.

[happy2bamom]

OP if it's paint or primer that's left on your wall you just need to sand it. If it's actually the paper backing of the wallpaper then you need to remove it. There should be paint under the wallpaper (if it was done correctly). If it's the paper backing it will feel papery and get soft and mushy when wet. Not a good idea to steam off the paint or primer though because you don't want your drywall getting that wet, and it's really not necessary, just sand and you'll be ready to paint.

It's definitely not the backing. The paper came down in two sections (the picture part and then the backing). So now I"m left with either 1) adhesive or 2) primer. If the wall was primed, would it be coming off with the steamer????

[ohsara430]

It's definitely not the backing. The paper came down in two sections (the picture part and then the backing). So now I"m left with either 1) adhesive or 2) primer. If the wall was primed, would it be coming off with the steamer????

If it's adhesive it will be more of a film like consistency/feel, if you put warm water on it for a few minutes does it get tacky and glue-like? If so then probably adhesive and you should try to get it off either with warm water or by sanding - either way works just fine. Yes, it is possible for the primer/paint to come off with the steamer. The steamer will eat through the drywall if you let it. If you have all of the paper off you just need to wash down the walls, sand them and you'll be ready to go. Removing wallpaper is a PITA.

[RunnerDuck]

I can't help with wall paper removal but I can direct you to rule #1 of home improvement - expect everything to take at least 3 times as long as you bargained for.

My one day job of painting the bathroom turned into a two week ordeal.

Our "weekend" project of staining the deck dragged on for 3 months.

Etc.

Our kitchen floor needs ripped out and replaced (damage, not aesthetics) - I have FORBIDDEN my husband to view this as a DIY project. We will be hiring someone who will finish it in a reasonable amount of time.

Good luck with your project!! From what I understand wallpaper removal can be a pretty evil undertaking.