I am remodeling a condo I recently bought. The wallpaper is old and double layer. The wallpaper glue under the base layer is about 2mm thick and won't come off. I have used hot water spray, wallpaper enzymes and elbow grease. The wall board paper is coming off in chunks. Any suggestions appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Momar61

I am remodeling a condo I recently bought. The wallpaper is old and double layer. the wallpaper glue under the base layer is about 2mm thick and won't come off. I have used hot water spray, wallpaper enzymes and elbow grease. The wall board paper is comming off in chunks. Any suggestions appreciated.

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... the wallpaper removal steamer? Works great even on old, old wallpaper. Be patient and allow the steamer to loosen all the glue by slowly moving the steamer head across the wallpaper and then do it again. Wallpaper should roll right off. Remove excess residue with a putty knife.

I forget what it was called but I've used this blue gel that comes in a spray bottle that worked great, wallpaper just fell off. If the wallpaper is coming off in chunks maybe there's a bit of moisture damage to the drywall/plaster? I know in the old house I've just bought the wallpaper was the only thing keeping the plaster from falling off the walls

First of all, don't rush the job.

I should really have my wife post as she is the wall paper remover in our house. BUT...

These are the steps that I noticed she has used:

Score the wall paper. There is a device called a paper tiger that makes little ticks in the paper to allow water, steam, enzyme solutions to work better.

Saturate the wallpaper. And, keep it saturated.
Using a pump sprayer (a clean one, not one that has been used for garden spraying.) and put your favorite solution into it. Some people swear by fabric softener. My wife likes DIF. (They make the blue stuff that Big Kill referred to). If you mix it with water, use HOT tap water. The hotter the better.

Spray the entire area that you are working on. Usually 3-4 ft wide, floor to ceiling.

Wait 15 minutes (less if a hot day) and then spray again.

Wait 15 minutes (less if a hot day) and then spray again. (yes again)

Wait 15 minutes (less if a hot day), spray again and spray the next area.

Using a long handled 4" razor blade holder, start scraping.

If the wall paper doesn't come off easily, spray again and wait.

Give the solution time to work.

For some walls, the next step is to take off the sheetrock and start again. But, by now, the solution should be working enough to allow the paper to come off.

Good Luck, Dan

Another good solution to use is HOT water mixed with vinegar... then follow dherman's instructions...

I have had luck with spraying vinigar on it then wait a few minutes and it should peel right off. Good luck!

I've been removing 2 layers of wallpaper. They're probably about 50 years old. These walls have to be re-wetted at least 4-5 times to get the glue deactivated. I see no real diffence between DIF and vinegar (mixed w/ hot water). They work about the same. Still the loonnnnggg waiting period of when the paper finally starts to come off the walls with some little effort. Yesterday I mixed DIF and vinegar together w/ hot water. It did seem to make the loosening of the paper go more quick. (at least mentally quicker)