I have 3 rooms that have wallpaper in them. I want to remove the wallpaper and paint the walls.

1. Any tips on removing the wallpaper, or do I just pull it off.

2. What type of surface preparation will I need to do after removing the wallpaper.

Is the paper strippable (which makes it much easier)? Sometimes strippable paper is hung with paste and that makes it no longer strippable.

I had my wallpaper steamed off, the walls sanded and washed, dried, then sealed and painted.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Is the paper strippable (which makes it much easier)? .

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I have no idea. The only thing I know about wallpaper is that I don't want to try putting it up myself. Which is why I intend to paint the walls. I can maintain that without paying someone to do it for me.

It sounds like there was a lot of prep before your walls were painted. Is that normal, recommended?

Thanks for the reply.

Hi, walt17!

How old would you say the wallpaper is that's on your walls, please? It would be helpful to know that.

The prepping of walls that are perfectly flat and free of imperfections isn't hard. But, how to remove the wallpaper the most efficiently can depend on a few factors that are as yet undetermined here.

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by walt17

I have no idea. The only thing I know about wallpaper is that I don't want to try putting it up myself. Which is why I intend to paint the walls. I can maintain that without paying someone to do it for me.

It sounds like there was a lot of prep before your walls were painted. Is that normal, recommended?

Thanks for the reply.

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I hired a painting/wallpaper contractor to do the job. He had a hand steamer and the paper came off (for the most part) very easily. He told me that the prep work was "standard" and would ensure that the paint went on smoothly and evenly.

He said even with strippable paper that the wall would have to be washed, sanded and primed.

It's what he recommended.

In order to determine if the paper was strippable he started at the baseboard and pulled the corner upward. As it happened I have a fairly long hallway and that paper WAS strippable, hung with water, and it just peeled off. Everything else was hung with paste and had to have the "full treatment."

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Originally Posted by Clough

Hi, walt17!

How old would you say the wallpaper is that's on your walls, please? It would be helpful to know that.

The prepping of walls that are perfectly flat and free of imperfections isn't hard. But, how to remove the wallpaper the most efficiently can depend on a few factors that are as yet undetermined here.

Thanks!

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It was here when I moved in, so it is at least 5 years old. From conversations with my neighbors about the prior owners, I'm guessing it is close to 10 years old.

I know the walls are smooth. Unfortunately, I won't know the exact condition until I remove the wall paper.

Thanks for the replies,
Walt

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Originally Posted by walt17

It was here when I moved in, so it is at least 5 years old. From conversations with my neighbors about the prior owners, I'm guessing it is close to 10 years old.

I know the walls are smooth. Unfortunately, I won't know the exact condition until I remove the wall paper.

Thanks for the replies,
Walt

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Sure - come back and let us know. Hopefully the walls are in great shape but I also understand sanding is necessary to remove any paste that doesn't wash off.

I left out the part about one area in my house that had to be spackled. Apparently the horrid experience wiped my mind of that part!