Professional Wallpaper Removal Guide
Posted on April 8, 2022
Did you get a new home with old wallpaper? Pull it down with our pro tested wallpaper removal techniques! These tried and tested methods of wallpaper removal will have your walls stripped and ready for painting in no time! Of course, before you even dream of starting, you need to clean up the area first.
Wallpaper removal can be a messy process depending on the methods utilized. Make sure to move any furniture you can away from the walls. Whether that be towards the center of the room or outside of the room entirely, depends on the size of the area. Regardless, once furniture is dealt with, protect your flooring by setting down a barrier. If you’re an amateur, use flattened cardboard. If you’re more professional, use plastic drop cloths. Either way, make sure your home is safe and protected before you even begin the five steps to wallpaper removal.
5 – Pull
If your wallpaper is in bad enough shape to be peeling, use it to your advantage. Start pulling down any pieces loose enough for you to make progress. Use a taping knife for edges you get stuck on. Try your best not to put divots and scrapes in the wall underneath. If you do, that’s okay! CertaPro Painters specializes in interiors for drywall repair services. Of course, to avoid the extra work, you should just be careful you only pull away wallpaper, and use the taping knife as lightly as possible.
4 – Wet
Time to get messy! Use a spray bottle to dampen the wallpaper. This simulates what is accomplished by professionals using a steamer. In simple terms, a steamer functions similar to how you iron clothes. Except instead of producing pure heat, a steamer’s purpose is to heat up water to dampen the wallpaper. This is less about pressure and more about moisture. Of course, steamer rentals can be expensive, so just use a spray bottle if you’re doing this at home.
3 – Scrape
After the water has soaked into the paper, you should be looking at a sticky and wet mess. These are the perfect conditions to begin scraping the wallpaper off the walls. Generally, pros work from left to right. But a good rule of thumb is to begin scraping where the wallpaper feels the loosest. If it was peeling at the bottom or top, you may be better off scraping up and down. Remember to periodically wet the surface to keep the wallpaper loosened.
2 – Wash
Once you’ve pulled down the paper, wash away the remaining paste, primer and/or flecks of paper. For this step, you don’t need any fancy equipment. Just use a sponge and a bucket of water to dampen it down. To get the desired results, you may need to repeat this several times.
1 – Smooth
Review your work. Check the smoothness now that the wall is clean. If there are glue pieces or sticking paper, take care of it! Otherwise a future paintjob could be sabotaged with bumps and lumps across the wall. And as previously mentioned, if you accidentally scraped too hard on the wall, you may need to hire someone to refinish your drywall surface.
What Comes Next?
Your walls may be free of wallpaper, but its more than likely they’ve been neglected over time. Rather than apply a new wallpaper, you should get a new paintjob! Our paints come in a wide variety of format from the standard primer and finish to the unique brands like antimicrobial paint and crack-resistant paint jobs. While wallpaper can rip and tear, a good paint job can last a lifetime. Interested in a wallpaper removal or paintjob? Get a free estimate both in-home and remote, only at CertaPro Painters® of North Scottsdale, AZ.
