Out With the Old, In With the New
Wallpaper is arguably one of the most controversial wall coverings in history. People tend to either love it, or hate it. Some people hate some wallpaper, and love other!
When moving into a new home, most buyers' décor styles don't line up with the old owners' style. Our clients found that to be true, specifically with their new home office, which was covered in wallpaper on all 4 walls. An office is one of those rooms that is used for hours and hours every day, and should be a place that makes you feel inspired. They had a vision, and the Origami Painting team was excited to bring it to life for them!
This vision: remove the old wallpaper, paint the walls, freshen up the baseboards, and install a new, modern looking wallpaper.
Step 1 - Prep for Wallpaper Removal
First step, start ripping off the paper, right? Not quite. First we must thoroughly cover the floors to protect it from water (used to remove paper), scratches or scuffs from moving equipment around, paint, and to create an easier cleanup at the end of the job.
I started with a paper covering, which will stay on the floors until the end of the project. Then, I used a plastic covering to protect the floor from water.
Once you have all your surfaces protected, it's time to move on to wallpaper removal.
Step 2 - Score the Wallpaper
It can be very difficult to know how much effort removal will take until you begin. With traditional wallpaper like we had on this job, water is the best tool at your disposal. Most wallpaper adhesives are water-based, which means that it can be loosened, and then cleaned off, with water. I have seen may different types of paste remover, whether homemade or store bought, but have found that water works just as well. The trick is to make sure the water can get to the paste. This means that the first step of removal is to create as many little cuts in the paper as possible. There is a great tool for this called a "wallpaper scoring tool" and can be found at Lowe's or most other hardware stores.
These cuts allow water to bypass the first layer and begin to soak the paper layer and water-based paste underneath.
You can either score all of the wallpaper before moving onto the next step, or you can score once section at a time as you work your way around the room
It can be very difficult to know how much effort removal will take until you begin. Contributing factors of the difficulty level include the type of wallpaper, the number of layers of paper, the age of the home, and the condition of the wall when it was installed.
If wallpaper has been installed directly onto drywall, without primer, this will cause the glue to bond to the paper of the drywall, and tear that drywall paper off in certain areas when removing. This will cause a lot of wall repairs before moving onto paint or a new wallpaper.
Thankfully in this case, the home was much newer and the wall underneath the paper was in great condition, and was painted.
Spray, Soak, Scrape, Spray, Soak, Scrape...
Step 3 - Spray With Water
Once you have scored the paper, it's important to start spraying water liberally with a spray bottle. It's best to let it soak for a few minutes, and then spray with water again. You will be continuously soaking and keeping the wall wet throughout removal. If the paper dries up, it will not come off easily.
Step 3.5 - Scrape Off
This step is labeled 3.5 instead of 4, because it should be happening at the same time as step 3.
Using a scraping tool or putty knife (I used a metal one and it did not damage the wall), begin removing the top layer of paper. Work in small sections to make sure your areas stay wet. Once the top layer begins to come off, you will be able to completely spray and soak the rest of the paper where the water could not previously reach.
Once the second layer is soaked, it will practically fall off on it's own!
Repeat these steps of scoring, spraying with water, scraping off the first layer, spraying, and scraping off the final layer in small sections until you have worked your way around the entire room.
Step 4 - Remove Paste Residue
Congratulations! The hard part is done.
If you are planning to install new wallpaper, you can skip this next step.
If you are planning to paint the walls, this step is very important. Although all the paper is off the walls, there will still be glue residue on the walls. Thankfully, removing it is very simple.
Going back through in sections, spray the walls with water until the glue is sticky again. It will take a minute or so after spraying with water. Then, use your same scraper to scrape the glue off of every inch of the wall. Once the majority of the glue is off, use a wet rag to scrub the walls. You will need to rinse your scraper and rag off continuously.
The most efficient way to work your way around the room is to keep a bucket of clean water with you to rinse out your tools. The glue will easily wash off.
On this project, it was easy to see in certain lighting where there was still glue, and where it was washed off.
Step 5 - Clean Up
Before I started painting or installing the wallpaper, I made sure to take all the plastic off the floors and gather up all the torn wallpaper pieces.
Step 6 - Paint (or New Wallpaper)
Make sure you go around the room and check for any damage to the drywall. In this room, there were only a few nail holes to fill, and one or two scratches from the wallpaper removal process.
When you use putty or drywall mud, make sure to prime those areas before painting so that the paint adheres properly.
Any time you are painting a new color, or a new paint sheen on a wall, even if they are close to the same color, always be prepared to paint two coats. My client wanted a light cream on her walls, and although it was close to the same color that was already on the walls, I painted two coats.
Next, I installed the new wallpaper on the back wall.
A wallpaper installation tutorial will be coming soon and will be linked to this blog post. Keep a look out!
That's it! You're ready to clear out all the paper coverings and tools, and move your furniture back into the room. Pat yourself on the back for a tedious job well done!
All in all this took me about 4 days.
1-2 full days for wallpaper removal, a half day to wash the walls, a half day to paint 3 walls, and a full day to install the wallpaper.
This could take longer if you need more breaks (going up and down a ladder is a lot of work!), if your wallpaper is more difficult to remove, or if there is a lot of wall repairs to be made before painting.
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Nice tutorial! You guys do great work!