Wall paper: to remove or not to remove...

[Woodland]

My wife and I are getting ready to redo our old bedroom to make it into a baby nursery. It is the only room in the house that had wallpaper and we want to paint it. I know you should typically try to remove the old wallpaper first because it looks better and the wallpaper will generally start to peel and bubble at some point down the road. I've had enough experience painting over wallpaper to know that it isn't really the look we want but time is a factor since we are weeks away from the new arrival.

I did a "test run" on one of the walls that needs some more significant reconstruction and the wall paper is adhered very well. It is definitely going to be a project to remove it, however, the top layer of vinyl peeled off quite easily, leaving the paper backing still adhered to the wall. What would be the ramifications of painting over this surface, as opposed to the intact wallpaper? Any advantage or disadvantage or would there be no practical difference?

[pushkins]

If the face of the paper comes off easy enough leaving the backing paper your a long way down the path of total removal. Simply wet down the backing paper and using a flat blade spatula scrape the backing paper off the wall. Easy way to test is to wet a small area first after a few minutes the paper should tend to bubble and should peel off easily.

If you don't want to go down the above path be very careful how you paint, if you peel off the face paper leaving the backing paper you need to prime the entire surface with an oil based primer before using your standard finish paint, if you use a latex primer or finish paint (water based) first the backing paper WILL bubble and peel up making it very unsightly. Oil based primers will seal the paper from absorbing the water from latex paints.

Even leaving the face paper on I would recommend using an oil primer, as any latex (water based ) gets under the face it will bubble up, typically wallpaper joints or picture hook nail holes are problem places.

[Woodland]

If I use water to remove the rest of the paper backing will I run into problems with the paper covering on the drywall? I am fairly certain that there is at least one coat of paint under the wallpaper so this may not be an issue, but just in case?

[HayZee518]

wallpaper installed over sheetrock without an oil based or alcohol [shellac] based primer is always looking for trouble down the road. wallpaper paste is basically a wheat base and water. adhesive for vinyl papers are a little more forgiving but removing it is a pain in the butt. if the base paper is solidly fastened, you might try a thin skim coat of sheetrock mud followed by an oil based primer. its really your call what you want to do. risk a latex primer and end up peeling off the backer or twist your fingers and hope it stays up.

[pushkins]

Even drywall mud applied over the backer paper is trouble, the moisture from the mud will bubble the paper. If you need to make repairs, paint the wall first with oil based primer once that is dry repair with mud.

If the wallpaper was applied directly to raw drywall then the issue of getting it off is almost mute, you won't do it very successfully as the wallpaper glue will have penetrated into the drywall paper. If the drywall was primed, painted or sized then you just need to gently wet the paper and scrape off like I previously mentioned.

There are a couple of ways to "wet down" the backer paper, either a very damp sponge wiped over the paper or a hand held spray bottle (just for two) I like using the spray bottle (large areas we use 1gallon garden spray bottles also used for popcorn ceiling removal). The trick is learning just how much or little water you need, start with just a couple of squirts from the hand held sprayer wait a little and watch the backer paper change in color and start to bubble, you'll notice it changes to a darker brown color and looks loose. It's a little trial and error until you get the "feel" of it, correctly wet down you'll find using a scraper held on a very flat angle that the backer paper will come off like shearing a sheep. Don't try to dig at it or rush it you'll only do damage to the drywall.

It's really not all that hard just needs a little trial and error on the wetting down and some patience.

[Drywall DIY Guy]

Wallpaper Removal

In your test area have you tried a wallpaper remover system like the Zinsser Paper Tiger ( Zinsser® Paper Tiger Wallpaper Scoring Tool (2966) - Wallpaper Accessories - Ace Hardware ) ? My wife has used this scoring tool and remover with great success, provided the wall was primed before paper was added. The scoring tool allows the remover to get under the paper.

In our basement walls, no priming was done and even with this remover the paper on the drywall got ripped up really bad. But most times, paper is put over painted walls so this is not an issue.

[hobbymaker]

Hm, I also wouldn't say it is an issue. I also tried wallpaper remover and it was good.