Wallpaper is a wonderful finishing material that allows you to quickly change the appearance of the apartment beyond recognition. But many of those who are faced with the need to remove the old finish, find this process a real challenge. What to do if you really want to update the interior, but the wallpaper does not want to separate from the ceiling or walls? Let's look at all the ways to remove obsolete finishes, and also find out how to tear off old wallpaper if it is "tightly glued" to the wall.
If the wallpaper has been glued recently, then there should be no problems with removing them at home, since modern starch-based adhesives are designed for subsequent easy removal of the finishing material.
Tools and materials
The choice of tool depends on the type of old finish that needs to be removed. Here is the most complete set of tools and devices that will help you quickly peel off obsolete and lost wallpaper:
- knives, spatulas, scrapers;
- "wallpaper tiger" or roller with nails;
- steam generator;
- wide roller with an extension handle (for the ceiling);
- hard brush;
- spray;
- special liquid for removing wallpaper;
- drill or grinder with a brush head;
- old bedspreads, film or packing cardboard to protect furniture and floors;
- gloves and headgear;
- Scotch;
- old rag or sponge;
- container with warm water.
You are unlikely to need a full arsenal, but most of the auxiliary tools will not hurt to stock up.
Before you remove the old wallpaper, do not forget to remove everything unnecessary from the room, remove the curtains, remove the carpets, and also seal the sockets and switches with tape to prevent moisture from entering them.
Ways to remove wallpaper
There are several standard ways to remove wallpaper material.
When the wall is being prepared for pasting not ordinary paper wallpaper, but vinyl, non-woven, or washable wallpaper will be used, it must be cleaned of the old coating especially carefully.
Method number 1: use water
The process of removing old finishes from walls or ceilings without extra effort is not complete without a faithful assistant - warm water, and consists in wetting the walls to soften the adhesive layer. The work can be done with a sponge, cloth, roller or spray gun.
Tip: add detergent to the water - this will increase the effectiveness of the soak.
Most often, after soaking the glue, thick paper material is very easily and quickly removed from the walls. Work is best done starting from the corners or from the bottom up. To do this, with the edge of a spatula or other working tool, you need to pick up the corner of the wallpaper sheet and pull it towards you, while lifting it up.
Instead of water, you can use liquid wallpaper remover, the principle of which is to destroy the structure of the adhesive. It is sold in hardware stores in a concentrated form and diluted in the proportions indicated on the label.
Method number 2: water + mechanical action
How to remove wallpaper from the walls if they do not absorb moisture well or are not capable of it at all, for example, washable, non-woven, vinyl? In this situation, it is required to make cuts or holes over the entire pasted area. This can be done with a sharp corner of a spatula, a knife, a roller with carnations protruding from it, or a “wallpaper tiger” - a specially designed device for scratching wallpaper.
After vinyl or other durable wallpaper is cut or perforated, warm water will again be required, which must be moistened with a pasted wall and wait 15-20 minutes. Then the same steps are performed as in method No. 1, aimed directly at removing the coating from the wall.
Method number 3: hot steam
You can make glue and paper swell with a steam generator, a steam mop, and even an iron with a steam function. After exposure to steam, most coatings can be removed from walls and ceilings quickly and easily with a wide trowel or scraper.
Removing non-woven wallpaper
Non-woven wallpaper is very durable and has a waterproof coating, so we will remove them using method No. 2, violating the integrity of their surface with any of the above tools and wetting the wall with plenty of water. Quickly enough (after 15 minutes), the glue should swell, allowing you to separate the canvases from the wall or ceiling.
How to remove wallpaper from vinyl
How to easily remove old PVC wallpaper? Vinyl wallpapers are made by fusing a thin film of vinyl with a paper or non-woven base. To remove them, you need to follow the steps from method number 2, but instead of the standard methods of separating the material from the wall, it is better to do the following:
- make a horizontal cut in the upper part of the wall;
- gently pull the canvas by the edge - the strong structure of the vinyl allows you to remove the sheets entirely, which greatly facilitates and speeds up the work;
- the remaining fragments of the bottom layer of paper are removed with water in the usual way (No. 1).
When removal is difficult, it is better to use a steam generator.
For vinyl wallpaper on a durable non-woven base, only the top layer can be separated, and the bottom layer can be left on the wall, sticking new canvases directly onto it.
Removing washable material
Since washable wallpapers do not get wet, you will need a roller with nails, a “wallpaper tiger”, a knife or a spatula to scratch the material to remove them. In this case, the glue will soak longer, you will need to moisten the wall several times.
Radical removal method
If you need to tear off material that is glued very tightly from the walls or ceiling, for example, preserved from Soviet times, you may encounter serious difficulties. Previously, when repairing, wood glue, bustilat, PVA were used, which are able to stick wallpaper to the wall for centuries and are completely resistant to conventional soaking.
A drill with a brush attachment will help, with which the coating is simply mechanically removed from the wall. This method has a drawback: a stiff brush will remove not only wallpaper from the walls, but also a layer of putty, and possibly pieces of plaster.
How to remove wallpaper from drywall
If the walls or ceiling sheathed with plasterboard were not treated with a special primer before gluing, any wallpaper, non-woven, washable, vinyl and paper, will adhere incredibly firmly to it. In addition, the top layer of drywall can be easily damaged, and it is also not friendly with water. To remove the coating from this material, you can use:
- Means for dissolving glue. They are applied in very moderate quantities - drywall should not get wet along with the wallpaper.
- Wallpaper glue. It is smeared on the surface, causing the wallpaper to swell and bubble.
- Primer. Perfectly impregnates the wallpaper material, evaporates slowly, does not harm the GCR.
Important! When removing wallpaper, handle the spatula carefully so as not to disturb the integrity of the top layer of drywall.
