3 Ways to Remove Wallpaper (+1 Bonus Method)

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

Thanks for watching, if you found this video helpful please subscribe. Learn How to Repair Your Drywall 👉🏼kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIbGhWiCfdJ0bdk and to Paint Your Room 👉🏼kzbin.info/www/bejne/fn20dJdpl7aphq8

[@chriscolameco6850]

I deal with a lot of 100+ year old plaster walls and generally use a paint roller to apply the mud before skimming it off. Any advantage to troweling it on I'm missing?

[@lmginnovations-deck-builders]

I appreciate how you break down complex projects into manageable steps. Your clear instructions and practical advice make even the most daunting tasks seem achievable. Thank you for being such a great guide and mentor.

[@davehughes7941]

I use the steam stripper regularly. Start from the top and work down placing stripper on next section of wall as you're stripping the wet parts. It's really fast when you get the hang of it. Cheers

[@leonardoalfonso7080]

Thank you for taking the time off from your busy schedule to teach us how to get rid of wallpaper.

[@Jesusismyjam]

Thank you Jeff! We just bought our first home and it has ALOT of wallpaper, I was a bit discouraged but after seeing your video, I’m confident my husband and I can get the job done! 😊

[@andreycham4797]

I have that blue blade too . When I paint, I use it to cut around trim with a small paint roller

[@peter.g6618]

Hi Jeff. Some really great advice there. Things I just wouldn't of known. 👍. Thank you for sharing Jeff. Best renovation channel ever. Great content. Take care. 👌

[@jclite1111]

I could smell this video. When I was a kid, my family moved into a house with wallpaper in all the bedrooms. I spent months in my room peeling the top layer, spraying the under layer with water, and peeling it off, little by little. It was so satisfying when I finished.

[@cdb989]

First house I bought in 98 was a story and a half, built in 1954 ( loved that house ) Every room had at least 6-7 layers of wallpaper ( no joke ) Rented a wallpaper steamer for the weekend when I got the keys to the house, and went to town, it was a lot of work but well worth it

[@lauraslotemaker4490]

I watched your tile videos for my own DIY tile backsplash project (which is going beautifully I might add). I subscribed and just watched THIS and decided I might as well have a go at some beloved but ugly bathroom wallpaper I've ignored for the past 10 years. Oh my. It came up SO EASILY. Tear the first layer, sponge the second and wait to peel it up. WHAT?!? I wrongly assumed I needed some product for this task, but NO, I just needed to watch your video and stop overcomplicating things in my brain! Thank you so much!

[@themalacast]

High-effort video. Thanks Jeff

[@Sue-ec6un]

Very good video...I have done this...learned as I went, but this skim coating is definitely the way to go. Only problem I had was with an 18 ft high hallway wall...so I just textured the entire wall, worked great!

[@philipmoody1248]

Sponge hot water on small areas only! For most of the wall use a roller, new sleeve and an handle extension with your water in your pan. The idea is to push the water into the base layer of the paper with the pressure of your roller. This is the method that worked well for me very well because it was so fast. The wallpaper was very thick with fuzzy felt designs and goldish inlays.

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

Great idea!!

[@mfinn6589]

I agree with you. I moved into a 1987 house in 2009 with wallpaper layers in all the rooms. I finely did what you did and it worked great at getting the water behind the paper. I let it sit, came back rolled water again, let it sit, rolled water again and then started peeling. Definitely put towels along the baseboard. I scored the wall with the roller gadget and then applied water with the roller. Way easier.

[@jawkeye]

That sounds like a great idea. I don't have a lot experience, and I guess I got lucky with the wallpaper I needed to remove, but I felt like using a water sprayer was a faster way to apply more water to the wall, at least vs using a wet rag. I'm guessing it might be worth trying instead of a sponge, but a roller sounds like it would be even better.

[@tompacker3384]

I just spent the weekend removing a border from the top of my bathroom from the 60's. It was a nightmare, even using plenty of warm water. Will definitely try some of these other techniques if I decide to do other rooms in the house.

[@Toxic_Skittles]

Interesting video. So glad I don’t have wallpaper in my current residence. Good information for the future though. Thanks.

[@cosmoarmstrong8701]

When I used a steamer I did not hold it in one place then scrape. I would slowly move the steam tray around a 4x4 area then scrape.

[@thegreatestever4887]

What I like about your videos is you're explanation of different techniques or given examples of how to avoid difficult situations. Even though I live in another country, (New Zealand) where products, trade code and regulations vastly differ I can still apply some of your methods to how I could DIY. Thanks Jeff

[@K.L.M.Online]

Many thanks! I think you’ve just saved me a lot of time and money.

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

Glad I could help!

[@bluesteelworx]

I always used hot tap water in a $3 spray bottle. Never had a problem peeling vinyl paper the way you peeled the paper.

[@darlenej8755]

Thanks the walls in my home were not primed before the wallpaper was applied so I was going to have a mess the priming and skim coat is a great option for me.

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

Glad I could help

[@cgarciam8]

I removed the wallpaper from my 900 sqft condo using the steam tool you showed. First I removed the top layer, then I used the steamer, but I was not waiting 10 seconds on each square, I was moving it around in a similar way you moved the sponge. Best $50 I could have spent.

[@gordonnewton4832]

Love to see you try to remove woodchip paper that's been under coated and glossed.

[@Mishyou33]

I've been watching you forever! Your videos are so helpful and today you mention my hometown of Cambridge, Ontario!! 🤯

[@darthsynchronic]

Diluted fabric softener solution and light scoring is the best!

[@AlmightyBigD001]

When we bought our house, the entire dining room and a wall in the spare bedroom had wallpaper. I used that scoring tool you showed and then sprayed it down with a mixture of water and laundry fabric softener. It made a terrible mess, but it came off pretty easily after letting it soak in for a bit.

[@phillyfathead]

Excellent, thank you!

[@coffeenut3808]

This was very helpful. Thank you so much.

[@MSeroga]

I see you’ve leveled up to Level 5 drywall tools Jeff! 🎉😊

[@YThatesTRUTH]

I used wall paper removal spray... think it was called jif of something. Worked great. Sprayed waited and peeled

[@luilui03able]

excellent video ,bravo!!

[@伏見猿比古-k8c]

I want to remove some wall paper from a section of the house, but the ceiling above it is popcorn(it's a 60's home, so likely contains aspestos) and with how close the ceiling is with the wall paper....well I want your opion on what I should do.

[@joeolejar]

I lost due to the wallpaper was installed on raw drywall. i.e. NO sealer on the drywall. Ended up pulling the drywall off and starting over. The whole house was like this. After destroying the bathroom, I started leaving the paper in place and sealed it with a shellac based primer. Follow with primer and paint away.

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

in these cases it is totally reasonable to prime and skin coat rather than start over. Cheers!

[@jlocke78759]

I ran into the same thing when trying to remove wallpaper from a small section in the kitchen. The drywall was not primed or prepped before putting up the wallpaper. Consequently, I gouged lots of holes through the drywall paper in the process of removing the wallpaper. I painted on GARDZ, a Zinnser product, and it sealed the drywall so I felt good about primering and painting with minimal mud involved. The ceiling, after scraping the popcorn, however, needed a good skim coat.

[@billm.8220]

Ran into the same problem YEARS ago. We’re talking approx. 18 years ago. Primed, sanded & painted it. Turned out pretty decent. When I sold it, the new owner ripped out EVERY wall back to the studs & totally reconfigured the whole house !!

[@The_Dougie]

Jeff, why can't you skip the skin coat and just paint over the oil primer?

[@tsb278]

​@The_Dougie if you just paint over the primer you will see where all the wall paper was cut away. The primer and paint won't fill those voids to make the surface smooth. Skim coat also smooths out the texture of the wallpaper.

[@nyla3235]

Would you use that primer in a bathroom where moisture is prevalent but you don't have good ventilation?

[@curtelverd4008]

Would you recommend skim coating wood paneling? Or just replace it with dry wall?

[@andyhedges5705]

Can you let me know the link to the full wall preparation video that you were pointing to, nothing came up.

[@billklement2492]

Jeff, Great video! My townlouse was built in the early 80s. The paint was sprayed on the hottest day of the year with the cheapest paint imaginable! There is no waterproof coating. So basically I took part of the drywall paper off with the wall paper. Wet or dry. I accepted I was going to do a skim coat early on. I have primer on it now and will get to the skim coat eventually. Other issues need to be addressed and other projects. Fortunately it's a small area that was wallpapered. There is wallpaper above my new kitchen cabinets that I'm going to prime and skim over. That wall is pretty rough, so It needs a skim anyway. I appreciate that advice. Another contractor told me I had to remove it! He did terrible work, so I didn't consider any of his advice! Quick question... Do I need to prime over latex paint before I skim coat? Different wall. Thanks for the great videos!

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

if the latex paint is clean and not a really dark color then no need to prime at all. Cheers!

[@palabradepoder915]

Great vid as always!

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

Appreciate that. Just taking advantage of my new forever home to film options for remodeling before we totally demo this entire house and start over. Cheers!

[@mandys6525]

Thank you so much! I have a kitchen to do with original old wallpaper applied late '70s/early '80s. 😏

[@Purplemacaw]

This is insane! I am just about to re decorate a 1970’s house which is full of wall paper! Question.. how long do you need to leave the skim coat to dry until you paint?

[@HomeRenoVisionDIY]

overnight. Cheers!

[@GangstasCat]

Good luck to find a wall with one layer of wallpapers

[@thesandman775]

"It's like a lottery, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose" I did an entire house, built in the 80s, probably papered in the 90s, and lost in every single room of the house. I could find seams, but the adhesive seemed eternally bonded to the external face. Had to butcher the walls and skim coat to do any sort of decent looking replacement on it. One tip for those having a tough time... You don't need a wall steamer, just buy a hand held garment steamer. Works well in my experience.

[@thesandman775]

Also, Zinnser Gardz has been absolutely critical in my experience. Allows for not removing all the stubborn areas and seals the adhesive or paper so it doesn't bubble

[@sunnybizz4857]

I used this method on some very difficult paper, and I ended up gouging with the scraper. Once the wall is clean, should I be skimming the wall with drywall putty and then prime?

[@EmreSafak]

Apply a sealant like Rx-35 Pro-999 or Kilz before skimming it.

[@Starry_Night_Sky7455]

Wait that's vintage! Waaaaait! 😅

[@telumears]

I have painted over wall paper...ugh! Any additional suggestions? Thank you!

[@jsonlee01]

I hired a “professional” painter to paint the whole house that included a half bath that had a wallpaper border. He didn’t bother to try to gently remove the wallpaper. He just started scraping and gouging the hell out of the drywall. So then he had to repair the drywall and put cover it with mud to smooth it out. Now you can see a different between the wall and the strip that is all smooth. Ridiculous.

[@dransom90]

I had to peel off wallpaper in my "new" home a couple of years ago. The steamer was the only thing that got it off of the walls. Good thing it was winter outside.

[@KristenVillane]

You mentioned a tool that is best to use on plaster walls. Could you link an example of it? Much appreciated

[@stuartc2170]

I used that wallpaper steamer to remove the glue left over from the linoleum flooring in one of my bathrooms. It was on concrete and scraped off with no effort at all.

[@caroles5258]

In my case they put wallpaper over top of wood and I mean rough wood. I tried spritzing water on it and it's taking forever...

[@jonwright1916]

I actually used that for a 150 sq ft room. Took way too long. Spray bottle and putty knife the fastest way

[@peterpnutz6691]

My wallpaper was fibrous and tested positive for lead. i went ahead and called in a contractor to remove, seal, and skim. I have no clue how to remove that kind of old adhesive without spreading the bad stuff into the air.

[@Fjord_Driver]

You don't take the steamer off the wall. You move it while you scrape with your other hand. Once you use it for more than 10 minutes, you figure out what motion works. Distilled water is recommended. It's also good for steaming wrinkles out of clothing on hangars. You could probably use it to steam loosen those stick on anti-slip things in tubs too.

[@lonna4591]

OMG. You may have just halved my project time and my project is huge. I bought a 110 year old house with raised wallpaper that has been painted over in the biggest room, the living room. I already removed the wall paper in the dining room and skim coated the walls due to cracks in the plaster. I know there are cracks under the wall paper in the living room and skim coating is in my future there. To be able skip the step of removing the wall paper!! I am thinking though, where I see the cracks/winkles I will still need to chisel them out and repair before the skim coat. Correct?

[@Bewefau]

Jeff, can you buy dry wall that has wall paper already applied to the dry wall ?

[@luilui03able]

the first method work faster and almost no tools need it .

[@terryl.9302]

Hot Water in a pump-up garden sprayer works best. Removed every nightmare paper job ever devised, including on straight bare drywall. Construction Sins Inc as seen by a fine finisher. Tiger is useless, imo. A bit of any vinegar in water helps lift residue for painting. Fill & light sanding, ready for paint. Avoid skimcoats at all costs bcz of major Sanding Mess involved. Leveling parts of walls bad enough. Love Zinsser everything.

[@youtubasoarus]

I had a to do a whole house like this, but I used a sprayer and by saturating the back sheet it just comes off with very little pressure. Gotta keep it wet. If you have to scrape its not wet enough. When its ready it's very satisfying to just take off pretty much the entire sheet in one pass. If you scrape too much you end up gouging the wall and then you have drywall repair to do on top of this. Nobody wants that. Also, for the love of all that is holy DO NOT USE that damn perforator. You will wreck your wall and spend then next 4 lifetimes taking the remnants off of the wall. I tried that thing, and if you want to march through hell, go get one. Nightmare!

[@DonaldKnox25]

I followed the first method, but the back layer would not scrap away like yours did in the video. It didn’t matter how much warm water I used. I pushed through and got it all off, but the drywall underneath was damaged in the process. Can I mud over the damaged areas and then sand it smooth? Or do you have another recommendation?

[@EmreSafak]

Apply a sealant like Guardz or Rx-35 first.

[@Participant616]

I hate wall paper. Just wanted to get that off my chest.

[@Starry_Night_Sky7455]

Same!

[@adamkubasik8706]

Hey I have a question sorry it doesn’t pertain to this video just wasn’t sure how to contact you ….my basement walls I want to “resurface” I scraped away any loose concrete and paint , but what do you recommend resurfacing it with that is breathable so it doesn’t cause bigger issues down the road, thanks I appreciate it

[@x1984x]

You weren't kidding about the house never being renovated since the 70s. Wood paneling, ugly green patterned wallpaper, and even uglier orange patterned carpet. It's like Twin Peaks from the 70s! 😂

[@juliac406]

I think the carpet is much worse than the wallpaper! And the colors /patterns clash

[@jonray5899]

Mix some water into a bucket of plaster and cover the wall with the plaster. Lay it on 1/4 inch thick. Wait 30 mins. It will all scrape off easily into a trash bucket

[@npbsstuff]

Cigarette for breakfast 😂😂😂😂

[@chrislnflorida5192]

😂😂, i have done Sooo many of those type of wall. Wall Paper, ive even used a Pump Sprayer. You doing a skim coat, U ever float out a panel wall like in your background, been there many a time? If the Paneling is solid, Skim Coat, light sand, Prime and paint. Work it like finishing Drywall.

[@jasonoliver7881]

You need to clean your camera or get a new lens, there is a small dot near the bottom middle of the screen and has been there for the past few videos.

[@Starry_Night_Sky7455]

Hey it gets dirty in there 😅. The dot is home renovation realism. 😅

[@Revlemmon]

99% of the time you lose, .8999% you win 5 bucks, you can do the math for when you you win big. Don't forget the taxes on that big win in US at least. Yes I hate wallpaper with the passion of 1k Suns.

[@AE-hb6hr]

😂😂😂😂🤞🌸🇸🇪

[@nolongeramused8135]

Wallpaper should be banned as a crime against humanity. It really is all that ugly.

[@morscovium8881]

you should take silica and asbestos inhalation more seriously. why leave your loved ones behind earlier than necessary?

[@YellowBunchofBananas]

What in particular in this video are you concerned about??