# wallpaper on untreated drywall...



## rjralston (May 14, 2006)

So I moved into my new place a few months back, and I have finally gotten to removing the hideous wallpaper from the bedroom so that I could paint the walls. The wallpaper was not put on very well, and pulled off easily so I pulled off a section because taking it down just felt sooo good. It's a good thing that I did, because I discovered that they put the wallpaper straight on the drywall. They didn't even treat the seams between sheets.  

So my question is this: Is there a way for me to remove the remaining wallpaper and glue without ruining the drywall underneath, or will I need to replace all of the drywall? Or perhaps a cleaver third alternative...Mostly I am just worried that the products that I would normally use to remove the wallpaper will ruin the drywall in the process. That and I'm broke and trying not to spend too much on getting rid of hideous (black with very little other colors) wallpaper. Thanks for any and all suggestions.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 7, 2004)

The trick is to keep it wet long enough to where it practically falls off of the wall by itself. Don't use a papertiger. Do use a hand or garden sprayer set to a very fine mist and a sponge. I find that DIF doesn't make a dif.

Let the wall dry and go back after the glue in another step using a wet sponge. Stop the minute that you see the drywall start to 'pill'.

Do any repairs/taping/skim coating, sand and finsh with a shellac based primer.

Paint away!


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## a_theater_god (Jul 30, 2006)

i've also found if you use really hot water, that helps. and add one part white vinegar to ten parts water. really softens the glue.


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## awider (Sep 6, 2006)

*what did you do?*



rjralston said:


> So I moved into my new place a few months back, and I have finally gotten to removing the hideous wallpaper from the bedroom so that I could paint the walls. The wallpaper was not put on very well, and pulled off easily so I pulled off a section because taking it down just felt sooo good. It's a good thing that I did, because I discovered that they put the wallpaper straight on the drywall. They didn't even treat the seams between sheets.
> 
> So my question is this: Is there a way for me to remove the remaining wallpaper and glue without ruining the drywall underneath, or will I need to replace all of the drywall? Or perhaps a cleaver third alternative...Mostly I am just worried that the products that I would normally use to remove the wallpaper will ruin the drywall in the process. That and I'm broke and trying not to spend too much on getting rid of hideous (black with very little other colors) wallpaper. Thanks for any and all suggestions.


I have run into the same situation as you did in my newly purchased home. Wallpaper applied directly to the drywall, but it was also painted over. Did you find a way to remove it? I've thought of just applying some type of texture over the top of it.


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## rjralston (May 14, 2006)

Actually, the suggestions that I received about soaking the wall worked like a charm for me...I don't know how well it would work with the paint over the top, though. Might be worth a try. And I would imagine that texture over the top would only hold as well as the wallpaper is put on, so you would need to definitely have faith that the wallpaper is stuck on good :laughing:. Of course, I am definitely not the expert, so maybe listening to me isn't the best thing to do, lol :no:...Just more me thinking out loud than anything, really. Plus a way for me to say thank you to the kind folks that helped me with my problem.


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