Wallpaper was once all the rage and mixing different patterns, florals, and pinstripes was a sign of elegance and high class, however, as the years have gone by, the once rich trend is losing popularity rapidly. While there are some styles of wallpaper that are more modern, most people prefer to remove wallpaper all together. Try following these few steps to help you achieve the easiest removal.
Prep Work
As with any project, the first step should be prepping your work area. In this case, you’ll want to remove everything on your walls, from pictures, to shelving and even outlet and light switch covers, your walls should be bare before starting your project.
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Time to Peel
Once the walls are cleared, it’s time to start what many people see as the fun part of this project, peeling. Find any edges that you can and simply start tearing and peeling away at the wallpaper until you can’t peel any more. There will most likely be sections that won’t peel away, we’ll touch on that in the next section, however, the key to removing old wallpaper successfully is to try and get as much off the walls during this step as possible.
Saturate the Remaining Wallpaper
Now that you’re left with the more stubborn pieces, it’s time to saturate the remaining paper. You’ll want to purchase a liquid wallpaper stripper concentrate from your local hardware or home improvement store. For the solution to fully penetrate the wallpaper, you can purchase a scoring tool to score the sections of paper that are difficult to remove, ensuring that the solution can fully saturate each area that needs to be removed. After a minimum of 30 minutes, you can start to scrape the paper, repeating saturation if needed for extra stubborn sections.
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Wipe Down and Clean Up
Once all of the remaining paper is removed, it’s time to clean up. You’ll want to purchase TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) to help clean the wall of any left-over adhesive, once all the adhesive has been cleaned, you can then wipe down the walls with a damp cloth, leaving your walls ready for your next project, whether texturing, painting, or other wallcovering options.
If you’re planning your next home improvement project, home renovation or remodel, or have questions regarding your next project, please feel free to contact our office and one of our design experts would love at assist you.