Wallpaper and Wallcoverings - Help. Remodeling Nightmare.

Several years ago, we tried to peel wallpaper off a small bathroom. We discovered that the wallpaper was put directly onto the sheetrock and it wouldn't budge. What little we were able to peel off, began tearing up the sheetrock. So my husband decided we would just put a heavily textured paint over it. So that's what we did. I'm not crazy about it, but it will do.

When hubby was out of town a bit later, I painted over wallpaper in our formal dining room and kitchen / eat in kitchen. Wallpaper wouldn't come off. Same situation.

Fast forward to present. I wanted to paint the formal dining room again. Keep in mind, it already has one coat of paint over wallpaper. Hubby hated that you could faintly see the wallpaper seams. Again, we decided to do the textured paint. Well, I hate it. It's a beautiful color but the textured paint looks horrible. Now I don't know what to do with it. And to make matters worse, it's a deep red color. Hubby says we have to somehow get that wallpaper off. Can this be done now that several heavy coats of paint are on top of it. What can I do?

BEEN THERE!DONE THAT!

No good news!! Sorry! I used a small (tablespoon) of fabric
softner in a spray bottle. After removing what old paper I could (I used a paper tiger),spray the remaining with the water/softner, small area at a time, allow to soak, scrape off paper.Slow, tedious work; but, it does work. After removal, you will have to skim coat the walls(at least in parts) with drywall mud and sand. The failure to use sizing on the wall before the paper job is the culprit! Good luck.

i have heard hot water and vinegar applied to wallpaper will remove it has anyone ever tryed this and did it work

But I now have textured paint over my wallpaper. Am I just stuck with it? :wall:

If the wallpaper was applied directly to bare sheetrock, I wouldn't waste any time trying to remove it - unless it shows evidence that it is coming loose.

You might try and skim coat over the texture paint with joint compound. You don't want to apply it thick, just enough to fill in the low spots of the texture. Once it's all slick, sand, prime and paint.

In the future if you have to paint over wallpaper, fill the seems with a small amount of spackling or j/c.

I am in the process of getting my house ready to sell. I have pulled 2 layers of wallpaper off the bathroom walls.
Was very time consuming, due to the 1st layer being glued to the unpreped drywall. It required several applications of mud/spackle and sanding ect. Now I am on to the dinning room - I do not have the time to go through the process of removing and prepping as with the bathrooms.

Is there a product I can prep the wallpapered wall with to avoid mudding and sanding ect? Or any other suggestions?:confused:

Welcome to the forums smaynd!

First let me say it is almost always a bad idea to paint over wallpaper but when you do, it is best to prime over the wallpaper with a solvent based primer. This will prevent any moisture in the latex paint from seeping thru the wallpaper and disolving any of the adhesive.

Mark is sure right "it is almost always a bad idea to paint over wallpaper" I sure do second that. I refuse to paint over it. I have always had success no matter what a pain it was. I am a big fan of DIF. This chemical will work with patients. Close all doors and keep a steamroom in there. A cheap garden sprayer and hot water mixed with DIF. This should at the very least cut your time in half. From 30 hours to 15. ;)

You can still remove the old paper but it will be more work,now that it's covered with several layers of textured paint. You need: 1) The Paper Tiger (as mentioned earlier) 2) Wallpaper remover. DIF is a good brand, made by Zinnser. 3) A garden type pump sprayer. Sprayers range in price but you can get an inexpensive one for this project, and it's well worth it. If you have a "sand paint" type texture then you can just start running the paper tiger on the walls. It will punch a lot of holes in the exisiting wallcovering. Mix the remover, per the instructions, and load your sprayer. The sprayer will have instructions too, if you've never used one, just fill it, twist the top on, and pump air pressure into it. When the spray gets weak, just pump it up again. Spread drops cloths because this will be messy. Spray sections of the wall and let it soak in. Keep re-spraying it and keep rolling the paper tiger over it. Use a broad knife to carefully scrape the wallcoverings off. If you have plaster walls then don't worry too much about damage; plaster is a very hard surface and any nicks you make will be easy to fix. If you have sheetrock walls, be careful when scraping. It's easy to damage sheetrock but it's also pretty easy to fix. Afterward, wash the walls with the same mixture of wallpaper remover to get the old adhesive off. Plaster nicks can be patched with joint compound (aka spackle, or mud). Sheetrock will require a little extra work. If the paper surface is torn, it must be primed with an oil based or alkyd primer/sealer. Zinnser makes a product called "QD-30", or may have a new product that does the same thing as QD-30. (No, I don't work for Zinnser but I used their products for years and they're the best on the market). QD-30 will dry to the touch in 30 minutes and can be sanded in a few hours. (Be sure to ventilate the room and/or wear a breathing filter because the fumes are strong). Once the walls are dry the surface will be hard, and the "fuzzy" torn paper of the sheetrock will now be sandable and patchable. Be sure to prime the room again after the repairs so your new paint absorbs evenly. You can use latex primer this time. I know this was a long response but I hope it helps you. Good luck!

Sorry, I'm a newbie. My post below was directed to Csimmons. Good luck!