wood chip paper

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could any one tell me how to remove woodchip wall paper thats been on plastered walls on a staircase for years and has had several coats of emulsion on it cheers
 
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Get a big 6" scraper from B&Q. It is an angled scraper with an extremely sharp changeable blade and an 18" handle.

Then run it over the wall and it will remove a lot of chips. Then soak the paper with hot water and detergent. Leave it for half an hour and soak it again. Then peel it off.

It should only take you about a week.
 
Buy a stanley scratcher thing ( a triangular gizmo with spiky wheels underneath it) - you'll find one in B&Q no probs

Scratch the wall to buggery with it - this helps your steamer get moisture behind to loosen the paper. The more you srctach the easier the paper comes off.

Steam the paper and use a scraper to remove

I start at head height and work down to the floor, then do the highest bits from ceileing down - the water running down helps the bits below loosen, and the steam rising means your top section may be a doddle

Pray it was badly hung (no lining etc) and it may just come off in large patches in places
 
Leave the steamer running in the middle of the room. Exit the room, close the door and come back after about 30 mins. Then try and strip again.
 
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Yeah, hire a stripper.




She will take your mind off what a bloody awful job it is.
 
yeah i like the idea of the stripper and maybe if i asked the wife nicely she could do both jobs at the same time :D ;)
 
hawthorns said:
yeah i like the idea of the stripper and maybe if i asked the wife nicely she could do both jobs at the same time :D ;)

:LOL: :LOL:

I've taken a liking to Zinsser DIF in place of sugar soap. I get a bucket of really hot water add the dif and with a big brush first go over a wall and see what happens to paper, ithe water creeps behind joints and softens the old emulsion making it easier to score, see if any pulls away where its crept behind joints. sometime the face will come of leaving the backing. soak again and have a cuppa. (I use a garden killaspray thingy once the paper starts absorbing). Patience needed... dont just wet and start attacking it. If the paper is soaked long enough it will come easy... Sometimes though it dont and as a last resort I have to get me steamer out... :evil:
Good luck...
 
hawthorns said:
yeah i like the idea of the stripper and maybe if i asked the wife nicely she could do both jobs at the same time :D ;)

Can I refer to to the Forum rules here:

Rule 21b

You will face a life ban from this site if any such behaviour takes place and the pictures are not posted up on the decorating forum within three days of being taken

:evil:
 
Stripped a woodchipped staircase today:

Always try it dry first....that was no good so, I soaked it and that was no good. Tried steaming from the bottom up (no good ) so , steamed from the top downwards and that worked :idea:

Width of pan in left hand, moving slowly downwards pulling the top skin off as a sheet, with right hand...then easily strip the remainder.
 
The trouble with most DIY decorators is, they try to strip too quickly and don't soak enough. They wet it with a cloth, then immediately try stripping it instead of soaking it two or three times with a brush, then when it is soaked in, strip it. Alternatively hire or buy a cheapo "Earlex" stripper, they will do most jobs for £20 odd and last you for years.
 
The person I bought my house had covered the entire house with woodchip - including every ceiling. So far I have remove it entirely from 5 rooms!

I started off by soaking the paper throughly for half an hour or so then coming back to it when it had softened, which was effective - but once I starting using a steamer I never looked back! combined with scraper (with changable blade) mentioned earlier by Joe-90, I find this the most efficient and fastest way to remove the stuff.

But make sure you give the steamer at least 10/20 seconds on each area for it to really soak in. The top layer of paint and stuff will come off first, then the woodchip itself will come off easily after that
 
Soak, Soak and more soak, that is the trick, really wet the paper with a great big bursh, make the water hot and soapy, when you have gone to the end of the wall go back and wet it again, do it about three times, and normally the paper will be coming off in strips, and if need be use a steamer, its just getting knack of it, but once your on a roll it is very easy. :D
 
I stripped the father in laws bathroom using an Earlex stripper. So many coats of paint on the plaster that it took ages. Paint was gloss believe it or not. First the steam softened the layers of paint which eventually peeled off in stringy hot patches, then I had to go over the paper again and this time it came off quite easily although the little woodchips were a nightmare to clean up. If the walls are plasterboard you will have to watch and not soak them to much, especially if they have the old jointing tape on them with no filler-it all peels off and the boards soften up.
 

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