To strip or not to strip?

[richvdh]

I'm redecorating a room which had fitted cupboards along one side. The plan is to rip out the cupboards, fit a couple of new sockets, make good the skirting boards, repaint the room, and have the carpet replaced.

However, after I took out the fitted wardrobes, it turned out the paint in the other three quarters of the room was over paper (this would no doubt have been obvious to anyone who'd thought to look closely ) and I was left with a ridge where the paper used to meet the wardrobes.

My next step was to start stripping off the (painted) paper, with the intention of then patching up any holes, resealing the plaster, and painting over it all. With the application of plenty of steam and almost as much swearing, I've got the paper off half of one wall, but I'm now wondering if this really is the best approach.

Obviously I want to avoid ending up with an obvious ridge at the edge of the paper, but I'm wondering if a plasterer would be able to sort this out for me. I'm probably going to end up hiring a plasterer anyway, to fill the chases if nothing else, but I was hoping to avoid having the whole room skimmed. On the other hand, I do want to get the project finished this decade.

So, advice - do I need to get all that paper off, or could a plasterer skim up to the edge of the paper or something?

 

[TheDec]

I think that you would be wise to remove the existing paper, try scoring it with 80 grit paper before you apply the steamer it should make the task easier.

Dec

 

[richvdh]

Thanks Dec, I think you're probably right. It's good just to have someone else confirm I'm not completely wasting my time here, really!

 

[TheDec]

No problem, trying to remove a wallpaper that has been overpainted is has you have found out not easy, when you apply your steamer the steam cannot penetrate through the paint in order to soften the paste. By scoring the surface with sandpaper you will break the paint film allowing the steam to reactivate the paste.

Dec