Wallpaper Removal Louisville Ky
Wallpaper Removal – We get many calls from people wanting us to prepare their wallpapered walls so they can paint them. We obviously prefer to remove the wallpaper and then do the painting as well.
Wallpaper removal can be easy or it can be near impossible. So many variables will affect one room to the next; it can be the paper, the wall underneath the paper environment and more. Many professional wallpaper hangers and painting contractors will charge by the hour for wallpaper removal. There is often no way to judge how long it will take until it is done. There may be wall repair, it may require sanding and priming to cover the glue, or it could come off easy and take minutes rather than hours.
Hot water will break down the glue. There are also chemicals that work well, but they are known carcinogens and cost money. A pump chemical sprayer or hand sprayer is needed for using hot water or the concentrated chemicals mixed with water. A three to six inch wall scraper or taping knife is needed to scrape off the paper and glue.
One starts by saturating the paper to break down the glue. Sometimes the front of the paper will come off easily by hand or by scraping (this is ideal), the backing and glue will then scrape off easily once the glue is broken down.
Sometimes the paper can be removed, but the glue won’t come off without ruining the walls. If this is the case wait for the walls to dry and sand the glue as smooth as possible. Than an oil or shellac based primer must be used to cover the glue. Once primed, water based paint won’t be affected by the glue.
If the paper proves too difficult to take off we use the following method. Paint the paper with a shellac based primer which seals it. We then use thin layer of drywall compound (mud) to cover the seams. A light sanding and the walls are ready for paint.
Hiring a professional painting contractor for wallpaper removal will save a lot of headaches.
