Stripping off wallpaper takes patience

After a year of trying to ignore the yellow-and-blue floral wallpaper the previous owners had in the kitchen, you decide you can't take another year looking at it. Yes indeed, this wall covering must come down.

The problem: How do you remove the wallpaper without damaging the wall — or yourself? There are several options, including steaming or spraying with chemicals, but you'll have to decide which one works best for you and your wallpaper.

"People usually have no clue on how to strip wallpaper," says Gerald Bishop, owner of Wallcoverings and the Fresno Wallpaper Design Warehouse in Fresno, Calif. "It's not that difficult. But it takes a lot of patience, and there's an art to stripping wallpaper."

Which method you use to take down the wallpaper will often depend on the product. Some wallpapers can be stripped dry, while others will need a removal solution. And then, any damage to the wall will depend on how the wallpaper was installed.

"Every job is different," Bishop says. "It all stems from what the contractor did before." For example, if the wall wasn't sealed with a primer before the wallpaper was installed, removing the wallpaper can cause some damage to the wall's texture or the sheetrock.

Using a steamer to remove wallpaper isn't as popular as it once was. "We used to use them 25 years ago, and they were (heated with) propane," says Larry Meacham of Larry's Painting and Decorating in Fresno.

These days, steamers are electric, he says. "They may work for some people, but I don't use them," he says.

Bishop doesn't use steamers either. "It works, but you end up scalding your hands. It also takes twice as long to strip the wallpaper."

Instead, Meacham and Bishop like to use a concentrated remover solution that is mixed with water. The solution dissolves the adhesive wallpaper backing, making it easy to take off. Before starting, gather the right tools and do some basic preparations. Tools you'll need include: one or two 3-to-6-inch broad knives, a ladder, a scoring tool and a garden sprayer, such as a 2-gallon plastic pump.

You'll need a plastic sheet or a drop cloth to cover the carpet or floor. Take off outlet covers, then mix the solution and hot water together. Meacham and Bishop like to use DIF by Zinsser, which is available at home-improvement stores.

Next, test a small area of the wall, about a 3-by-3-foot section, by lifting an edge of the wallpaper. "You have to determine what the grain is," Bishop says. "It can be stripped left to right, up and down, or more."