Simple Way to Remove Wallpaper!

Are you looking for a Simple Way to Remove Wallpaper?  You have come to the right place, as today I am sharing what I did to remove my painted over wallpaper in my attic stairway.

Mr. DD’s simple way would be not to remove it, that is what he tells me every time I decide to update an area of our home!

This is the attic stairway that I am working on.  My plans are to remove the wallpaper,replace the carpet?, add a plank wall below the window and on the ceiling.

It was coming off in full sheets!  Time to celebrate!  NOT!

I discovered under the top wallpaper covering that I have several coats of paint over 2 layers of old wallpaper.  Yes, my hopes were shattered quickly.

Enter my new best friend, the Wagner Steamer. I could not have done this job without it.

Step 1:  Score the Walls with this handy Wallpaper Scoring Tool.  This allows the moisture to get behind the paint, wallpaper, and glue.

Step 2:  Spray the walls with a 50/50 mixture of water and fabric softener.

Step 3: Use the Wagner Multi-Purpose Steamer with the steam plate attachment.  Hold in one place for 20 seconds and move to the next area.

Step 4: Scrape using a Stiff Blade Putty Knife.

Step 5: Repeat

The steps were simple, but being that the wallpaper was painted over with many layers, this made my job a long drawn out process.  It has taken me 4 weeks to complete my task only because I am only working on this projects during the day on Saturdays.

Once all the wallpaper was off, it was time to clean the walls.  I sprayed the walls with a 50/50 mixture of water and vinegar.

Scrape after spraying the vinegar mixture.

Spray again with the vinegar mixture and use the HomeRight Steamer to help remove any final dirt and debris on the wall.  Scrape one last time after steaming and wipe down with a warm clean cloth.

You can see the clean area, what a difference the steamer makes when removing wallpaper and cleaning the walls.  The positive point is my walls are all original plaster, so once we removed all the layers, it was much easier to scrape the plaster as opposed to drywall.  My next steps are to patch the holes and cracks in the plaster walls.  You can follow my progress on Instagram where I post updated photos of my project.

My next steps are:

Repair the plaster walls

Remove the carpet

Re-stain the baseboard, doors, and banister.

Paint the walls

Add a plank wall below the window and the ceiling

Want to see what I discovered after I pulled up the carpet?  Follow along as I complete my attic stairway project.

Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram!