removing wall paper from wattle and daub.

[robgil]

ive got wood chip wall paper with a thick layer of silk paint on my wattle and daub walls. the walls are quite crumbly. i have thought about using steam but i am not sure if this will damage the walls. any ideas?

 

[JoceAndChris]

What happens if you just use hot water? Will the wattle and daub crumble off? This sounds like a nightmare to me - if it makes you feel better I've got woodchip with a thick layer of silk paint on the dining room reed ceiling! I've done nothing so far, but will get to it at some point.

I can't live with woodchip. If it was me, I'd get it off with steam or hot water and gentle scraping and then make good any damage with new daub. What is daub? Mud?

 

[Nigel Watts]

Painted woodchip over delicate plaster is a pain because the water/steam will not easily penetrate the vinyl emulsion.

You need to scratch the surface of the painted woodchip before applying water or steam (I would suggest steam) to allow the water/steam to get in. Do a trial area first and see how it goes.

 

[philpjuk100]

Hi,a steamer is the answer used sparingly but will not work through the paint so if you rub the paper with coarse sandpaper it will take the "lumps"off and give the steam a way in,phil.

 

[Nigel Watts]

if you rub the paper with coarse sandpaper it will take the "lumps"off and give the steam a way in

Good one! Like all the best ideas this so simple I hadn't thought of it.

 

[MdB]

I used a scrapper to knock the wood chips off to let the steam in. Seemed to work ok though all the plaster did fall off the walls as well.

(By the way, is there anyone here that hasn't had to remove woodchip from their walls?)

 

[nozzaamazon]

Used a steamer and a knife/scrapper on my wall paper over daub. Worked a treat. You can get 'proper' wall paper roughing tool, lots of serated discs on a palm pad, these work well too.

 

[robgil]

lovely , thanks guys , i shall try the sand paper method.

 

[philpjuk100]

Im sure that any method that lets the steam reach the paste will do,I used the sandpaper method when helping my son strip the woodchip paper and paint that I put up 20 years ago(SHAME!) phil.

 

[Penners]

By the way, is there anyone here that hasn't had to remove woodchip from their walls?

Moi! Not in a single one of the series of house projects that we have undertaken.

Mind you, we do currently have the small problem of stencilled ivy leaves crawling extensively over the dining room wall. I'm hoping that trowelled-on paint will obscure them, but I am worried that we've got something akin to Adrian Mole's Noddy wallpaper on our hands.



I hasten to add that this photo was taken by the estate agent for the previous owners' sale of the property. The room doesn't look nearly as good now.

 

[Flyfisher]

(By the way, is there anyone here that hasn't had to remove woodchip from their walls?)

Fortunately, we have no woodchip paper to deal with.

However, we do have one room with flock wallpaper that has been painted over!

 

[Moo]

The room doesn't look nearly as good now.

Liar!

 

[JohnB]

Mind you, we do currently have the small problem of stencilled ivy leaves crawling extensively over the dining room wall. I'm hoping that trowelled-on paint will obscure them, but I am worried that we've got something akin to Adrian Mole's Noddy wallpaper on our hands.

Isn't that traditional? I was surprised to see this when I visited St Fagans:

I thought it was wallpaper until I looked closely, but it's stencilled onto the limewash. It's in the posh room in a farmhouse furnished as it would have been in 1800, so I assume the decoration represents the same date.

 

[Nigel Watts]

However, we do have one room with flock wallpaper that has been painted over!

That sounds so bizarre that it might just work

 

[Feltwell]

However, we do have one room with flock wallpaper that has been painted over!

Hmmm - flock wallpaper. I have a sudden urge for a curry!

 

[Feltwell]

that I put up 20 years ago(SHAME!) phil.

Horrible as it may be, woodchip is still second only to lining paper in wallpaper sales in the UK's biggest DIY emporium.

There can't be that many student landlords in the country, surely???

 

[robgil]

thats only because it doesnt come in magnolia.

 

[Flyfisher]

However, we do have one room with flock wallpaper that has been painted over!

That sounds so bizarre that it might just work

It doesn'tactually look too bad (although not to our taste so it will be going eventually) but the real problem is that the painted flock is like 50 grit sandpaper and will take the skin off any bodypart that happens to brush past the wall.

It also looks like a rush job because two brackets were also painted over at the same time rather than being removed.

 

[Penners]

painted flock is like 50 grit sandpaper

You'd worm your way into Mr Vernon's good books if you recycled that on your Black & Decker. :wink: