How to remove wallpaper directly applied to the sheet rock?

Firefly
by Firefly
When trying to remove old bathroom wallpaper for a small update, I found the wallpaper had been applied without first priming or painting the sheet rock. So, strips of the sheet rock came off with the wallpaper. I stopped after removing wallpaper on a small section of the wall. So, how do I proceed removing the wallpaper without damaging the sheet rock? How do I repair the damaged sheet rock in order to paint it? Thanks for any suggestions. icon
Strips of sheet rock torn off while removing old flaking wallpaper.
  12 answers
  • Michelle Sims Michelle Sims on Sep 17, 2017

    I also would like to know what to do in this situation??

    • Jessica Morton Jessica Morton on Sep 18, 2017

      I Make up to $90 an hour working from my home. My story is that I quit working at Walmart to work online and with a little effort I easily bring in around $70h to $86h..

      Go this site and start your work.. Good luck... http://ow.ly/JcH030ff6z8

  • Toc15434384 Toc15434384 on Sep 18, 2017

    I have removed wallpaper with lemon, viniger and water not easy takes time

  • Kay8008870 Kay8008870 on Sep 18, 2017

    we had this happen, according to my friend that is a contractor, new sheet rock or sanding it are your only options...not the answer I wanted to hear either!!

    Since we are planning a bigger renovation down the road, we sanded the best we could, but it looks awful painted...I despise the idiot that decided to do this!!

    • See 2 previous
    • Firefly Firefly on Sep 18, 2017

      Ken, thanks for sending this solution. However, I don't know what "skim coating" is. Can you help me with this?

  • Patricia Hatch Poulin Patricia Hatch Poulin on Sep 18, 2017

    We did this when I was a kid. We soaked the wallpaper with a sponge in vinegar and water. Keep applying until a putty knife easily removed the paper. It takes a long time. Afterwards we washed the wall with the vinegar mix until residual paste was gone. Work in small sections. Start wetting second area while scrapping first section.

  • Cin21825342 Cin21825342 on Sep 18, 2017

    Score the paper gently with a wallpaper scoring device. Then mix up some Downy fabric softener and warm water in a spray bottle. Spray down the wallpaper really good and BE PATIENT...wait for a good 15-20 minutes. If it's not peeling off spray it again and wait. The paper will peel right off.

    • Pat Miller Pat Miller on Sep 18, 2017

      If the paper was put directly on the sheet rock..... forget about it... I have never found a way to get the paper off without damage to sheet rock. I ended up putting up one of the textured papers that you can paint....


  • Ken Ken on Sep 18, 2017

    I looked at the photo again and this is exactly what I started with in my bathroom. Skim coating. You can do it.

  • Danielle Danielle on Sep 18, 2017

    Absolutely agree, skim coating is going to be your most inexpensive, easiest solution to do it yourself. It will add some fun texture to your walls and save you TONS of money.

  • Phe29874457 Phe29874457 on Sep 18, 2017

    Skim coating works best, but as I am not able to do that, I paid a professional painter to do it, patching the places where more than the paper came off, and then paint the whole bathroom.

  • Stacy Davis Stacy Davis on Sep 18, 2017

    Yep, I had this same situation in a house years ago. I hired a professional painter wallpaper installer to come in to paint the room after I spent hours scoring, soaking trying to remove it. He said I should have just skim coated it and no one would have noticed.

  • Ellis Ellis on Sep 18, 2017

    I had the same situation. We ended up putting up new sheet rock because the room was quite large and it was easier than skim coating.

  • 27524803 27524803 on Sep 18, 2017

    We rented one of the machines that sprays on wall texture and did a light "orange peel " type of texture over our walls. We have a manufactured home, that has awful printed "wallpaper" that is actually a part of the drywall used on our construction. We washed the walls to remove any greasiness and then sprayed on the wall texture (took some trial and error as my husband was used to stopping at the end of each stroke...it made large splots) the key is to KEEP MOVING.. we also found that if we mixed the drywall mud (we used pre-mixed) with a little water it sprayed on better. Then we primed and painted... came out quite nice.

  • Kay8008870 Kay8008870 on Sep 19, 2017

    as I have a second bath with exact same problem, I will try this!! Thank you!!