Tips for covering wallpaper border? Its not coming off.

Rita   Chapman
by Rita Chapman
  13 answers
  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Jun 23, 2018

    That's fine, just lay your new one on top of old............

    • Rita   Chapman Rita Chapman on Jun 24, 2018

      My husband said "never again would he use border or paper." U think he meant it.haha

  • Score and steam it, yes it will be work, but it will come off.

  • Tinyshoes Tinyshoes on Jun 23, 2018

    Use the wallpaper scorer and spray water on it or Zinsser gel and spray it...let soak 10 to 20 min. then scrape the paper.

  • Sharon Sharon on Jun 23, 2018

    Use wallpaper scorer, then spray or soak with a sponge with hot water with some fabric softner in it. Let sit 20 mins, soak again and then it will come off.

    • See 1 previous
    • Sharon Sharon on Jun 24, 2018

      Is it vinyl? if so sometimes you can yank it off the backing, and then remove the paper backing. I've run into problems with borders before cause amateurs put them up sometimes with all kinds of weird glues like Elmers that aren't made for wallpapers.

      If its that stuck on you could skim coat over it with joint compound.

  • Cathy Dillon Cathy Dillon on Jun 23, 2018

    O tried to remove wallpeper and made a really big mess of it. The wall is still rough. Should have just spacked it DOWN and painted over.


    Try the lightest sort of spackle compound and the largest spreader you can find ( actually various sizes. I can never tell what will seem to work best. Try leaving the wallpaper alone now and spackle the " seam" if it bothers you, or if ( like I did) you have already created divits and dents that will bother you in the future, now it the time to try to fix it. Using the really fluffy compound, it dries quicker and sands easier so you can / could do some repair to the surface now if you need it, without waiting so many days for it to dry. You probably should prime ( again? ) any areas you've spackled, and then finish the paint. If the wallpaper is likely to show through, perhaps the layer of spackle will actually help "bury" it, by hiding the color as well as the seam. Good Luck!

  • Bob33524173 Bob33524173 on Jun 23, 2018

    If you have non removable paper (in your case border) lightly sand paper with a dry wall sander with 80-100 grit paper. Get some drywall joint compound (not spackle) and using a 8-10” knife overcoat the paper extending onto the drywall 4-6”, let dry, again lightly sand and skin coat again let dry then either prime and paint or match texture and paint.

  • Rita   Chapman Rita Chapman on Jun 24, 2018

    Thanks Bob. You and Cathy have the same idea!!

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Feb 05, 2021

    Hello there,

    Paint it out or Make a feature of it by painting over it in a contrast that matches your decor!

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Feb 05, 2021

    Hi! My daughter installed a border using all kinds of glue to keep it in place. When it got to the really tough parts, only my wallpaper steamer took it off. If you don't have access to one, compare the cost of buying to renting. I bought mine because I needed it for other projects. If you are able to borrow one, even better. Work in small sections and be sure to let it get hot enough to do the job. Good luck!


  • Em Em on Feb 14, 2021

    I never met a wallpaper that didn't come off with enough soaking. Some people use regular glue to instead of wall paper paste. You may take the paper off of the dry wall getting it off but a light coating of spackling then sanding will fix that. It will look better than a bumpy mess under neath.

  • Lifestyles Homes Lifestyles Homes on Mar 07, 2021

    Sounds like you’ve a lot of great ideas.


    Me, I have saturated the wall too much and the Sheetrock paper got soaked, which bled brown stains through my drywall compound later. Also my scraper, scraped some of the Sheetrock paper off and left gouges. Thus the drywall “mud”.

  • Yvonne Martin Yvonne Martin on Feb 11, 2022

    What paint can I use to cover wall paper border