How do I fix the walls in my kitchen?

Joline
by Joline

Some places have torn dry wall paper.

  8 answers
  • Joy Elizabeth Joy Elizabeth on Jul 26, 2018

    Remove any loose paper and paint. Spackle and sand until smooth, then apply a primer before repainting. It is a little time consuming, but doable!

  • 17335038 17335038 on Jul 27, 2018

    What you have on your walls is the remains of the backing from wallpaper.The front (pattern part of the wallpaper) appears to have come off already, but the backing is still staying stuck. Vinyl coated wallpaper with a regular paper backing was very popular for a time period. As the front part of the roll was not so permeable to water, the method of submerging the roll in water before applying it did not ensure that the stickiness on the backing was fully activated. So, manufacturers made the glue extra strong to adhere to the wall. Unfortunately this 'double thick' style of wallpaper is now notoriously difficult to fully remove.


    The 'fix' for this situation is to saturate the paper thoroughly, then rub away. Some folks find that soaking the paper with fabric softener instead of just plain water, helps to soften it. If it is extra stubborn to remove, it will require scraping.

    Try to be careful though with the angle that you scrape the paper off, as gouging of the sheetrock will occur in the process.

  • Rae Rae on Jul 27, 2018

    Joline I can feel your pain. I have been wanting to remove wallpaper but this always happens to me. Yes I know it is the top layer of drywall. I have had many oops in the past with this same problem. If you know of any good friend that can do the job you may have to peel all the loose layers of paper off and do a "skim" coat just to get the wall back in paintable shape

  • Hummingbird Hummingbird on Jul 27, 2018

    Put vinegar and water (50/50 ratio or 60/50 vinegar) in a spray bottle. Spray wall in small sections (soaking wallpaper backing). Allow to sit about 10 min. Take a sheetrock knife -- 4" perhaps - and scrap gently. If you go gently, you will not take off the sheetrock underneath. It is important to let the wet application dry in a little so it won't take the sheetrock with it. You will get the hang of how long to let it sit and how gently to scrape once you start. Comes off like magic. Let the wall dry and the next day wipe the whole wall down with a damp sponge to remove the tiny remaining pieces. You will then need to repair the sheet rock. Or you could just cover the whole wall in panelling or boards -- PRICEY.

  • Charlene F Freeman James Charlene F Freeman James on Jul 27, 2018

    50/50 fabric softener and water works wonders. I just stripped a house and it was faster than using my steamer. One issue I did run into was the drywall backing came off in the bathroom and dinning room (had serious water leak from years ago hidden behind the wall paper) which maybe whats going on here. Then spackle sand sand or light texture would work.

  • Amanda Amanda on Jul 27, 2018

    Hi Joline. I agree with Ray. This is the top layer of the dry wall. It is fixable with a lot of patience. What I did was try to get as much of the paper off that is peeling without making it peel more. Then I put a layer of drywall compound over that. Some might start to bubble up from the moisture in the compound. Simply peel those parts away and apply more compound to that area. Once you have all of the bubbling parts done lightly sand the walls to get as even as possible. Apply another coat of compound and sand again. If you aren't good at doing this hiring someone would benefit you. It took me a long time to get mine nice and even. This was my first time doing it and wasn't so good at getting a even coat of the compound on so I had a lot of sanding to do. After that is done you are ready to prime and paint. I wish you luck!

  • Cindy Hagemann Cindy Hagemann on Aug 23, 2018

    Scrape it off and use wallpaper remover sprayed on it. Get it as smooth as possible before you paint. We have gotten so frustrated in this process too and have used bead board to cover the walls.

  • Taf Taf on Aug 23, 2018

    Hi Joline, I had a similar issue to deal with in my home. I tried spraying with water, using fabric softener, and the vinegar blend. Unfortunately for my stubborn wallpaper the glue was resisting all efforts. After months of aggravation, i finally rented a steamer from Home Depot. Best decision ever. Had the kitchen, dinning room, and bathroom wallpaper down in two evenings. (Working on it after i got home from my regular day job). If you find the other options don't work for you, the hand-held steamer will work. Be careful - the steam is super hot. Good Luck !