How Do You Remove Old Wall Paper?
When remodeling an old house it is not uncommon to discover walls with multiple layers of old wallpaper. In some instances the homeowner will simply paint over the wallpaper, rather than taking the time to remove what is already covering the surface. Painting over or repapering old wallpaper may seem like a great timesaver. Removing the old paper takes extra time and is a messy job, yet papering or painting over a wallpaper-free surface will provide better results. Step 1 Remove all the pictures, nails or items hanging on the wall. You may think you’ve removed everything, but look again. There may be a picture hanger that you overlooked, or switch plates with edges covering the wallpaper. Step 2 Loosen a corner along a seam at the bottom of one strip of wallpaper. Use a flat putty knife to loosen the edge. If it is a newer paper that is strippable, you can grab hold of the edge and gently pull up and out to remove the paper. Step 3 Separate the plastic outer coating of the wallpaper fr
