How to Remove Old Wallpaper

Featured Pro: Eric Stromer
Category: Home Improvement
Time: 2:11


ERIC STROMER: Hey, I’m Eric Stromer. This is your GMC Trade Secret.

Grapes on the wall? Uh-uh. I don’t want it. So stripping wallpaper is what I’m talking about today.

There’s a couple of different types. Some of the wallpaper is glossy. And when it’s glossy, your pump sprayer will not permeate it. Now, these pump sprayers are only about 20 bucks at any local hardware store. Test it out first by just kind of a quick spray across the paper. If it does not saturate in and it quickly runs down the wall like that, chances are pretty good that this is going to have a glossy finish to it and you need to score it.

Now, with that in mind, they sell these commercial scoring tools. They’re very simple. You simply put it on the wall and you rotate it around. But don’t push too hard or dig too deep, because what’s going to happen is you’re going to mar the wall underneath. You’ve got a whole ‘nother step with patching and all that kind of stuff. You don’t want to do it.

So simply mark the wall like that, rolling across back and forth. Now come back to the pump sprayer, which, incidentally, is going to have some wallpaper-removing solution mixed into the water as well. Come back over it with a sprayer. Don’t saturate it too much; just enough. Let it soak in. A couple of minutes later, guess what happens, guys? You pull that wallpaper right off.

Now, look, here’s the catch. Sometimes you’re going to have some of this paper backing, which is where the adhesive is for the wallpaper. Simply hit it again with the sprayer. Use a classic broad knife or a four-inch spackle blade, if you will. You just come up underneath again at a 45-degree angle. You don’t want to hack the wall by being at an irregular angle, keeping the blade flat, scooping right up underneath like that, just like flipping burgers at your local five-and-dime. You know what I’m saying?

Where are the grapes? They’re gone. Thank goodness. I want to eat the grapes. I don’t want them on my wall.

I’m Eric Stromer. That’s your GMC Trade Secret.