Painting over wallpaper cost-effectively

[conny]

Was just going to say, I used a steamer once and had to hold it on for so long ot blew the plaster in a few places. Oher than that once, I have always stripped majority of top layer. brush/sponge two strip widths with warm water and gently scraped off the paper. To keep a steady workflow, after stripping the first row I then wet the next row or two, so they are ready to move onto straight away. Once the furniture is away from the wall, I can usually strip a standard room, (12' x 12' say), in about 2-3 hours

 

[WallpaperPanic]

Can I just add, you mention antique furniture and problems steaming. I'm a professional decorator and have wallpapered hundreds of rooms in my time and it is very rare I have to use a steamer. The top layer normally just pulls off and then you just wet the underneath with a brush, leave it 5 mins and then scrape it off.
Out of my last 30 wallpaper stripping jobs I've probably used a steamer twice and that was on woodchip!

Really? Interesting. I'll see what happens when I try that. Thus far, pulling at any loose patches just tears a small piece off, leaving the rest intact.

 

[Chivas69]

Can you post a picture?

 

[opps]

Can I just add, you mention antique furniture and problems steaming. I'm a professional decorator and have wallpapered hundreds of rooms in my time and it is very rare I have to use a steamer. The top layer normally just pulls off and then you just wet the underneath with a brush, leave it 5 mins and then scrape it off.
Out of my last 30 wallpaper stripping jobs I've probably used a steamer twice and that was on woodchip!

Good point about the papers where you can peel off the top layer. With the papers than don't have the separate top layer I normally puncture the paper with a paper tiger and use a pump up spray to soak it

Zinsser Paper Tiger Scoring Tool 3mm - Screwfix

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I have an Earlex Steam Master and haven't used it for a few years. I paid about £150 for it approximately 16(?) years ago. They are now branded as Wagner and cost £600 !!!

Fortunately, I have only had the misfortune of removing wood chip twice.

If the paper is sound, I have in the past sanded away the printed part, vacuumed it and then applied lining paper over the top. I last did that in a double fronted detached house. I spent months decorating the hallway, including materials I invoiced over £12k. Most of the cost was prep., for a number of years it had been a HMO and the hallway was regularly toshed.

 

[Odds]

It's a really unusual situation as the wallpaper was already missing in a large, visible area and it looked dreadful.

If it's already missing a large area then you could've already stripped the rest of the paper instead of gabbing about it.
Crack on, lad.