Finally found the house of your dreams? But wait… you rejected the offer just because the walls in the house were full of wallpaper covering and the homeowner had painted over it. Frustrating isn’t it? It’s like the homeowner wanted you to suffer after you bought the house.
Sellers usually do this when they are not willing to spend more time and money on staging your Oakland County home. However, you still think to yourself, “Why would someone do this?”
- They found it a quick fix (saves a lot on staging, so they probably wanted to save time on peeling off the wallpaper)
- Painting was much easier than dealing with the glue residue
- Some crazy YouTube video assured them that this was a great idea
- They were afraid that there might be cracks under the wallpaper, which would mean caulking the holes to prevent any foundation damage
- They had no idea that painting over wallpaper would cause a huge problem for the next homeowner
Better stop scratching your head to figure out why the seller would do this to you! They just didn’t have the right information before making this move.
How Does Paint Affect the Wallpaper?
Since you don’t know what type of wallpaper and paint the seller used, there’s no saying how your DIY repair tricks will work on this particular type of project. A number of things can happen, such as:
- The paint slowly starts to crumble
- Patterns on the wallpaper are lightly reflected through the paint
- Bubbles start to form on the wall and the edges curl away from the corner
- The wallpaper loses its glue and starts to fall off
- With time, the wallpaper became stiffer and thicker, making it more difficult for you to remove it
How to Remove the Wallpaper
So, the process of removing the wallpaper covering is pretty easy. All you need is a scoring tool and a steam machine. Use the tool to punch holes in the wall that are just on the surface. Use the steam machine to blow in the warm air. This softens the glue and allows you to peel off the wallpaper easily with a scraping tool. It will take a couple of hours to remove the entire wallpaper. It depends on how it was applied— in strips or as one piece. Removing strips are way easier than the one piece as you can do this task on your own. The latter requires help— the wallpaper can be gripped from both ends and removed simultaneously.
You can rent a steam machine from any store and take on this challenge yourself. If the walls are made of plaster, you might only get a few scratches on it. However, if its drywall, be prepared with caulking material to patch up the cracks and holes. The latter wall material will create a lot of mess.
So, there you go… an easy peasy way to remove wallpaper covering when it has been painted on. If you want to buy a Oakland County, Michigan home, that falls under your budget and has all the features you need, then visit Homes2MoveYou. Get in touch with a me Tom Gilliam and start seeing houses in areas that you like.