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Steamer productivity

3K views 40 replies 12 participants last post by  Piccolo 
#1 ·
I have removed a lot of paper with the pump sprayer. A job I am looking at would be best removed without spraying water/dif. I’ve never used a steamer but would like to give it a try. Does anyone have a recommendation for what unit to buy and what kind of productivity do you get with it?
 
#17 ·
I remember DaArch, our resident paper guy, once saying that after using a pump sprayer to apply stripper, he would place painter’s plastic over the area to keep it from evaporating and drying out.
Not sure if scoring was something he recommended or not. I have done it on a few wallpaper areas in my own home but always did so very carefully so as to not damage the texture underneath.
 
#18 ·
I always hated the idea of scoring, since you'd then have hundreds of tiny pieces to strip vs. a few bigger ones. Only exception is when the water or Dif wasn't able to penetrate without scoring. Even then I'd elect to use a razor knife and make many light cuts vs. using that paper tiger thing. I've been known to get pissed and hook up an airless with a FFLP tip, mask electrical outlets, and douche stubborn wallpaper when whole homes are being stripped. 95% of wallpaper just takes a few applications, so when it's done in stages it's typically easily removed. The other 5% though makes me seriously question my choice of profession.

Covering the piece in plastic is a practice I'll use often when stripping; be it walls or wood, but only when easier methods prove unsuccessful.
 
#19 ·
Paper Tiger is a cool name for a terrible product; They should require a license to operate one (along with a Silicone Applicator’s License).

Any paper that ‘resists’ water, I dry peel the top layer off so the DIF or water can reach the wallpaper paste. If the paper face is stubborn, or too time consuming to remove, then a rough sandpaper (60-80 grit) will score the face, making the paper absorbent without damaging the drywall.

If I can’t spray, DIF gel can be rolled with a 9” roller. Same concept: keep it wet until the paper falls off the wall in large sheets without scraping. One wall at a time. Do not let it dry.
 
#20 ·
Dry stripping, especially anything vinyl coated has always been my go to method. After that warm water usually penetrates the backer paper to activate the paste. Have gotten pretty good at skinning the top layer of paper with a 4" drywall knife to expose the backer. I once estimated wallpaper removal, early on in my hungry days. Unfortunately it was a vinyl coated paper hung on unprimed drywall. No longer estimate wallpaper removal.
 
#21 ·
I eventually found a guy who liked removing wallpaper and was better, faster, and cheaper at doing it than I was. I referred him to all of those jobs and then I’d come in and prep and paint after he was done. Loved it.
 
#26 ·
If you use glue instead of paste, its NOT coming down. Here in the states, wallpaper almost dissapeared for 30 years cuz peopel got sick of stripping it. NOW, we know we need to properly prime the walls, and use a paste that will promotes strippability. Papers have gotten wise to this as well, and nonwovens, and Sure-strip prepasted papers are designed to supposedly come down in full sheets.
 
#32 ·
youre talking about drywall mud? over textured walls? yes, we call it skim coating, or floating, and yes, most of us do it, or tell the client to have a drywaller do it for us.

Depending on what part of the country we're in, walls will usually be either done smooth wall from the build, or textured. Everywhere ive ever lived, walls are mostly textured, so at least half of my wallpaper jobs need the walls floated before paper.

Then after its been floated and sanded, it gets primed, usually with Gardz. then paper.
 
#34 ·
Texture is easier and cheaper than smooth wall. Some textures are done for looks as well. either way, its usually not a good idea to hang paper on it, as the texture will show right through the paper and look like poop.

I dont think understand your definition of "putty." What does that mean to you? In Murica, putty is something soft we can mold and form with our hands (similar to clay), usually to fill nail holes with.

If the wall is smooth, I prime it, then hang the paper. If its textured, I float it, sand it, prime it, then hang the paper. Sometimes I hang a liner paper first.
 
#36 ·
First of all, what you started with is not what I'd call a smooth wall by any stretch... So, yeah, Id have oil primed that, then floated (or puttied as you call it) then primed again, then hung. But, our walls dont look like that... our walls usually look like... WALLS.:ROFLMAO:


Second, you did prime that wall before hanging the paper right???
 
#41 ·
They are not metal. Fabric, rubber - I do not know what to call it. As a rule, flexible material. As for the work, I finished it a month ago. In principle, nothing complicated, only at the end there was a hitch. The wall with the window was very frozen, it was cold. I glued the wallpaper, and they were covered with bubbles. But then they hung up the radiator and everything disappeared.
 
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