How to Strip Wallpaper From Plasterboard Without Damage
Why plasterboard tears when wallpaper comes off, how to strip it with as little water as possible, repairing a torn paper face, and the one step that prevents all of it next time
Use as little water as you can, do not linger with a steamer, and keep the scraper almost flat to the wall. Plasterboard is held together by a paper face, and wallpaper paste bonds to that face extremely well, which is why the paper and the board can decide to come off together.
This is the version of the job most likely to end in repairs, and it is entirely manageable if you slow down.
Why plasterboard is different
A skimmed wall has a layer of finish plaster between the wallpaper and anything structural. Unskimmed plasterboard does not: the wallpaper is stuck directly to the board's paper face, and that face is what gives the board its strength.
Two things follow. If the board was never sealed before papering, the bond can be stronger than the board itself. And any water you apply softens both the wallpaper paste and the board's own facing.
How to tell what you have
- Tap the wall. Plasterboard sounds hollow, a solid wall does not.
- Look at a socket cut-out or a cut edge if one is visible: plasterboard shows a grey or brown paper face over a white gypsum core.
- A house built or extended from the 1970s onwards is likely to have it.
The method
- Test a corner first. If the paper peels dry, do the whole wall dry and add no water at all.
- Score very lightly, and only if the paper is coated or painted. A scoring tool pressed hard punches through the board's face, and every one of those marks is a repair.
- Wet sparingly. Warm water with stripper, applied with a sponge or sprayer, in small areas. Damp, not soaked.
- Wait rather than reapply. Ten minutes of patience beats a second heavy soaking.
- Scrape almost flat. Keep the blade at a very shallow angle and push rather than dig. Use a wide knife with rounded corners.
- Stop if the surface starts coming away in fibrous grey patches. That is the board's face, not the wallpaper. Let it dry and take a lighter approach.
The soaking method is the one to use here.
Steamers on plasterboard
Possible, and the least forgiving option. If you use one, work in short bursts of ten to fifteen seconds rather than the usual twenty to thirty, keep it moving constantly, and never return to the same patch twice in quick succession. For most plasterboard walls, water and stripper is the better trade.
Repairing a torn face
Almost everyone tears some. It is not serious and it does need dealing with before you paper again.
- Let the wall dry completely.
- Cut away any loose, lifting shreds of paper face with a sharp blade so you are working to a firm edge.
- Seal the torn areas with a mist coat of watered-down matt emulsion or a plasterboard sealer, and let it dry. This stops the exposed gypsum drinking your filler and your paste.
- Skim the torn areas with a thin coat of filler, feathering the edges well beyond the damage.
- Sand flush when dry, then seal the whole wall.
Where a wall has torn extensively, a plasterer skimming the whole surface is quicker and gives a better result than fifty patches.
Wash the glue off
Then, as with any stripped wall, wash the old adhesive away, gently here, with a well-wrung cloth rather than a wet sponge, and let the wall dry for several days.
Preventing it next time
Seal the board before you paper. A mist coat of watered-down matt emulsion or a wallpaper primer, over the whole wall and not just the joints, gives the paste something to bond to that is not the board's paper face, and it is the difference between the next removal being an afternoon and being a plastering job.
How do you remove wallpaper from plasterboard without damaging it?
Minimal water, light or no scoring, and a wide scraper held almost flat. Take longer rather than pushing harder.
Can I use a steamer on plasterboard?
Cautiously. Short bursts, constantly moving. Water and stripper is safer.
Why is the wallpaper stuck so hard to my plasterboard?
The board was probably never sealed before papering, so the paste bonded directly to its paper face.
I've torn the surface. What do I do?
Cut away loose shreds, seal the area, skim with filler, sand flush, then seal the whole wall before papering.
Is it called drywall?
Yes. Plasterboard in the UK, drywall in the US. Same material, same problem.
Should I just skim the wall instead?
Where the damage is extensive, yes. A skim is quicker than many patches and gives a better surface.
