# 10 of 101 tips on house painting and decorating - building maintenance - wallpaper removal

Painting and Decorating today is made easier with the wide range of easy to use DIY products and non toxic paints and repair compounds.

Still the elbow grease is needed  to complete any painting and decorating task.

Anyone will tell you that preparation is the key to a fine finish, so tackling the finishing plastering of any wall or ceiling should be left up to a professional plasterer.

However the laborious task of removing wallpaper you can tackle yourself and in most cases it will save you thousands of dollars.

Tools you will need-
Bucket
Mop
Wallpaper stripper solution
Flat paint scraper 10cm wide (stiff)
Tungsten paint scraper
Steamer (hire one from your local hire center)
Ladders
dropcloths
Radio

The time it will take to strip a room will depend on the type and age of the wallpaper.

Vinyl wallpaper from the 60's onwards is realitively simple to remove as all you will need to do is rip the surface layer of by lifting a corner and pulling.
For tough glues you will need to steam the surface after perforating the vinyl layer. You can buy a small mouse like device with spiky wheels that will do the job.
Once you are left with the paper backing this can be steamed off or some will just need to be run over with a mop or cloth to wet it and a flat scraper will do the rest

Older wallpapers are tougher to remove as they only come off in annoyingly small strips and often have been painted or papered over a number of times. Your steamer will get a lot of use here. Test a small area first before you decide how to tackle this part of your house painting

Painting and decorating Tips-

Start in one corner and concentrate on one area at a time moving only when that area is finished. It will seem slower than running around the easy bits first then going back to the difficult bits later, but you will get a better finish in the end.

Use a flat scraper only on the flat side only. This may sound obvious but don't gouge your wallboard if you can help it, let your steamer do most of the work.

Before you repair or plaster make sure the board is secure to the framing, here is where a few screws or nail will stop any cracks or nail pops from coming through you finished painting and decorating job.

If you are planning to re wallpaper make sure you 'size' or seal the wall board first.

If you are planning to paint you will have to plaster first as the original finish wont be up to a high quality painting and decorating standard. Make sure your professional plasterer uses paper tape on the sheet joins.

You may also need a coat of 'pigmented sealer' to stop any residue of glue coming through your house painting top coats. Unfortunately the best sealer is oil based so wear a mask and have good ventilation.

Don't worry if you make a mess of the wall due to stubborn glue, your plasterer will skim  a flat coat of plaster to hide any damage.

Unfortunately  there are no real short cuts to a proper painting and decorating job. 

The finish is the reward to your efforts.
Happy stripping
Andre