How easily wallpaper comes off depends almost entirely on what the paper is and what it was hung on. A modern non-woven paper can often be peeled away dry in whole lengths. A painted-over vinyl stuck to unsealed plasterboard can take a full day per room and still leave repairs behind. Voltify Contractors carries out wallpaper removal across East and South-East London, including Canary Wharf, Stratford, Bow, Canning Town, Greenwich, Woolwich and Barking, and treats the wall underneath as part of the job, because that is where most of the surprises are.
Stripping is usually the first stage of redecorating rather than the end of it, so this page also covers what happens to the wall afterwards. Once the paper is off, the room can be painted, re-papered or lined, all within our painting and decorating services.
What’s on the Wall Decides the Method
Before any water or steam goes near the wall, it is worth finding out what kind of paper is there. Lifting a corner with a scraper usually tells you quickly:
| What’s on the wall | How it normally comes off |
|---|---|
| Non-woven (paste-the-wall) paper | Often peels off dry in full lengths, leaving little behind |
| Peelable vinyl | The vinyl face pulls away dry; the paper backing left on the wall is then soaked and scraped |
| Traditional paper-backed wallpaper | Soaks through readily with warm water and scrapes off once the paste softens |
| Painted-over paper, or several layers | Paint stops water getting in, so the surface is carefully scored and then steamed |
| Woodchip and heavy relief papers | Steamed in sections; slow, because the thick paper holds a lot of paste |
| Paper hung straight onto plasterboard | Needs the most care — see below |
Steam is not always the answer. It speeds up stubborn layers, but held too long in one place it can loosen old plaster or blow the surface of plasterboard. Choosing the gentlest method that works is what protects the wall.
Why Plasterboard Walls Need Extra Care
Plasterboard has a paper face of its own. If wallpaper was hung on board that was never sealed first, the paste bonds the two papers together, and aggressive scraping or soaking tears the board’s face along with the wallpaper. That leaves a fluffy, torn surface that won’t take paint properly.
Where this happens, the damaged areas are sealed with a suitable primer to stop them bubbling, then filled or skimmed smooth. Badly torn sections may need a proper drywall repair before any decorating can start. Tapping the wall before work begins — a hollow sound suggests plasterboard, a solid one plaster or masonry — helps set expectations early.
What Is Often Found Underneath
Wallpaper hides a lot, and sometimes it was hung precisely to hide something. Common discoveries once it comes off include:
- Blown or hollow plaster that the paper was holding in place, which may come away as the paper is stripped;
- Cracks and old patch repairs that need filling before the wall can be painted;
- Paste residue, which must be washed off — emulsion painted over leftover paste can crack or craze as it dries;
- Lath-and-plaster walls in older houses, which can be fragile and need a lighter touch;
- Older textured coatings on walls or ceilings. Some textured coatings applied before 2000 may contain asbestos, so if one turns up it should not be sanded or scraped until it has been tested. The HSE’s asbestos guidance explains why.
Anything found that changes the scope of the work is discussed with you before extra work goes ahead.
Mess, Moisture and Electrics
Wallpaper removal is one of the messier decorating jobs. Wet paper sticks to everything it lands on, and steaming fills a room with moisture. Floors are sheeted, furniture is moved away from the walls or out of the room, and the room is best treated as out of use for the day.
Water and steam are kept away from sockets and switches. Where faceplates are in the area being stripped, the power to those circuits is switched off while the work is done around them. Good ventilation during and after stripping helps the walls dry out before the next stage.
From Dust Sheets to Bare Wall: How the Work Runs
Every room is a little different, but stripping follows the same order, so nothing is rushed and the wall is looked at properly before anyone settles on the finish.
- Clear and protect. Furniture is moved or covered, floors are sheeted and power is isolated to any sockets or switches in the working area.
- Test a small patch. A corner is lifted to confirm the paper type and what it is stuck to, which sets the method for the rest of the room.
- Strip in sections. Dry peeling, soaking, or scoring and steaming, depending on that test, worked one area at a time so the paste doesn’t set again.
- Wash off the paste. The bare wall is washed down so no adhesive is left to spoil the next finish.
- Walk the wall with you. Cracks, blown plaster or a torn plasterboard face are pointed out, and any extra work is agreed before it starts.
- Let it dry. The room is left ventilated so the wall dries out before filling, priming, painting or papering.
If you’d like to know what making good a damaged wall involves before the paper comes off, our guide on how to prepare damaged walls before decorating goes through it step by step.
After Stripping: Paint, Paper or Line?
Once the walls are clean and dry, there are three usual routes:
- Paint — the walls are washed down, filled, sanded and primed where needed, then painted. This works best where the plaster underneath is in good condition, and is covered in detail under interior painting.
- Re-paper — new wallpaper goes up on a properly prepared and sealed surface. Our wallpaper installation page explains how paper type and pattern affect the hang.
- Line first — on older, uneven walls, lining paper gives a more consistent surface for either paint or new wallpaper, and is often quicker than trying to fill every ripple.
The right choice depends on what the stripped walls look like, which is why it is sensible to decide on the finish once the paper is off rather than before. If you are still deciding whether the paper needs to come off at all, our guide on whether to remove wallpaper or paint over it walks through the checks.
What Changes the Time and Cost of Wallpaper Removal
Two rooms of the same size can take very different amounts of time to strip. The number of layers, whether the paper has been painted, what it was hung on and how much of the wall comes away with it make the biggest difference. Ceilings and stairwells take longer because of access, and a fully furnished room takes longer to protect than an empty one. Repairs found underneath are priced separately once they can be seen.
For budgeting, our documented minimum call-out is £80 for the first hour. That is a minimum charge, not the price of stripping a room: a whole room, a stairwell or a ceiling is quoted once the paper type and the wall underneath have been checked. Making good afterwards is covered on our wall preparation and filling page.
Stripping is often done while a rented property is empty between tenancies, and can be combined with other work through our landlord property maintenance service. In offices and other workplaces, it can be scheduled as part of wider commercial property maintenance. Shelves, curtain poles and other fixings that need to come down and go back up can be handled by our handyman team on the same visit.
Getting the Paper Off
A useful quote starts with a few photos: each wall in daylight, a close-up of a lifted corner or seam, and a note of whether the paper has been painted and roughly how old the property is. Contact Voltify Contractors to arrange a look, or check the areas we cover.
