Having vinyl wallpaper removed: why it is trickier and what it costs

Why is vinyl wallpaper harder to remove than paper wallpaper?

Vinyl wallpaper consists of two layers: a plastic top layer on a paper or fleece backing. That top layer makes the wallpaper washable, which is why people like to choose it for a kitchen, hallway or children’s room. Exactly that quality gets in your way once it has to come off.

With paper wallpaper, warm water soaks through the paper and loosens the glue. With vinyl, the water stays on the plastic. The glue behind the wallpaper notices nothing, however long you keep sponging.

The same goes for the well-known home remedies. A drop of washing-up liquid or fabric softener in the water only helps once the water can reach the glue. As long as the top layer is intact, it makes little difference what you put in the bucket.

The good news: the top layer usually comes away from the backing. Remove it first and you are left with plain paper or fleece on the wall, which can be soaked loose.

How do you remove vinyl wallpaper step by step?

With vinyl, the order is always the same. The time each step takes depends on how old the wallpaper is and how well the glue holds.

1. Cover up. Lay plastic sheeting or cardboard on the floor and unscrew the cover plates from switches and sockets.
2. Loosen the top layer. Slide a filling knife under a corner or seam and take hold of the plastic layer.
3. Peel it off dry. Pull the top layer up from the wall slowly and at an angle, in as long a strip as possible.
4. Soak the backing loose. Wet the paper layer that is left behind or use a wallpaper steamer, and let the moisture soak in.
5. Remove the backing. Scrape the soaked paper away from bottom to top, without digging into the wall.
6. Clear the glue residue and let the wall dry. New wallpaper does not stick to old glue. Then let the wall dry for at least 24 hours.

Only once the wall is dry do you see what it needs for the new finish. If you have fibreglass on the wall, removing fibreglass wallpaper works differently, because it has a layer of paint on top.

What do you do if the top layer tears into small pieces?

With old vinyl wallpaper, this happens often. After years the plastic has become brittle and breaks off in scraps instead of coming away in strips. Foamed vinyl, with a thick relief layer, also tears more easily.

The top layer then has to be opened up so that moisture or steam can still reach the glue. You do this by perforating the wallpaper with a spiked roller or wallpaper scorer, and then steaming or soaking it. After that you carry on piece by piece.

Be careful when perforating on plasterboard. The tool easily pierces the cardboard facing of the board, and that cardboard then absorbs water. Steaming one spot for too long also softens the cardboard. On plasterboard walls, we therefore use as little moisture as the job allows.

Can’t you simply wallpaper or paint over vinyl wallpaper?

Better not to. It seems to save time, but the old wallpaper then becomes the base for your new finish, with all the risks that come with that.

New wallpaper is hung with wet paste. That moisture can make the old wallpaper let go, and it then takes the new layer with it. You end up removing wallpaper after all, but now two layers at once.

Painting over has a similar problem. Ordinary paper or vinyl wallpaper copes less well with repeated repainting: after a few times the texture clogs up or the top layer lets go. If you want a wall that you can give a new colour more often, a wall with renovation fleece is made for that.

Whether the old wallpaper is secure enough in your case is something we assess during the site visit. If it is not firmly attached everywhere, it has to come off before anything new goes on.

What does it cost to have vinyl wallpaper removed?

Removing vinyl wallpaper costs €9.74 per m² with us for one layer. That is more than the €6.99 for unpainted paper wallpaper, because the top layer and the backing each have to come off the wall separately.

Prices exclude VAT. For renovation work on a home over 10 years old, VAT is usually 6%, otherwise 21%. The exact rate is shown in your quote.

An example: a living room with 45 m² of wall covered in vinyl wallpaper costs 45 × €9.74 = €438.30 to strip. A bedroom with 30 m² of wall comes to 30 × €9.74 = €292.20. On average, our team removes wallpaper at a rate of 100 m² per day. Vinyl takes more steps per m² than paper, and we factor that into the schedule.

If there is another layer under the vinyl, or it was ever painted over, we record that during the site visit. Other types each have their own price: what wallpaper removal costs depends on the type and the number of layers. You will find the full list on our prices page.

Who removes your vinyl wallpaper and finishes the wall afterwards?

That is done by one of our 40 wallpaper hangers; all 97 tradespeople at Bouwsector België are on our permanent payroll. The same team removes the vinyl and can then finish the wall straight away.

What is needed after removal depends on the wall. Small holes we fill, after which new wallpaper can go on. For hairline cracks or an uneven wall, renovation fleece is the usual choice. New wallpaper only goes on once it is a wall ready for wallpaper.

In your request, tell us which rooms have vinyl and whether it was ever painted over. The right surcharge will then already be in the free quote you receive within 24 hours. During the site visit, we also check whether there is plasterboard underneath, because there we use as little moisture as possible.

New wallpapering work that we do afterwards carries a 1-year guarantee. If you have other wallpaper that has to come off, you can also have us remove that wallpaper.