Hiring a professional wallpaper remover is almost always worthwhile. Although the work is more expensive due to labor costs, doing it yourself is extremely time-consuming, complicated, and easy to make mistakes and wreak havoc on your walls, regardless of the tools you use. Professional wallpaper removers have the tools and experience to get old wallpaper down quickly and without damaging the walls behind it.

Removing wallpaper can be easy if you have a non-coated wallpaper, but most homeowners have vinyl-coated wallpaper, which is more durable but tears very easily during the removal process. This feature makes it challenging and time-consuming to remove most wallpaper. There are tools to speed up the process, like steamers, but, unfortunately, it’s easy to permanently damage your walls when using them. In most cases, it’s best to hire a professional wallpaper remover to get the job done quickly and without damaging your home.

In most cases, you cannot wallpaper over existing wallpaper. It’s possible to wallpaper over non-coated wallpaper, but vinyl-coated wallpaper is much more prevalent in homes, so you generally shouldn’t put new wallpaper over existing wallpaper. Adding a layer of wallpaper over vinyl-coated paper will lead to poor adhesion, leaving behind bubbles and imperfections in your wall. Plus, wallpapering over vinyl-coated wallpaper can lead to mold growth, which can be hazardous to your health. It’s usually best to hire a local wallpaper removal service to handle the task to avoid these issues.

The average cost to remove wallpaper is around $3 per square foot, but the total depends on the type of wallpaper, how easy it is to remove, and the size of the room. Most homeowners spend around $780 per room for wallpaper removal, and prices typically fall between $200 and $2,000. Wallpaper removal is expensive because it tends to be a very time-consuming job, and it can sometimes take a full day or more for the work to complete.

The easiest way to remove wallpaper is to use a steamer. The hot steam will loosen the wallpaper paste and make peeling the wallpaper off in large sheets much easier. Unfortunately, steamers can create irreparable damage on your walls, so it’s not a good idea for DIYers to use steamers to remove wallpaper. Instead, hire a professional wallpaper remover to do the work for you. This method will not only speed up the process, but it will also ensure your walls will remain intact post-wallpapering.