# Grasscloth Removal, Gardz, & Skimcoat



## Rhood (Oct 9, 2017)

Hello All,
I did drywall for a few years, but have recently gotton into remodels. My first one was a wreck and I went 50% over estimated budget and 2x on time. Looking for some advice on my plan of action for removing some grasscloth. My plan is as follows, any advice in technique, primers, best roller naps, etc.. and all recommndations are appreciated. Thanks.

1. Lay down Ram board leaving about 1/2" gap between baseboards and tape.
2. Remove all baseboards and put some tape down to cover the floor gap.
3. Use dif to wet and remove the wallpaper
4. Use Gardz to seal the walls.
5. Patch and then skim coat the walls. Going to use this technique but thin the mud a little more (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGWbgAUvCM)
6. Gardz again
7. Retrim the baseboard
8. Retape the trim/floor gaps 
9. Spray the primed trim
10. Roll prime the walls and then roll paint.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

Skip the toxic Diff and get some http://www.safeandsimple.com/


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*X-ray vision?*



Rhood said:


> Hello All,
> I did drywall for a few years, but have recently gotton into remodels. My first one was a wreck and I went 50% over estimated budget and 2x on time. Looking for some advice on my plan of action for removing some grasscloth. My plan is as follows, any advice in technique, primers, best roller naps, etc.. and all recommndations are appreciated. Thanks.
> 
> 1. Lay down Ram board leaving about 1/2" gap between baseboards and tape.
> ...


Rhood, welcome. How do you know what the condition of the walls will be after you remove the grasscloth wallpaper and wallpaper glue?

futtyos


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## Rhood (Oct 9, 2017)

Thanks, looks like good stuff, I'll try it out.


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## Rhood (Oct 9, 2017)

Futtyos,

I'm just planning for the worst and hoping for the best. 
On a side note has anyone ever tried this method for skim coating with a magic trowel?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qEKUuUy62Cg


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## kmp (Jan 30, 2011)

Grass cloth is pretty heavy and can take a lot of adhesive to keep it on the wall and can cause more damage than you think when removed. The technique of rolling on the mud and skimming it off works on smooth level 4 walls but could be a lot of extra work on a damaged wall like you could have. Best to skim it with a 12" knife and sand.


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## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

futtyos said:


> Rhood, welcome. How do you know what the condition of the walls will be after you remove the grasscloth wallpaper and wallpaper glue?
> 
> futtyos


What is this glue you speak of?


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## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

Or just use hot water and soilax and or dirtex, no need to go nuclear on it!


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

I'd start with hot water in a garden sprayer and an 8 or 12 in knife...bring lots of rags.


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## XYZ (Sep 27, 2017)

futtyos said:


> Rhood, welcome. How do you know what the condition of the walls will be after you remove the grasscloth wallpaper and *wallpaper glue*?
> 
> futtyos


You are in trouble now futtyos,:vs_laugh:

Tho I don't understand why it's called paste since is doing the glueing not pasting.
Wallpaper hangers are so weird, lol.


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## XYZ (Sep 27, 2017)

Brushman4 said:


> What is this glue you speak of?


watch out futtyos, it's a set up question.
it's a trap, it's a bait :vs_shocked: LOL


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*What?*



XYZ said:


> You are in trouble now futtyos,:vs_laugh:
> 
> Tho I don't understand why it's called paste since is doing the glueing not pasting.
> Wallpaper hangers are so weird, lol.


What?


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Oh dear.*



XYZ said:


> watch out futtyos, it's a set up question.
> it's a trap, it's a bait :vs_shocked: LOL


Oh dear.


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## XYZ (Sep 27, 2017)

futtyos said:


> *What?*


*LOL, *
what What? _ha ha ha _

You don't know that wallpaper hangers, (actually they are wallpaper installers, lol) they have secret hand shakes and secret code names for glue, in case of wallpaper glue they call it... paste.
But this is so very weird because that paste is glueing wallpaper to the wall.
Yes it has a consistency of a paste, but paint has consistency of a milk cream and we painters are not calling it ... creamer, we call it paint, because we are not creaming the walls but we are painting them.:vs_no_no_no:

LOL, you see the confusion why all chemical mediums that glueing something togheter are called... glues, but wallpaper glue that is glueing wallpaper to the wall is called...paste.

That was the reason I refused to become wallpaper hanger/installer gluer paster...LOL :vs_laugh:


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

XYZ said:


> *LOL, *
> what What? _ha ha ha _
> 
> You don't know that wallpaper hangers, (actually they are wallpaper installers, lol) they have secret hand shakes and secret code names for glue, in case of wallpaper glue they call it... paste.
> ...


 Just say adhesive and be done with it.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

kmp said:


> Grass cloth is pretty heavy and can take a lot of adhesive to keep it on the wall and can cause more damage than you think when removed. The technique of rolling on the mud and skimming it off works on smooth level 4 walls but could be a lot of extra work on a damaged wall like you could have. Best to skim it with a 12" knife and sand.


Thanks for that but it should not take any more than normal paper, it's not that heavy and if the walls were primed properly would make not difference at all as to the amount of paste used.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

adhesive and be done with it.


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## kmp (Jan 30, 2011)

I have not personally removed grass cloth but have carried it out to the trash after someone else removed it and it was heavy from all the drywall paper on it.Seems like no one ever properly primes for wall covering. I am on a commercial job now where there is heavy vinyl that has been painted over and boy what a mess.


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## XYZ (Sep 27, 2017)

chrisn said:


> Just say *adhesive* and be done with it.


Vey interesting twist, LOL
But why (seriously) why glue is not accepted terminology amongst wallpaper installers?

There must be some story behind it...


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## Vylum (May 12, 2016)

i always used the word glue but assumed its wrong but feels so right


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## XYZ (Sep 27, 2017)

Vylum said:


> i always used the word glue but assumed its wrong but feels so right


I agree, word glue is very proper word to use describing "wallpaper adhesive".
I think wallpaper hangers using (and insist others to use) word paste because wallpaper glue has pasty consistency.
But different glues have different consistencies, some are thicker like pastes some are more liquidly, some are very thick like construction PL glues.
So to me insisting that wallpaper glue is not a glue but paste is something strange and almost funny:vs_laugh:
Why? 

To me when you use word 'glue' everybody understands that this is something that will attached two objects togheter, but when you use word 'paste' (or even 'wallpaper paste') that doesn't tell me that this is adhesive, that this is glue, paste could be anything.

I just find this very funny (and almost ridiculous) that wallpaper industry is so focused on using this word 'paste', like the word 'glue' is insulting or degrading to their trade or something...

Should painters insist that word 'brush' be replaced with word 'paint applicator', brush sounds so primitive so savage, paint applicator sounds so elegant and so sophisticated. LOL


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Paste is the appropriate terminology because adhesives and glues are designed to permanently join two surfaces, where as paste is designed to be dissolved or separated from. This has always lent itself to design trends and options in the wallcovering industry, provided the substrate was sized properly.

As far as I can tell, wallcovering "adhesives" are designed to apply borders to existing wallcovering, or to fasten problem seams. These products should not be used to apply wallcovering directly to walls.


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## XYZ (Sep 27, 2017)

CApainter said:


> *Paste is the appropriate terminology because adhesives and glues are designed to permanently join two surfaces, where as paste is designed to be dissolved or separated from. *This has always lent itself to design trends and options in the wallcovering industry, provided the substrate was sized properly.
> 
> As far as I can tell, wallcovering "adhesives" are designed to apply borders to existing wallcovering, or to fasten problem seams. These products should not be used to apply wallcovering directly to walls.


haaa, Thank you CApainter
That makes sense now.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

XYZ said:


> Vey interesting twist, LOL
> But why (seriously) why glue is not accepted terminology amongst wallpaper installers?
> 
> There must be some story behind it...


 
this *Definition* of *glue*. 1 a :any of various strong *adhesive* substances; especially :a hard protein chiefly gelatinous substance that absorbs water to form a viscous solution with strong *adhesive* properties and that is obtained by cooking down collagenous materials (such as hides or bones)


back in the day actual glue^ was used, not any more(at least it should not be but some home owners did not get the message)


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

chrisn said:


> this *Definition* of *glue*. 1 a :any of various strong *adhesive* substances; especially :a hard protein chiefly gelatinous substance that absorbs water to form a viscous solution with strong *adhesive* properties and that is obtained by cooking down collagenous materials (such as hides or bones)
> 
> 
> back in the day actual glue^ was used, not any more(at least it should not be but some home owners did not get the message)


That sounds like a weekend with Jeffery Dahlmer


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