Remove wallpaper before dry-lining walls? Information, help, tips and advice on cavity walls, ceilings and lofts etc....

[TonyR2023]

Is it necessary to remove wallpaper before dry-lining? I am dry-lining the house (with 18” solid walls) using insulated plasterboard. There are sloping ceiling sections that I will be over-boarding with insulated plasterboard and over-boarding the rest of the ceilings with straight plasterboard and an extra 200mm of fibre glass in the loft. The ceilings are lath and plaster and papered with painted wood-chip wallpaper that is a pig to get off even with a steamer and the old plaster underneath is a bit friable. I know some will say take the ceiling down and have a clean start but that is not a realistic option. So just wondering is there any reason not to over-board on top of the wood-chip paper? I will be fixing through directly into the roof and ceiling joists so there is no adhesion issue to worry about.

[stoneyboy]

Hi tonyr2023,
Since you will be mechanically fixing the over boarding there is no gain in removing the old wall paper. It may be worth using sticky foam so as to limit the number of fixings needed.
Regards S

[TonyR2023]

Thanks. That’s reassuring and makes life a lot easier.