So the story begins as of two days ago when i moved into this smelly hole of a house and upon inspection the bed room has wallpaper onto plasterboard and no plaster in between. I have no money and I mean not a penny so I would really appreciate some advice onto how to cheaply sort the walls out. I cannot leave the current wall paper on as it is peeling off, stained and looks like the walls of a brothel! I cannot afford to get it plastered and plastering it myself is not a option as I am awful at it! I am worried that removal of the paper may damage the plaster board and painting over the paper is not an option as it has textured patterns on and would look terrible! I have no idea what to do and the Mrs is riding my arseeeee about it! Please help
No matter what you do you are going to have to put your hand in your pocket.......Stick the peeling paper back and paint over it with Zinsser Wallpaper Cover-Up then finish with 2 coats of Soft Sheen emulsion which will softly highlight the textured pattern............... looking towards £100 for materials only.
if it looks like a brothel you have the answer to your money troubles but dont tell the misses you know as she will ask you how you know
If it's peeling already and it hasn't pulled the paper surface off the plasterboard then you might get away with the old fashioned way of stripping walls with water and a sponge, two things you should have already. Keep the wallpaper damp with the sponge by applying it to the back of the paper where it's coming off the wall already and pull lightly bit by bit. it can be a long slow process but it should work. I would use hot water, or if you can borrow a steamer better still. Just be very careful if you use a striping knife. The good thing is that plasterboard is fairly easy to repair with filler. Good Luck
You can't have your cake and eat it... either strip it and get it skimmed, if the plasterboard comes off it's very easy to DIY replace (especially if it's just screwed into batens) OR Leave it as is and don't spend a penny, but you can't really renovate a room/house with not a penny. If the plasterboard is sound you could always just scrim and joint the joints, then prime and paint. Never done it personally so not sure what kind of finish you'd end up with but i suppose it's a cheap option.