Cork wall tiles!

[Katekav]

Really hope someone can help.

We’ve Moved to a house with fairly new cork wall tiles In the hall and up the stairs etc, and the family can’t live with them. I know they’re stuck down with glue and will be a terror to get off. I know they’re also quite a good insulator so it would be great to leave them there as they’re applied quite nicely.

Any suggestions on how to decorate over them or is that a bad idea? Obviously the joints are visible so we can’t just paint straight on.
Help!

 

[RandomGrinch]

Hi,

I'm afraid this might not be much help!
Cork wall tiles seem to be 'on trend' at the moment!
You could start using it as a corkboard; pinning up pictures, a whiteboard, blackboard, post it notes etc.
It could actually be quite useful, and I'm sure the family will join in with the decoration!

 

[Katekav]

Thanks random grinch – a nice picture!
I think we’d be open to leaving one wall as a noticeboard – but there are many many many walls!!
I wonder if lining paper might be an option on the walls we need to cover??

 

[sxturbo]

oh my,

try heating 1 with a heat gun and peeling it off the wall, also try scoring the face and using a wall paper steamer

if that doesnt work then it would be a case of spending a long tim scraping it off the walls and chances are you will need to have the wall plastered after.

if the walls are dot and dab id just remove the plasterboard and reline it rather than mess about trying to scrape it off.

 

[ic1927]

As long as they're well stuck you can put lining paper over them. Do any filling, if needed, size the cork and use a 1200 grade lining paper and use a good quality ready mixed adhesive.

 

[opps]

Whilst I normally agree with ic1927... I wouldn't expect the cork tiles to be perfectly flush where they meet. If that is the case, you will see the joins through the lining paper. You may also find that the lining paper will prone to ripping if someone bumps in to it.

 

[Katekav]

Yes cork does have that slightly spongy texture so might be a problem if somebody is moving furniture say and bangs the lining paper. But there are so many forum threads where people have removed the cork but then found the remaining glue is impossible to deal with – I was really hoping to cover it up as it’s not been done that long ago from the look of it. It’s just so brown!!

 

[opps]

If it hasn't been up that long, I would guess that they used water, rather than solvent based glue. Those glues can often be removed using quality scrapers and white spirit, or even better, cellulose thinners.