How to Remove Glue on a Wall After Taking Down Wood Paneling

Wood paneling is an inexpensive wall covering that is either nailed to a wall or glued to lath. Homeowners updating a room may find an unpleasant surprise once the wall paneling is peeled away: sticky discolored glue. To renovate the wall, you'll have to remove the paneling glue first. While this is not complicated, you'll need to work carefully to get the glue off the surface without gouging it.

Dropcloths
Rubber gloves
Citric-based adhesive remover
Scraper
Steel wool
Bucket
Trisodium phosphate (TSP)
Sponges

Instructions

- 1
  Put dropcloths over the floor and against the wall. Open the windows to get a steady stream of circulating air.
- 2
  Put on rubber gloves and spray a citric-based adhesive remover over the glue. Allow the remover to soak into the glue as long as directed by the manufacturer. This can be several hours.
- 3
  Gently scrape away the paneling glue from the top of the wall toward the bottom. Repeat as necessary in rows from the ceiling to the floor until all the glue has been scraped away.
- 4
  Clean the wall with steel wool, using less of the citric-based adhesive remover once the largest sections of glue have been removed.
- 5
  Fill a bucket with 1 part TSP and 4 parts water. Clean the wall with a sponge dipped in the mixture. Rinse clean with an unused, damp sponge and let surfaces air dry.

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