How much does it cost to remove old wallpaper and repaint a room in a Moncton home?

Wallpaper removal and repainting in a typical Moncton room runs $600-$1,200 all-in -- but that range can climb significantly if the walls are damaged underneath, which is common in older NB homes.

Wallpaper removal is labour-intensive work that most homeowners seriously underestimate. The process involves scoring the paper, applying a stripping solution or steam, and peeling it off in layers -- often multiple layers in older homes. What comes off rarely comes off cleanly. Older Moncton homes, particularly those built before 1980, frequently have wallpaper glued directly to drywall (rather than over a primer), which means the paper face of the drywall tears away when the wallpaper is pulled. The result is a wall that looks like Swiss cheese -- gouged, fuzzy, and completely unacceptable as a paint surface without significant repair.

Once the wallpaper is off, walls almost always require skim coating -- a thin layer of joint compound spread across the entire wall surface to fill gouges, smooth out texture differences, and create a uniform base. Skim coating adds $300-$700 per room in labour and materials depending on wall condition. After skim coating, the walls need to be sanded, primed with a PVA or shellac-based primer (which seals the repaired drywall surface), and then painted with at least two coats. A room in poor condition can require 2-3 days of prep before a single drop of paint goes on.

NB housing stock makes this particularly relevant. Many Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John homes from the 1960s through 1980s have two, three, or even four layers of wallpaper -- sometimes with a layer of painted-over paper in the middle. Each additional layer adds time and cost. If you are buying or renovating an older NB home and suspect multiple wallpaper layers, budget on the higher end: $1,000-$1,800 per room is realistic once skim coating, priming, and painting are factored in.

Practical tips: You can do a test patch yourself before getting quotes. Wet a small section with warm water and a sponge -- if the paper absorbs moisture and peels in large sheets, the walls were likely primed before papering and damage will be minimal. If it tears in tiny pieces and the drywall paper comes with it, budget for skim coating. Always get quotes that explicitly include wallpaper removal, surface repair, priming, and two coats of paint so you are comparing apples to apples.

When to hire a pro: Wallpaper removal followed by repainting is one of the clearest cases for hiring a professional. The skim coating and priming stages require experience to do correctly -- improperly skimmed walls will show every flaw once painted. For most NB homeowners, this is not a DIY-friendly project beyond perhaps removing the paper itself in a small, modern room.

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