DIY Chronicles - Bath Remodel v.1
It started peeling. And then it began....
The wall paper installed by the builder lifted up enough so I ripped a piece. It came off smoothly, leaving with extra confidence that this daunting task may actually be possible to do on my own. I grabbed my extra confidence and decided to go for it. I grab my supplies and got to work. Score, Spray, Slice. Score. Spray. Slice.
Not long after I got started, my hopes of a simple wall paper removal process went awry. Seriously, did they use giant globs of liquid nails to adhere this to the wall? As I went along it seemed like the paper was staying but the wall was coming off in large chunks. "This is a disaster, I need to stop now. Oh wait, this piece came of clean, I can finish the rest." The wall was teasing me just enough to get me to the end. I kept repeating this pattern. A hard section with a lot of profanity and then an easy section will a lot of praise to the Lord above. I finally reached the end and soon enough the wall was mangled in some places, but wall paper free.
Time for rehab, and where I asked the husband to tag in for the assist.
Shawn to the rescue. A few home depot trips for some skim coat for drywall and wall texture. Soon enough, we had a wall ready for paint, something I can actually handle.
What did I learn from this? DO NOT REMOVE THE WALL PAPER BY YOURSELF. Either hire someone who knows what needs to happens, or just leave it. The damage done to the wall was not worth the savings for my DIY efforts and is not something I will tackle again.
I did learn the words "skim coat," "oil based primer," and "joint compound' out of this. I also got a massive education about how wall paper works..... layer upon layer of education (pun intended). I can now help my clients to better understand what kind of project they may have to tackle when they are purchasing a new home that needs renovation as well. So overall, it's a win!
Phase 1 complete. White walls with texture and we are ready for Phase 2. Remove the tile countertop that was the true cause for this project beginning. Stay tuned for the next episode of the DIY Chronicles - Bath Remodel.
