We have a lot of wall. Here’s the maths:
The ceiling is generally 3m away in most rooms
+
The total internal sq meterage of the property is 191
=
A lot of wall. Fact.
Every single one of our walls was papered. Some had lining paper too, many had several coats of paint on top of the wallpaper.
Yep, in the last couple of months we’ve done more stripping than a cheap hooker in an Amsterdam window.
Oly’s brother lends a hand
In some rooms it came off in great long, satisfying strips – like a ready-to-pick knee scab.
The back bedroom was one of the best rooms for this and we also uncovered this curious declaration:
Love graffiti. Who the hell are Wilb and Deev?!
In other rooms it unveiled impressive cracks:
The bedroom crack, also the homepage header. Recognise it?
In some areas it pulled huge wads of crumbling plaster with it:
Ooops.
But most of all it just stubbornly clung to the walls, impervious to steam. However, we got there in the end and learnt a few things along the way.
- Anyone who attempts to get wallpaper off without a steamer is, quite frankly, an idiot.
- Wallpaper is surprisingly heavy when bagged up.
- You will need a lot of bags and a lot of trips to the tip.
- The steam is excellent for asthma and also a great mini facial.
- Steam burns.
- You will be covered in what we eloquently described as Wallpaper Jizz.
We also had lots of reproduction (cheap) plaster mouldings to contend with and they’ve left a bit of a mess where they’ve been chipped off.
It took two of them to work this out
And so this is what we’ve been left with and have been living with for weeks.
Kind of a mess? Huh? Our plan had been to get cracking with the plastering on all the walls (and the hideous ceilings) as soon as we could however the electrics threw a major spanner in the works – no point plastering when we needed rewiring and investigation.
However, that’s all now sorted and we can finally begin the plaster work. We have been warned about the total disruption, the mess and the dust but, to be honest, we’re not sure the house can get much worse at the moment. And besides, there’s always whisky.
Come on! Let’s get plastered!!
The worst is over. Here’s to no more snags just beautiful restoration. Can’t wait to see it. Love the “jizz” term. I’ll be using it in every context I can come up with. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Ha! Here’s hoping the worst is over! Careful not to overuse the ‘jizz’ term!!
Don’t worry about jizz, I know it’s (ahem) got some unsavory connotations but I doubt anyone in my circle would have a clue. Jo
Phew! That’s ok then. Didn’t want to be responsible for an international language incident!!!
Haha I know exactly what you mean by wallpaper “jizz” We were the same! At least you’re on your way now to having fresh new walls. Good luck! X
Im loving seeing your progress which is coming along at lightning speed!! Well done chaps…its all so exciting x
Wow! That is a lot of stripping! It is such hard work so I am very impressed you have done so many rooms. Can’t wait to see what you do next! C x
I felt your pain reading this. A very funny account of an incredibly hard job. We’ve got wallpaper everywhere but thankfully not such high ceilings! You’ve made fantastic progress.