The first of many

Well, the fun has officially began! Day 1 and Day 2 of stripping wallpaper was about what one would expect...full of learning, patience, and realization. Oh and don't forget to expect the unexpected!

The first step is probably the most important. Wallpaper has 2 elements, the top decorative layer and the bottom paper layer that gets glued to the wall. It is pretty easy to separate the two layers but the top layer does not always come off in large strips. Without removing the top layer, the steam/water would not be able to penetrate the 2nd layer that has the glue on the back. So thus began the removal of wallpaper in room number 1, the formal living room! As much as we are going to miss the brown wallpaper with the matching brown curtains, we are ready to get this process started!

When doing our research there were two ways of wallpaper removal that we decided we were going to try; the first was the wall paper steamer and the second included a drywall sponge and a bucket of water. We gave the steamer a try first.

After researching steamers and reading reviews, we landed on the $150 multipurpose steamer instead of the commercial steamer that was $600+ per steamer. Ultimately, the reviews on the multipurpose steamer were better and the helpful man at home improvement store agreed and told us, "Make sure you buy the Wagner." This suggestion also came after he offered us a bottle of lighter fluid to burn the house down once we told him about our fun little project...the first of many jokes that are sure to be made.

John was excited to open up the steamer we had purchased for this project. Overall, this product was super easy to use and does it's job...it produces a lot of steam and is fairly compact and easy to move around. We quickly learned that this is where the patience part comes into play...the steamer only steams a 6x12 inch area AND you have to hold it in place for 20-30 seconds so the wall thoroughly gets damp so you can actually start removing the second layer of paper. Some areas were easy to remove while others needed the pressure and straight-edge of the wallpaper scrapper. Thus, our first two lessons that we learned about this project:

1. The walls in the formal living room were not primed prior to having the wallpaper applied. What does this mean? It is very easy to remove the top layer of the wallpaper and drywall which in turn damages the drywall. (Were John and I optimistically hoping we would just remove the wallpaper and not have to make any drywall repairs...why yes, yes we were...however that naivety was thrown out the window in 0.0056 seconds). Thus, comes our first realization...we are most likely going to have to skim coat all the walls prior to priming and painting....which, you guessed it, means $$$. However, that is why we have our contingencies built in!

2. Trash...make sure you have your trash cans and/or bags ready to go! As soon as Lisa (John's mom) and Sue (my mom) saw the first room, they said the same thing, "You know you should probably have a trash bag to put the wallpaper in when it comes down the first time so you do not have to touch the wallpaper twice." Characteristically, John and I made sarcastic remarks and I then showed them the trash bag on the stairs and said we had one...they were both unamused! BUT, they do make a great point and we purchased trash can on our next trip to the home improvement store. I guess there is a reason an old adage tells you to listen to your mother.

When we returned for the second day of wallpaper stripping, we wanted to try the second method of removing the bottom layer as the steamer was taking a very long time for not that great of progress. This method included a bucket of water, dish soap and drywall sponges. The theory here is that you run a damp, soapy sponge over the paper multiple times and it de-sticks the glue on the back of the paper...this method requires patience as it does take several passes in order to work. (And shockingly even more passes when your walls do not have primer on them, aren't we lucky!) This method worked WONDERS and we were able to strip the remaining of the formal living room in a day! We used wallpaper scrapers and metal putty knives to scrap the second layer of paper off the wall. We also had the support and help of my family to get this completed, they were rockstars! I mean just look at that transformation!!

Once a group was rocking and rolling in the formal living room, a group moved to the living room and started the removal process there. This wallpaper is very perplexing as it was a collaged peel and stick thing...and boy was that a conundrum!

(Above: original wallpaper; Below: Scot and Mark removing the layers)

We left on Saturday with some of the wallpaper removed and plans to tackle the rest of the room on Sunday.

Let's rewind to lunchtime on Saturday and having a toilet spring a leak. We tried turning the valve to the toilet off with no luck so we jerry-rigged the flapper in the tank so that water would not flow and placed a bucket underneath just in case. Sunday, we woke up with plans to replace the toilet so we went and bought that and a new rubber gasket with the dreams of replacing the toilet...we arrived around 10am to a flooded bathroom and wet, bubbled drywall with water dripping into the basement. Wah wah wahhhhhhhh!

So Sunday morning was spent clearing out the wet drywall and insulation in the basement, removing the broken toilet, tearing up the ugly linoleum, and replacing the valve. Three trips were made to a certain helpful hardware store and they were indeed helpful! All in all, today was a true test of patience and homeownership woes. We did learn the lesson of turning the water off to the whole house and plan to keep that one close. The one thing to note with buying an "As Is" house is that you inherit these issues and as you can see below, this toilet has had a slow leak for quite some time. Ultimately, we are happy that we discovered this sooner rather than later even though it was a bitter sweet day!

(Above: bathroom subfloor; Below: drywall removal in basement ceiling)

The silver lining from this weekend was my village that showed up on both days! They helped troubleshoot the issues and provide laughs when feeling low, that is something special there! Once we managed to get the bathroom issue resolved, we went back to what we know best...wallpaper removal and managed to get the living room completely rid of wallpaper, now that was a feat after the morning we had!

Here's to next weekend!