We are still battling the wallpaper- but it is a battle we are conquering more and more each day. Now we just have the upstairs hallway to scrub down (from the glue) with TSP (Titanium Sodium Phosphate powder mixed with warm water). That is probably the worse part of the whole experience. We (throughout the week, I have a small crew of my parents and Jimmy for a few hours on the weekends- as well as a few child laborers that assist in the process) have gone through probably miles of wallpaper- up to 5 and 6 layers thick.
However, the sticky, dirty glue residue that remains requires heavy scrubbing. This means that I am up and down a ladder so that every inch is scrubbed. Needless to say, I am developing carpal tunnel in both wrists (they fall asleep often) and I have bruises on my shins. But, I rest easier knowing the walls are good and clean and ready for the next phase.After all of the scrubbing, which takes almost as long as the wallpaper removal, the walls must be rinsed with warm water (to get rid of powdery residue of the TSP). Once they are dry they can be touched up with joint compound. We have been mostly fortunate in that most of the walls are in good shape. There are a few long (somewhat deep cracks) in almost every room, but overall, they can be touched up easily. We have been relying on Jimmy's dad to do most of the spackling, however, we decided to try it ourselves today. It is not a hard process, but you can't expect it to be perfect the first time you layer on the mixture. The first coat should go on relatively thick- dry- then sanded down. You can repeat this at least one more time until you receive the smoothness you desire.
We had an issue with the plaster in the "dining room" (this may be later referred to as the living room as we are still deciding how to use each of the rooms). It started out as a large, deep crack from ceiling to floor (part of the wall was sunken inward). So, we decided to take out the part that was sunken in (around the window) and repair it using a two-coat plaster process. However, when Jimmy's dad took out that portion of the wall, we noticed that the plaster was applied on brick (not uncommon for an exterior wall) and then on lath within the same horizontal area (somewhat uncommon). Therefore, it was causing the plaster to crack due to the differentiation in the thickness. In addition, as he would tear off the plaster, the other portion of the plaster kept breaking off, too. So, then we decided to remove the plaster in this wall (we rationalized that it would be easier to run electrical outlets and other wiring, as well). Needless to say, this was a very dirty and messy process (everything that was not covered or shut off was covered in a very thick layer of dust). We plan on using gypsum to recover the wall. However, as of now, we have yet to fix the wall (hopefully tomorrow). Of course, I realized, after the wall was down, I could have foregone the wallpaper removal, scrubbing and rinsing. I try not to think about the amount of time that was wasted on that wall. I just hope it looks great when it is installed.
We also have primed the front parlor and pulled up the carpet. The carpet removal was more difficult than one would imagine. First of all the carpet had a tack strip that ran the perimeter of the room (and around the hearth).
Jimmy struggled to get this out in some places because they had used extra long nails. Then we had two layers of padding to dispose of. The top layer we were able to pick up and throw away. However, the bottom (black) layer require scraping (because it was glued down- ARG!!!). There were also an abundance of staples every 6-9 inches. Hopefully we will catch a break in some of the other rooms.Well, that is where we stand right now. Hopefully the next blog won't take as long to post. We will try to do better with posting images and comments about the house! Keep giving us feed back and letting us know what you are up to as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment