I am a professional painter and removal of wallpaper or wall covering is always a challenge.
I once was at a home where the husband's comment was "that his wife never met a wallpaper
she didn't like!
Usually the choice of wallpaper either dates the home or is just outright wrong.
Removal choices:
1. Strip
2. Cover over with another wallpaper
3. Don't strip and paint over
4. Forget it and leave it to the next owner...making an allowance in your pricing which you identify.
"we know you might not like the present choice of wall treatment in ??? room, so we have
made an allowance of $???? .
Now to explain.
1. Strip --- the paper may or may not come off. You might do damage to the walls in
attempting to remove the paper which would cause you to need to prime the walls, patch the walls, prime,
and paint with 2 coats.
You will also need to wash the walls to make sure that no glue is left on the walls prior to doing anything.
A smart painter would want to have him paid by the hour and materials. No one likes an open ending pricing!
"Paper Tiger" is advised to score the present covering before applying your choice of mixture. My choice is
fabric softner and very hot water applied several times before attempting to remove the paper. The use
of the "Paper Tiger" will cause you to need to "float" or patch the walls. I found that using the edge of
my painter's tool worked better as I didn't press as hard and that the edge of the "5 in 1" was rounded and
didn't require me to "float" the wall
2. Cover with another paper is probably the cheapest solution; but if the paper is already falling or pealing off the
wall, I would not recommend.
3. Don't strip and paint over.
This method will save you a great deal of cost and time.
What I do is cut out any heavy overlapping seams, prime with an oil not latex primer (Kilz is inexpensive), throw away
the roller cover and cheap brush which I purchase for this task. Be sure to cover the roller cover first with masking tape to
remove any fuzz. Then I quickly skim with a fast drying drywall mud such as a 5 minute (this is tricky as the mud dries
in about 4 minutes - so don't make a large batch - make small batches; sand, re-prime the patch areas, put your first coat
of paint on the walls. Make sure the paint is fully dry ... 4 hours should do it. (DO NOT USE SEMI-GLOSS SHEEN AS
IT WILL TAKE MUCH LONGER TO DRY). Put your 2nd coat of paint on and walk away after doing your cleanup.
Painters will use an expression "it looks good from my house" and you will be happy with your work after it dries.
Don't spend $500 or more on changing the paper in a bathroom .... 2 days labor and materials.
The expression that it takes only 1 Buyer also applies to their taste in decorating. Consider giving the allowance and focus on making the
outstanding parts of your home be seen.
Thanks for reading and please don't waste your money.
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