Painting After Removing Wallpaper

Reporter attempts to take if off, take it all off

I’ve decided to test the waters about a forthcoming book detailing my secret life as a stripper.

That’s right, by day, I’m a mild-mannered reporter gathering all the news that’s fit to print. And when I don’t have a night meeting to cover, I’m baring it all.

My second profession, not to be confused with the world’s oldest profession, is not without its hazards. Working under the glare of bright lights, I’ve gotten burned, been left in the dust and gotten a real slice of life I didn’t expect. At least I haven’t totally fallen from grace.

But, wallpaper will do that to you, at least if it’s been up nearly a quarter of a century.

I’ve scoured the Internet for secrets to wallpaper surrender and tried various products designed to make the job a snap. I even tried a steamer owned by a friend. But after she burned herself and spent the rest of the day clutching a bag of frozen peas, I stuck to my trusty scraper and a sponge loaded with hot water.

Unfortunately, my wallpaper, too, has stuck, digging its little heels in like cement. As I spent days coaxing it from the walls of my dining room, a front entryway and a bathroom, a cold war began to shape up.

I started having conversations with my adversary. It wasn’t exactly like talking to a brick wall, but more of a snotty, acne-scarred, smug convicted felon with an attitude.

As I sponged, scraped and peeled again and again, I encountered increasing resistance — no, it was full-fledged rebellion — from my opponent.

I even heard the words of our illustrious former governor, “I’m not giving it up for (bleeping) nothin’.”

Lots of songs came to mind, too, with such hits as “I Fought the Wall, and the Wall Won,” or “I’ve Got the Wallpaper-Stripping, Paint-Peeling, Wallboard-Gouging Blues.”

Funny the tricks a repetitive task can play on one’s mind.

Rarely did a section of my enemy go quietly and come down all in one piece. As I stripped away rows of tiny rosebuds or columns of cheerful tulips, the devilish fuzzy paper backing stayed behind, daring me to remove it.

Once in a great while, the wallpaper and the backing came off all in one piece, sort of like nirvana! Just as I was enjoying that small victory, the strip I was working on took out a huge chunk of wallboard for no apparent reason.

Skim Coating and Wallpaper Removal in Park Slope Brooklyn | Eric ...

Here is a job where we had to remove wallpaper and skim coat the plaster walls. Usually when we see wallpaper, it means there was plaster damage that a previous owner did not want to fix, so they wallpaper the wall instead.

Wallpaper removal reveals the plaster damage, then we repair the plaster cracks and skim coat the walls. The walls then have that organic plaster feel again.

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