Yesterday I spent most of the day sewing...started a black, white and red quilt for my stepdaughter.It was a good sewing day, listened to a book on tape and got a lot done.
Today I decided I couldn't put it off any longer. I started a few weeks ago taking the wallpaper off my hall bathroom. In between then and now, I have worked on it in little spurts. Well I am really getting tired of looking at it so this morning I figured I would tackle it again. I got it finished except for an area around the toilet.
We are going to replace the sink and toilet so I will finish that area after my DH takes out the old toilet.
I realize as I'm taking the last of the paper down, that the walls are going to need a lot of prep work before they are ready to paint. I know I have to wash them down to get the rest of the glue off the walls.....What would you use...vinegar in water or something else?
Of coarse I overdid it, trying to get it finished today.I am thinking of doing a venetian plaster finish to the walls. There are places where medicine cabinets etc. had been and would require a lot of work to get smooth.
Has anybody done this? How hard is it to do? I have done some plastering so I am no totally inexperienced. I wish I could just blink my eyes and it would all be done!! ;)

Maybe try some TSP, it comes in a box, so you can mix it as strong as needed... Do use gloves, it is a chemical :wink: but doesn't have noticeable fumes.
You can get this at most stores in the hardware area.

I've done this with my midnight orchid coloured walls and ceiling in my bedroom. I love it. It is rough enough to look "old" but smooth enough to be easy to wash and keep clean. We decided to do this as there is a lack of skilled workers in our area and maybe we are too cheep to hire someone. That being said if you can almost smooth on the plaster, you're good to go. I tried blinking my eyes....is it done yet?

Tsp is the way to go for washing the walls but get the liquid stuff then you don't have to rinse the walls after you wash them the first time.

I had the paper left on the wall after parer was ripped down. I bought one of those etching round things[? @ the hardware store] Then I strayed Fabric Softner on it wait 3-5 min. and it came right off. the rm smelled good too. You can use cheap softner too.

That's what I've been working on taking off...the paper under the paper....I used hot water and fabric softner in a spray bottle....worked pretty well except for those few stubborn spots. :x

Did you just put the plaster on the walls and then paint over it? Did you have to seal the plaster first with primer?

GEEZE!!! I thought this was going to be a joke. . . . . :shock:

Sorry....that will be later!!!

toilet humor

There was nothing funny about what I did today! I am tired!!!

DITTER, I also used a sponge with the scrubby side to take my rough spots off.............. FYI Good Luck...............

Ditter, I'd just buy a bigger new medicine cabinet to cover the area, beats plastering. :oops:

Ditter, I'd just buy a bigger new medicine cabinet to cover the area, beats plastering. :oops: Maybe cover the area with a nice large mirror. :oops:

The problem is where it was, not its size.... ;-)

I use HOT water with vinegar, it seems to disolve the paste pretty well and its cheap. Patch big holes with drywall, if your old medicine chest was above the sink, you'll probably hang a mirror anyways, so your plasater jub doesn't have to be perfect! You should put a sealer over bare drywall, but a couple coats of paint will work. Bathrooms are my least favorite to do..too much stuff to work around and tight spaces. Good luck, have fun.

I think you should just move to a new house.




Sorry, couldn't resist hahahaha

Before painting would seal, especially in the restroom, there are some spray on items. Careful if working with areas if the paint is really old, don't want to get into the lead paint etc. When your working on the area benind the commode make sure to cover the plumbing drain hole, those sewer fumes are not good!
Checked the DIY and This old House when, worked on fixing some broken drywall corners, sure some of the other, hardware co's have resources these helped a lot and couldn't believe it worked, sure did feel good when it was done.
Good Luck on the project !! :)

Ditto C.Cal Quilt Girl - after you've got your plaster on it is best to seal it somehow (primer or something), because without it when you use your "pretty" paint it will be "sucked up" by the plaster in strange and unusual ways AMHIK -- just saying I learned my lesson.

Since it is going to be in a bathroom I would primer it with Kilz as they have one that helps prevent mold and mildew from popping up on the walls. My house is 90 yrs old and the br was made out of part of the original kitchen as there wasn't running water here when they built the house. Ventilation is a problem with the bathroom so when we remodeled we used this to help prevent the mold and so far it is working. Before this we had problems every few years.

Don't know if I would do a texture in a bathroom. No matter how careful I am about allowing moisture to remain in the bathroom, one day I look up and there is mildew on the wall or ceiling. Texture is harder to clean than a smooth wall...

I am not an obsessive cleaner by any means, but my shower gets wiped down daily specifically to avoid mildew formation. But "Mother Nature" finds a way.

Did you put the liquid fabric softener in a spray bottle? I don't use fabric softener because of allergies, but if using it would take old wallpaper off my bathroom wall, I might be willing to suffer.

Started taking down wallpaper in our bathroom 2 years ago. I put the paper up, sized the walls - did everything as directed. It won't come off no matter what I do!

I use to do these sort of things, always like to change things, finally ready to leave well enough alone. Everything is in good shape.

Our house is almost 20 yo and we had it built, so the wallpaper was some I had put up. The top layer stripped off easily, but the under layer with the glue was a different story. Thankfully it's all gone now except a little around the toilet. I think the kilz is a good idea since one of the reasons I was removing the paper was mold behind the toilet. If I put texture on the walls it won't be a lot, just enough to hide imperfections in the walls.I will be so glad to have this project done. Our bathroom is next but it won't be so hard as there is only paper (vinyl) on two walls.....

Ditter, what about using the sandy stuff that they put on ceilings? That would be just a light texture. Also, there is a heavy wallpaper that is made specifically for damaged walls,

I started tearing down the sanitas in the kitchen and pulled off the top coat of the drywall so I'm going to have the same problem that you're having. Wish I had walked away instead of starting.