A lot of wallpaper to remove
Wallpaper removal is something most people don’t enjoy. I think I might have been one of them. The first time I was given the task of removing wallpaper by Ecopainting, it was during the painting of a Scarborough home. George asked me if I had done it before. I told him no, honestly not thinking I had before. He instructed me on how to do it and left me to finish up when he saw I had gotten the hang of it. As I was removing the wallpaper all I could think of was that I felt like it was strangely familiar. The longer I worked on it the more I thought I might have been wrong about not having removed wallpaper before.
Repressed Memories of Wallpaper Removal
After work that day I called my mom and we and I mentioned to her that as I was removing the wallpaper, I could have sworn I’d done it before . She started to laugh and said “I guess you blocked out the memory of spending a weekend at your Aunt’s removing very stubborn wallpaper.” Then it clicked, I did remember. I also remembered removing the wallpaper at my godmother’s house which her son had painted over with a Pink Floyd album cover. Neither of those experiences were fun. Removing the wallpaper at my Aunts’ house was like taking pieces the size of frosted flakes off the wall. It was terrible. It took us a weekend to remove a hallway of wallpaper and there were several members of the family there helping.
The House of Wallpaper
The second time I removed wallpaper with Ecopainting was in this house covered with wallpaper. The wallpaper was crazy. The second you walked into the house your eyes were assaulted with this insanely busy wallpaper. It seemed like something that would be worn by Don Cherry if it were a fabric. From the entrance of the house you could see five different kinds of wallpaper, all of them with a feature pattern. Some of the wallpaper was super easy to remove. Some of the top layer peeled off without even needing to soak it. In one of the other rooms was wallpaper that seemed easy to remove, until you saw that underneath it was paint over top of another layer of wallpaper. That wallpaper was not easy to remove. It took a very long time to get off and was not a fun time. When we were finished removing the wallpaper the house looked so much better. It wasn’t terrifying to enter the house anymore.
Painting happens AFTER wallpaper removal
If you have wallpaper, DO NOT PAINT OVER IT!!! Not only will it not look very good but it’s a nightmare for whoever comes along next and tries to remove it. Painting over wallpaper can be done if absolutely necessary but only by professionals. If not done properly, the paint doesn’t hide seams between sheets of wallpaper or the texture of the wallpaper. When it is time for the poor painters to remove it, it takes so much time to soak the wallpaper under the paint and the wallpaper will only come off in tiny pieces. Not to mention all the gouges you accidentally put in the wall trying to scrape off the stubborn wallpaper. However, if you do find yourself struggling with wallpaper that has been painted over or super stubborn wallpaper, you could scour the wall everywhere before soaking it. There are some specialty gel products that can do the job. These products keep the wallpaper and surface wet longer until it has a chance to penetrate and soften the glue.
I could always do it for you..
My new-found enthusiasm and skill set will now land me a permanent spot in the old wallpaper removal crew of Ecopainting! Seriously, if you need any wallpaper removed, Ecopainting is the company to do it for you. We have removed a lot of wallpaper over the years and use a specialty eco-friendly removal solution that is very effective. If the walls behind the wallpaper are in bad shape we have the experience to repair them and make them look like new!
Call 416 733-7767 to request a quote for it. Walls should never look like Don Cherry’s suits.