Scrape Scrape Scrape

I've learned some interesting things about the previous owners in the last day, none of them flattering.

For one thing, they seemed to think that you could repair a spongy plaster wall by nailing it back to the lath. I can't even figure out how to start explaining why that is so completely and utterly the wrong thing to do, but let's just leave it at the fact that they did that, and I have to figure out whether I want to try to repair the resulting mess or just knock out that section and replaster (I'm quite handy with the plaster spatula; it's a lot like icing a cake to be perfectly smooth).

Also, they repaired sagging wallpaper (sagging, I might note, because of a roof leak that they were ignoring) by stapling it back up. Dude. So wrong.

Fortunately for me, the previous owners were also not so great at prepping walls for paint. This means that the wallpaper with paint on top is actually coming up pretty well, though I will be using wallpaper remover later tonight, I am sure.

Once I finish the stripping, I'll be putting mesh up to repair the larger problem areas, then filling the small holes with drywall mud, then putting a skim coat over the whole mess. I got some drywall repair patches at the store today, so if I'm feeling energetic I may also mud in the laundry room where Noel knocked holes in the wall during the electrical work.

I have primer, and I have pots of sample paint to try out, but I think it's going to be a few days before the walls are ready for actual paint.

posted by ayse on 07/13/04