We’ve just been told the builders can start soon (despite the fact we don’t have quotes from them in order to pick one) and therefore have started on the lounge aka our sanctuary and only room that was as yet untouched by the tools of demolition.
The one time those beautiful high Victorian ceilings just don’t have the same appeal as every other day during your tenure in a property has to be the days you are stripping the walls for the 100 odd years of paint, paper, hole filling and bodge DIY jobs. It goes on forever and at a snails pace.
Even wallpaper can be a pain sometimes. If it’s been painted over so many times it’s more waterproof than a submarine, it just ain’t coming off without a fight, even using an old hardcore steamer. A couple of things that we found worked well was to follow the joins, bless the joins, which enables the steam to penetrate further under the surface and loosen the various layers underneath. Same with the border or dado rail if you have one.
Start at the top or work or a joint then work across and down, that way the water/steam being lost from the steamer is soaking into the paper beneath and it will be slightly easier once you get there. Might as well take what you can get.
The other thing that worked well sometimes was scoring the paper (seen on the x next to the join in the picture). On this you have to be really careful to score deep enough to penetrate the paper without damaging the delicate lime plaster beneath. You could use a stanley knife or some scrapers will do it. Test patch of course.
If you’re unlucky you’ll come across a lot of patches where very old cracks have formed as the building has settled over time and they have been filled in using cement. This stuff is a nightmare to scrape off, the only saving grace is if you damage it, it’s not ancient, original plasterwork. Just know that it takes forever.
The fireplace which was hidden behind the TV..
Most of the surround for the fireplace was actually filler which comes off easily in chunks so just bash at this with a scraper edge and it should fall away. Don’t waste time uncovering it if you’re not ready to pull it off though.. we’ve heard enough crashing sounds behind the fireplace to know it won’t be pretty when it comes off.
Good luck..