A Christian Woman Thinks (And It's Dangerous)

Viva La DIF-ference

One of the reasons we were so happy about the previous potential buyers for our house was that they wanted it "as is." We have a bathroom project that turned out to be more than just stripping the wallpaper and painting - it turned out to be kind of a nightmare. The wallpaper is so old when you take off the paper (IF you can get it off - you have to use gobs of DIF, that stuff that takes it off) you go right down to the dry wall. Any paint left there begins to peel, no matter how much you sand it. Here, see for yourself how awful these walls are:

We should have known, we went through this taking wallpaper off the living room walls a few years back. Anyway, we didn't want to keep working on it and since the other potential buyers said don't bother, we didn't.

Well, now we are showing the house again and have another open house in a week. So we're back to DIF-ing the walls. DH actually finished one wall and painted it, you can see the color somewhat here:

I know, the photo isn't that appealing. The color is called weathered timber, kind of a taupie brown with a bit of pinkish, almost purplish hue... I like it, actually. The walls are still pretty rough but it beats having to replace all the sheet rock.

Tonight DH was DIF-ing over the tub, a really bad area. The sheet rock is actually kind of rotting there - YUK. He made a mess in the bathroom...

If you've never used DIF before, it stinks. It's just this spray you put on, leave for a while, then you have to come and scrape off the remaining paper and you have these sticky bits of paper all over the place. Phew. The house is 29 years old, this paper has been there for who knows how long.... but the previous owners liked wallpaper and it was all over the house. Well, after getting a glimpse of these walls, maybe that's why they put paper over them. It would have been easier than making these walls smooth again. I think there's some kind of large tape you can put on to make large areas smooth, but I don't know what it is. So here we are...

That's what we're up to this week.

oh boy.......

{ 09:35, Friday, August 11, 2006 } { Posted by deedee06 }

What a job. When we moved into our house, the bathroom was covered with a lovely 1960s grasscloth. It came off fairly easily, but the paste residue was very thick. I can remember using the paste remover and scrubbing my little heart out. Recently we replaced a toilet and there was still a little grasscloth and paste residue to remove. I didn't want to buy a whole container of paste remover for such a little area, so I tried acetone instead. It worked like a charm. Thought I would pass on the tip in case it would save you a dollar sometime!
I have to tell you that I vetoed the camo bedspread idea, plus the matching curtains. But I did buy some green paint for the bedroom! Have a great day, Chris. Always fun to talk with you...............Denise (prairiemom)

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{ 11:02, Friday, August 11, 2006 } { Posted by morningsunshine }

gee, sounds like the house we bought! every wall - and ceiling - was either wallpapered or HEAVILY textured. we have sanded the texture on the upstairs walls, and the bathroom/master bed ceilings so it is a sutle texture now instead of pokey, and most of the wallpaper is gone. but, I do know the feeling!

Sorry I haven't written

{ 01:15, Friday, August 11, 2006 } { Posted by kenyachick }

it was good to see John even if it was only his arm and hairy legs!!!! We finally fixed up our house just to sell it!! oh well. got to run, I posted a quick entry on mine and one thing you'll never hear me say is "No thanks I'd rather have tea (chai) instead!!!" I am a Kahowa (coffee) girl tell I die or until my teeth turn completely brown!!!!

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{ 03:19, Saturday, August 12, 2006 } { Posted by southernbelle }

A little birdie told me that it was your Birthday today. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Your Birthday is the day after my husbands. : )

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{ 02:46, Monday, August 14, 2006 } { Posted by southofthegnatline }

.....ooooh.......I"ve had my fair share of papering, re-papering and painting. But when it's all done - it is very rewarding. But one of the reasons when we built this house on the dirt road we went with only paint ("color on the walls") - no papering - I end up talking to myself like a crazy lady when wallpapering.

Thank you so much for leaving Sam a comment over at Treehouse Island - very encouraging and a great pick-me-up for him. He is such a hard little worker and it doesn't take but a few words of encouragement to really help him ~ I think he's planning to write a separate post just on the Pirates for your husband! That boy loves his baseball!

Thanks again and good luck with your on-going work!
Blessings,
Harriette