Stairway update: Drywall and ugly plaster

The stairway project has been a bit slow going, but we are making progress! Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of pretty things to show you yet. We are almost back to square one with the upper walls. The drywall is up, but still needs to be taped and mudded.

And on the lower portion, I started scrubbing the walls, cleaning off all of the leftover wallpaper paste. It's a tedious job, but I've been surprised at how clean the walls are after using only diluted vinegar.

Check it out... I went from these cruddy, sticky walls post-wallpaper removal...

...to this! Oh vinegar, is there anything you can't do?

But really, this step isn't just about making the walls look better. The walls need to be clean and smooth-ish or the primer and paint won't stick.

But in cleaning the walls, I've discovered there are a few plaster repair patches that are pretty uneven and ugly. Upon closer inspection, it seems like someone laid plaster on top of bits of wallpaper they didn't care to remove. I'm talking about remnants of old wallpaper underneath the layer that I removed.

I'm going to try and scrape them off and see what's under there. If I have to repair the plaster, I think I can make it look better than what's there now. I'll have the patching plaster out anyway because there are multiple other damaged spots that need attention.

So that's that the boring, cruddy update. The good news is I finally seem to be getting my design plan for the space together. I was drawing a complete blank for a while, but now the color palette is starting to come together in my head. More on that soon!

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Stairway makeover: Removing the wallpaper

First step in my stairway makeover is removing the ugly, stained and torn wallpaper. But this space has high ceilings, and I'm not prepared to tackle it alone. I'm bringing in my dad to help on this project.

There are two areas here: above and below the trim dividing the two floors. My dad's assignment: remove the wallpaper above the trim. My assignment: scrape off the bottom portion.

Above the trim, the walls are drywall. Below the trim, they are plaster & lathe. I'm only telling you this because we decided to take two separate strategies with the two types of wall.

First, we did some wallpaper removal experimentation. Just trying to peel some of it off to see if it would be easy or not. Turns out, it's wasn't going to be quick or easy.

On the upper half, there was another layer of wallpaper behind the wallpaper. When my dad started peeling all of this off, it took the drywall paper along with it.

It was here that we had to make a decision. Spend a bunch of time peeling wallpaper while perched above the stairwell on makeshift scaffolding only to discover that the surface wouldn't be in good enough condition to be paintable...

OR try something else.

I told my dad I would be fine if he covered up the wallpaper with another layer of thin drywall or even panelling (that I would paint) since the upstairs is painted panelling. But he doesn't take shortcuts.

I told him that since he was doing the work, he could make the decision. And the walls came down.

Well, just the upper portion, of course.

But there was one more factor that figured into the decision to demo the walls. I forgot to show this in the "before" photos, but the plaster ceiling above the stairway was also sagging from old water damage (before we owned the house). That was coming down regardless, why not round it out and take the walls too? A stretch? Maybe, but like I said, the decision was out of my hands.

The wallpaper removal on my section (the lower part) was a bit less dramatic.

I peeled off the top layer of the wallpaper then scraped off the under layer after soaking it with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. It worked pretty well, but I don't have anything to compare it to. Still, you can't beat the price!

All in all, it took me around 7 to 8 hours of mom time over two days to scrape off the entire bottom portion. (Mom time: interrupted no less than every 15 minutes.)

When I was done, it looked like this:

And the playroom where Elise had been looked like this:

Both on the scary side, for sure.

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Stairway "before" tour: Say goodbye to the ugliness

There is one area in our house that I have avoided tackling since the day we moved in: our stairway. My secret shame.

It's densely packed with ugliness and design challenges. This place has it all: sloppy paint, peeling wallpaper, banged up wood work, a weird plumbing access panel. There isn't an inch that doesn't need help.

This is an enclosed skinny staircase accessed from behind a door in Elise's room. (Not ideal, but it is what it is.) It's difficult to step back and capture the whole thing in a single photo, so here's a "before" tour presented in bits and pieces. 

First, some sloppily painted and worn trim. Not my handiwork, of course.

The stairs have seen better days. This is exactly how we inherited them, but it's clear that they once had some sort of treads on them...

and were also carpeted at some point, hence the errant staples and staple holes. This close up also gives you a good idea of how banged up the wood is.

Elise is demonstrating the narrowness of the area, 36 inches from wall to wall. It's a tight space!

At the base of the stairs, there's a plumbing access panel for the bathroom on the other side of the wall. It's the first thing you see when you enter the space, and it's a complete void. Kind of off-putting.

Looking up, you'll notice the whole stairwell is wallpapered. The only two-story space in our entire house and it's wallpapered. Oh, 1980s, why are you still torturing some of us?

But even if I liked the wallpaper, it's past its expiration date.

Ripped and stained. (Confession: I may have tugged on that flap above a time or two.) Yes, even part of the ceiling is wallpapered.

And now for a change of perspective: here's a shot looking toward the stairwell from the second floor. More wallpaper and what's that? A pretty sconce?

Eh, not really. Just say no to overly shiny brass! Also, the ceiling is angled, but the sconce is mounted straight and it looks wrong. They probably should have avoided this style of sconce altogether that close to the ceiling.

Looking downward, you can see how bad the finish on the stairs is. It's almost like there's a runner down the middle!

Stairway, your time has come. The time is now. Let's turn you into a jewel box.

See the finished stairway! >>

See all the stairway updates >>

Why you shouldn't paint over wall paper...

Because many years from now, when the wall has been painted over a dozen times, the paint will start cracking and someone will turn around and find their child peeling chunks of wall off the wall.

Hello fake wood grain wallpaper.

The rest of the wall is still intact, and this spot is fairly inconspicuous down by the baseboard, so for now, I am not fixing this. Instead I am going to be "fixing" this, probably by regluing this large paint chip back on the wall and then painting over it.

Someday when I've run out of projects and have nothing better to do, maybe I'll tackle repairing these walls the right way. You know, because that just sounds like so much fun.

Stupid old house. I love you, but you are definitely stupid.