sometimes feels like two steps back. Such is the joy of fixing up an old house. Take our new Living Room, for example. After trying multiple methods, mad found that an over-the-counter wallpaper remover has worked best to remove the 1,000 year old wallpaper from our plaster walls. Of course, we’ve quickly realized (both through direct experience and extensive online research) that many folks back in the old days used wallpaper as a literal bandage over imperfect plaster walls. So our original plan to have the living room painted in a few days will have to wait until we receive the magic plaster repair glue. Until then, we’ll wash and spackle those parts of the wall that aren’t popping off the lath (I know, I sound just like someone on “This Old House”). And while the magic spray works wonders on that top layer of wallpaper, when there is more than one layer or ornery adhesive (or mystery substance, as in the case of our hallway), it all comes down to elbow grease. The good news is that getting all that wallpaper off in one little room gave us our first ray of hope that one day, we’ll live in the clean, organized, peaceful environment we had grown so accustomed to in Queens.
finally, a home repair resource that's on mad's side