Providing Services to Prepare the Home for Sale: They wallpapered the ceiling

They wallpapered the ceiling

 

wallpapr on the ceiling

We've posted about wall paper before and I hoping that we have some new solutions to this "trendy" problem.

This rooms appears to be the worst of the several rooms that I have to renovate.

Any suggestions?   In the past I've used the downy and the scoring of the paper before steaming and neither has worked very well

 

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Stage-Show-Sell, offers affordable home staging solutions in the Birmingham - Bloomfield and surrounding areas in getting your home ready for the market. We service both home sellers and realtors. We have the experience, our own rental furniture and accessories to stage many homes. We specialize in Estate work. The house can be put into our hands for the whole process of getting the house on the market

 

19 commentsVirginia Tatseos • September 16 2009 07:41PM

Comments

Don't get me started on wallpaper!  Honestly when I was in 8th grade my mom had me help wallpaper the ceiling in our downstairs bathroom.  Ours all started to fall and peel after a few months of long hot steamy showers.

Posted by Cindy Jones-Northern Virginia Real Estate & Military Relocation Services (RE/MAX Allegiance #1 RE/MAX Company in the World) 4 months ago

You can try purchasing a small steamer or renting a commercial one. I'm TOLD they make the job the esiest. I found the easiest way for a job I hate is to hire someone else!  

Posted by John Rakoci North Myrtle Beach Coastal Carolinas (Eagle Realty) 4 months ago

I actually think it's fabulous Virginia.  If I had a newer house I'd consider it - it would put a smile on my face every time I saw it.  Way cool.  Is it from the 70s?

Liz

Posted by Elizabeth Bolton - Cambridge MA Real Estate Agent (Coldwell Banker Cambridge, Massachusetts) 4 months ago

I've had luck with the scorer and white vinegar mixed with water.  Let it soak a few minutes and then peel.  I HATE fooling with wallpaper, but I've done it many times.

Posted by Teresa Cox King, Gulf Shores Beaches to Bayside Daphne (RE/MAX of Gulf Shores) 4 months ago

Cindy, the house had five children who grew up taking showers.  It's still there.

John, we have 2 GOOD steamers.   This stuff just won't move.

Liz, Maybe consider printing a photo of this bathroom and framing it for giggles.  Yes the papers is from the 70s.

This is my 2nd house in a year with tons of wall paper. The last one took a long time to remove it.

Posted by Virginia Tatseos (Stage-Show-Sell) 4 months ago

Some painters will tell you if it is stuck really well just paint over it with a good primer and then your finish color.  If the goal is just to freshen up the house for listing that might be your easiest choice.

Posted by Pat Fenn (Marketing Specialist for Cindy Jones RE/MAX Allegiance) 4 months ago

If the steam from 5 kids taking showers and two good steamers dosent do the trick...leave it.  Chances are you will do more harm than good  trying to fix what aint broke. If you absolutely must change things, either paint it as Pat Fenn suggests, or paper over it.

Posted by Ron Parise (LocateHomes.com) 4 months ago

I thought for sure the title had to be a Euphemism.  OMG

never the same thing in this business LOL

Posted by Daniel J. Hunter, If I Can, I Will, Just Ask (New Port Richey, FL Realtor with Fruits Real Estate) 4 months ago

Hi Virginia,

There is a product on the market called DIF. It costs about $13.00 a gallon It contains enzymes that eat the glue. It works very, very well. It is a  blue gel that is oderless and harmless. We score the paper very well with a quality paper tiger,  roll on the gel with a small roller and pan, let it sit for 15 minutes, and scrape it off. Get those really good scrapers with the replaceable blades. It's actually quite effortless, usually comes off in sheets,  and it always works.

I think half the problem with people hating to remove wallpaper is that they don't use the right tools in the first place..

~Michelle

 

 

Posted by Michelle Molinari (FEATURE THIS... Real Estate Staging & Interior Decor) 4 months ago

OMG!  How fun-hope Michelle's product works-that paper is awful.

Posted by Cathy Lee ASP, IAHSP, RESA Danville, CA (CL Design Services Home Staging) 4 months ago

Hi, Virginia. I love to read stagers' posts but I'm not able to offer any suggestions. All's I can do is commiserate....yikes!

Posted by Leslie Helm/Real Estate For Trail Riders (Tennessee Recreational Properties) 4 months ago

I love Michelle's solution,  I plan to bookmark this post so I have her information at hand!  That stuff sounds wonderful.  Good luck with the project, I don't envy you this one! 

Posted by Sharon Tara New Hampshire Home Stager (Sharon Tara Transformations) 4 months ago

In a word - WOW. That sure is a lot on the eyes.  If the DIF doesn't work (and I do hope it does), then I too would have to consider covering versus removing. 

Kathy

Posted by Kathy Nielsen Atlanta Georgia Home Stager (Georgia Interior Solutions, LLC) 4 months ago

I think if you look directly at it you could possibly have seizures.

Posted by Gary Barnett Home Matters, Home Stagers, Indianapolis (Home Matters) 4 months ago

If it doesn't come off, put some white wainscoting right over the walls and a piece of sheet rock over the ceiling. This will give the room some texture and save you about 50 hours of work.  Wow, they did not leave an inch uncovered.  I wish you luck.

Posted by Kate Case ~ Kate's Home Staging ~ RESA ~ ASHSR ~ NJ NAR Affiliate (Kates Home Staging and Redesign) 4 months ago

Nothing works as well as spray and steam. Spray any of the products out there to loosen the wallpaper and let sit for 10 minutes then go over it with a steamer and it will come right off. Works every time. Of course, my painter does it, not me - but he says its a breeze!

Posted by Kym Hough, Home Staging Professional CSP, RESA, Danville, CA (www.Staged-to-Sell ) 4 months ago

Virginia, I haven't had to strip any wallpaper yet but I wanted to tell you that my stepmother moved into a condo.  In the bathroom it had foil wallpaper on the ceiling... and the door, and the door trim and....the vertical blinds that were used as a shower curtain!  She hasn't removed it yet and she has lived there 5 years. 

Posted by Leanne Zumbrunnen (Z' Touch Property Merchandising) 4 months ago

OH NO!  What were they thinking?

Posted by Marianne Sweet, Home Sweet Home Staging, LLC Rochester Hills, MI (Home Sweet Home Staging) 4 months ago

Some of the decorating mags are saying that wallpaper is making a come back and to paper the ceiling.  In home I am working on, we put drywall over wallpaper in one room and may be painting over some foil wallpaper in ensuite bath.

Good luck!

Posted by SHARON CHARBONEAU- Upstaging Sunshine Coast,BC (UPSTAGING YOUR HOMES ) 4 months ago

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