mrts - decorating thread ...

[mrt]

... am moving into a new house in a few weeks time and have three rooms to strip of some ghastly wallpaper.  What is the quickest and easiest way to strip all the wallpaper from these rooms?  Soap and water, some sort of solution, or a steamer/stripper???  How quickly does it take to do a room (11ft by 12ft).  We plan on painting the walls.

Also, skirting boards, is it easier to buy new skirting boards or sand existing ones?  They are a mix of stained/varnished and painted ones.  Basically, I would like either natural wood or painted white finish(dependent on room).  Will a light sand suffice or do you need to sand right back to wood?

Lastly, bathroom tiles are proper nasty ... has anyone used tile paint before?  Plan on replacing bathroom after about a year, but would like to perhaps do something short term which looks okay?  

EDIT:  One extra thing, kitchen cupboards are brand new but white, they are laminate wood, my mrs wants them to be light blue, has anyone painted kitchen cupboards to a good standard or replaced doors?  How much does this sort of thing cost.  

Cheers

[M3ta7h3ad]

is the wall paper textured? or plain?

if textured, screw steaming... your better going at it with a sponge and a stripper knife/spatula thing.

Steam causes the paper to just fall apart into a thousand sticky tiny pieces.

If its plain, get a steamer, and bugger the scoring (scoring cuts the paper, meaning again you just end up with shedloads of bits of sticky minging paper stuck to you), steam through the paper from top to bottom... really giving it a good steam, then get to the bottom, and pull off in one giant sheet.

Skirting boards... Id sand them to give them a key and then just gloss over them.

[mrt]

Cheers M3ta7h3ad - the wallpaper is not really textured, pretty flat, just really really ugly!

If anyone has any input on my other points it would be very much appreciated!  

Thanks again

[Chuck Norris]

Personally if your going to redecorate a whole room I find it much easier to rip the old skirting boards off with something like a spade and start again.  I have seen painted tiles a few times and not liked the look myself.  Perhaps it might be better to spend a little longer chipping the old ones off and re-painting the wall behind (assuming the wall behind is ok).

[maximusotter]

See if it peels without moisture first--some do. Otherwise get a ninja wallpaper tool with the pokery bits and have fun.

[Serious]

If its surfaced with plastic then strip the top layer off dry. Use a steamer to strip the rest. This can be done with most blown vinyls and woodchip textured paper too. Without the top layer the remaining paper should be easy to remove even if it does come off in bits.

If you have to use water in a bucket, use it hot and add some fairy liquid or similar washing up liquid.

Worst paper I have ever removed was gloss painted woodchip, I want to kill the person who put it on  

[Eggtastico]

Best to give it a good soaking with a sponge & warm-hot water so it penetrates & then Use a Steamer. Im in the same boat working through a house renovation. Took me all day to steam off 3 bedrooms  :shock:

For Skirting, have a look at PVC options available. The Price on Wood has gone through the roof! I have to replace every skirting board in the new place as they are all yuckie, plain, or just mismatched!!! 10 rooms all in all + the hallway, landing, etc.
Theres wood affect PVC available for 1/2 the price of proper wood.

And the Bathroom... A year will go quick, just spend the money on house essentials & live with it for a while. Long term solution, I would look at the Splashback stuff. Quick & easy to fit & easy to keep clean. No Cracks for Mold, etc. to grow :-D - If you got the cash, then Stucco Plaster it. Have a nice polished plaster wet room.