As you can see, I found a little surprise under the window on the landing as I was removing wallpaper today. Finding two layers and then pulling off wallpaper to remove not only the paper but also the top coat of plaster, there are massive cracks and a lot of spongy plaster under the window. I guess I should be happy this is only the first thing like this I've come across but it is nevertheless dispiriting. I think I read about cutting out the plaster and repairing it with drywall and that's probably what I'll do. For the meantime, that's disillusioned me enough to take a break. The good news is that the upstairs hallway is now completely de-wallpapered and now we move on to the fun removal on the stairway and downstairs.
4 comments:
Too bad! Is it water damage from a leak under the window?
You know, Jennifer, that's a good question. I was leaning toward that answer myself - it's clearly something that happened a long time ago as the wallpaper is pretty old (at least from the '70s, if not earlier) and they put the two layers over it to try and hide it or something. It doesn't look like, however, there has been any additional water damage recently so hopefully it was fixed (whatever it was).
It's possible that it was stable when they papered. Often plaster will get those nice cracks in it from light, constant moisture until it breaks down enough to fail and drop off in chunks.
My dining room wall was far, far worse than that when I pulled the paper down. Plus I had to contend with a butt joint against drywall that was ungodly uneven.
I ended up using fiberglass tape to stabilize the joint, built it up and gave the whole wall a good skim coat.
It's perfect now.. Just takes a little work to redo.
I'd recommend that you spray the window area with a hose to simulate blowing rain and then check with a water meter if possible. I'd bet you still have a small leak that will need addressed since it's those once in a while things that do the damage.
Way too late to the party with this comment, but it could have been calcimine:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6Gwd99wUthMC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=jane+powell+bungalow+calcimine&source=web&ots=VFlwbSMHXX&sig=L0bmLqsgr72bvu0cIC6fZuNRuXs&hl=en&ei=sxaNSbr5GYG0sAPKtIn5CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how-to-advice/curing-paint-failure-problems-on-old-walls.shtml
http://www.plasterlord.com/notebook/fcalcimine.htm
http://www.plasterlord.com/notebook/fcalcimine.htm
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