How Do You Restore Old Plaster Walls, Including Wallpaper Removal?
Restoring Walls I learned what I know about restoring walls from a general contractor with a lifetime of experience. I’ll do my best to describe his methods faithfully, but memory may not always serve me well and for this I apologize. There’s no substitute for his critical eye, colorful language and awe-inspiring demonstrations. The walls in question are presumed to be typical Victorian walls: horse-hair plaster over lathing, covered with layers of wallpaper. Remove the wallpaper This is best done using DIF by Zissner. DIF contains enzymes which eat wallpaper paste. It’s not a solvent and is fairly non-toxic though I wouldn’t drink it. Open all the windows if possible, and put a fan blowing outward in one of them. You’ll need: a. A 1-gallon pressure sprayer. You might be able to rent one, but if not, they’re cheap. b. Hot water. c. At least a couple of gallons of DIF. Buy the DIF “liquid” as opposed to the concentrated gel; the gel is less effective and also stains. d. Lots of fabric t
