Tuesday 1 September 2015

Goodbye Creepy Children (The Hallway, Phase 1)

With the end of summer in sight, we decided to try and tackle one more big project before heading back to work.  One of biggest projects we still have to complete in this house is definitely the hallway.  It begins with the foyer and front stairs, includes what we refer to as "the landing" at the top of the stairs, then continues down the upstairs hall and down the back stairs.  Its massive.  And the whole thing is wallpapered.

 

 
 
 

That's a whole lotta wallpaper! Creepy children wallpaper, to be exact! Its one of those things that you either love, or hate, and i can't say that either of us love it. 

"Girl Swings While Pondering Life"

"Boy Courts Girl With Clarinet"

"Ring Around the Rosie to the Sounds of Banjo Boy"

Although lots of people walk into the house and tell us how much they love it, it's just not our style.  But stripping all of that wallpaper is a big undertaking! So, we have decided to break it into three phases.  We are hoping to have the front hall and stairwell done before heading back to work.  Phase two will be the back stairs and upper hallway, and phase three will be the landing, since redoing the bookshelves will require a lot of work.  The final thing will be removing the red carpet on the stairs.  That way we can protect whatever is underneath while doing all this work.

So last weekend, Jeremy felt the wallpaper itch and started stripping the front hall.  Believe it or not, it came down in full sheets, and in about one hour we had the foyer and stairwell completely stripped back to the plaster and drywall.

 
 

Things were going great until we got to the very top of the stairwell, where we uncovered some unexpected water damage and mould. YIKES!

 
 

After having the roof inspected and repaired, we were able to carefully remove the crown molding, cut out the old drywall and replace it with a new sheet.


We have now been starting to patch and repair all of the damage which will be a fairly lengthy process.  Our goal is to have it completed by the end of the long weekend.  Just in time to return to work!













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