Just had a really cute painter come give me a ridiculously high estimate on painting *some* of my house. Darn I was really hoping he would be affordable so that I could have a hottie working in the house for a couple of weeks. LOL

Sound like a desperate housewife living on Wisteria Lane or something.

And did you know they charge $350 a day to remove wallpaper. Get the paddles out and shock my heart, I think it stopped. I'll happily ruin my nails and take my own paper down now, Thank you.

2 more painters to go. Send lucky vibes my way that one of them is not only a real looker but affordable and does a quality job. Is that to much too ask??

By Conni on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 07:43 pm:

Come to think of it, I think I should start a wallpaper removal business!! I'd love to make $350 a day. Holy cow!!!

By Vicki on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 08:00 pm:

Is that JUST taking down the paper or does it include fixing the walls also??

By Karen~moderator on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 08:08 pm:

I'd gladly pay someone $350 to de-paper my kitchen!

By Reds9298 on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 08:19 pm:

After what we went through de-papering our kitchen and dining room, I actaully WOULD consider paying $350. It was THAT bad and there were 4 of us!!!!!

By Heaventree on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 08:20 pm:

Go rent a steamer at Home Depot, it will go much faster and you won't need a manicure.

By Reds9298 on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 09:21 pm:

We used a steamer and it was still a nightmare!!

By Yjja123 on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 10:15 pm:

We had ugly smoke stained wallpaper in every room in our house. I removed it all myself. It wasn't difficult--just time consuming. The trick is to peel off the top layer and soak the rest with wallpaper stripper. It should peel off in large pieces. I would love to get paid $350 to remove it!

By Sandysmom on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 10:48 pm:

Have you seen how they've done it on Trading Spaces? They have some kind of a scoring tool & a steamer. It looked like it worked well. Good Luck!

By Melanie on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 10:55 pm:

Some things are simply worth paying for. Like a little eye candy, painting. LOL. ;)

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 07:49 am:

I've used the scoring tool to remove wallpaper. That and spraying water with something that helps to dissolve the glue on it after scoring. It is hard on the hands - and I don't mean manicures. If you have arthritis or tendonitis or carpal tunnel, it is very hard on your hands. I have stripped and re-wallpapered 4 rooms in our house and bordered two. Now I am SO over the wallpaper. There's no way *I* can get it off the walls, so $350 would be well worth it to me, especially in my kitchen where the walls were not prepared correctly the first time it was papered (by the contractor), and I have no doubt I'll finish ruining them if I attempt it.

By Vicki on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 08:31 am:

If the walls are properly prepared for the paper with a primer etc, the wall paper should come off pretty easy. However, if they weren't, I also would gladly pay someone to do it. LOL If the price includes fixing the walls to a "professional" finish, that is just a bonus. We had a home once that they paper in the kitchen was applies directly over the drywall or at least a very cheap primer and the walls were trashed!! We ended up having to do a textured painting over them because they couln't be fixed well enough to just paint. It really is a HUGE job if the walls weren't preped right!!

By Tripletmom on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 08:47 am:

Using a spray bottle with really hot water and dishsoap will remove wallpaper start at one end and by the time you get done, the 1st section would have soaked enough and then just scrape it off.I've never had a problem

By Sandysmom on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 09:27 am:

I've also been told that a spray bottle with a mixture of vinegar & water works but I prefer the smell of dishsoap over vinegar anytime.

By Colette on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 09:43 am:

Good luck!! You may be surprised at the difference in estimates. We had our house stained a couple of years ago. 3 quotes, one was $5000, included the deck and the garage, one was $8000 for the house only and one was $16,000 - which was just ridiculous.

There are some things it's worth splurging on to avoid the aggravation of doing it yourself. If you do decide to do it yourself, rent the best tools and treat yourself with the $$ you save.

By Conni on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 07:41 pm:

Well painter #2 is on my bad list already... He was suppose to show up Friday morning and he was a no show. He called when I had already left the house to run my errands. I reschedule with him for today and he never called and never showed up. Uhhh yeah I am thinking maybe he isnt too reliable. LOL !!!