Copyright 2006 Lydia Hinshaw
ORMOND BEACH, FL -- The best thing about retirement is that you have time -- time to explore new interests, time to volunteer, time to travel, time to get into major trouble without leaving home.
You look at something that needs to be done around the house, and face it, you never have to look very far. You figure since you have the time, you'll do it yourself. You confuse time with expertise, even though the two are not even distant cousins.
I spent about four hours Friday removing old wallpaper from one of my bathrooms. I embarked upon this project because it looked like a breeze. About 98 percent of said wallpaper was billowing loose from the wall like the limp sails on a square-rigger in the doldrums.
I got that 98 percent off and into the garbage in about 10 minutes and then took a couple of days off to recuperate. Only after this period of blissful ignorance did I discover that the remaining two-percent of the wallpaper had been attached with a monster adhesive designed to hold for centuries.
Naturally, these small, difficult areas were in the hardest to reach of spots -- in a corner next to the floor but behind the toilet, and in another two corners, against the ceiling over the cramped shower stall.
I consulted the Internet for advice. The simplest suggestion was to use a one-to-one solution of fabric softener and water in a spray bottle to soften the paper, and then a scraper to remove it.
The websites I consulted warned, correctly, that it would be tedious, messy work. The wallpaper came off in tiny shreds, sometimes bringing with it a layer of the underlying paint and at the worst of times, small chunks of the drywall as well.
When I recover, I'll repair the damage to the walls, and consult my local paint store about the best product for bathroom walls. No, there is no way I'm going to try to hang new wallpaper.
The other thing about household projects is they keep growing. Now that the wallpaper is all cleaned out, I'm thinking the medicine cabinet could use replacing. And the towel racks. And the light fixture. And the floor. And the vanity.
Why not? I've got the time.
You look at something that needs to be done around the house, and face it, you never have to look very far. You figure since you have the time, you'll do it yourself. You confuse time with expertise, even though the two are not even distant cousins.
I spent about four hours Friday removing old wallpaper from one of my bathrooms. I embarked upon this project because it looked like a breeze. About 98 percent of said wallpaper was billowing loose from the wall like the limp sails on a square-rigger in the doldrums.
I got that 98 percent off and into the garbage in about 10 minutes and then took a couple of days off to recuperate. Only after this period of blissful ignorance did I discover that the remaining two-percent of the wallpaper had been attached with a monster adhesive designed to hold for centuries.
Naturally, these small, difficult areas were in the hardest to reach of spots -- in a corner next to the floor but behind the toilet, and in another two corners, against the ceiling over the cramped shower stall.
I consulted the Internet for advice. The simplest suggestion was to use a one-to-one solution of fabric softener and water in a spray bottle to soften the paper, and then a scraper to remove it.
The websites I consulted warned, correctly, that it would be tedious, messy work. The wallpaper came off in tiny shreds, sometimes bringing with it a layer of the underlying paint and at the worst of times, small chunks of the drywall as well.
When I recover, I'll repair the damage to the walls, and consult my local paint store about the best product for bathroom walls. No, there is no way I'm going to try to hang new wallpaper.
The other thing about household projects is they keep growing. Now that the wallpaper is all cleaned out, I'm thinking the medicine cabinet could use replacing. And the towel racks. And the light fixture. And the floor. And the vanity.
Why not? I've got the time.
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