# Stripping from hell



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Well today Bikerboy was in my thoughts for most of it.

Why? You ask? 

Stripped a 16 x 12 entry way of two layers of paper, and the second down was PAINTED.

 :thumbsup: :thumbup: 

:whistling2:

(Sorry, man, couldn't resist. And yes it was a MISERABLE job - but I beat the estimate and made some good coin)


----------



## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

daArch said:


> stripping from hell ..........................................................
> but I beat the estimate and made some good coin)


These two lines prove that this whole post is false. They cannot exist on the same plane of existence let alone be used in one post.


----------



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Funny,

but I don't get it.

My body aches, it's been through hell.

I made 10 hours of wages in 8 hours.


----------



## 4ThGeneration (Apr 17, 2007)

I always price out for the first layer and then give them the price per layer after that. I make sure they know its not going to be on me as a freeby. If I can I go to a place where it is already peeling off and see what I can tell from it. Sometimes they are adament about not doing that and thats when they get the bottom line on the pricing.


----------



## hoz (Sep 27, 2010)

4ThGeneration said:


> If I can I go to a place where it is already peeling off and see what I can tell from it.


When I bid a strip job I always try to pull a little corner of loose paper to try and get an idea of the problem. I once had a HO shout at me for pulling a corner near the sink in his bathroom. Try as I may to explain I needed to get an idea how it was going to come off he persisted it belittling me. But when he called me "stupid" I hit the ceiling. 

"I think you'd better call someone else" I said as I walked out his front door.


----------



## 4ThGeneration (Apr 17, 2007)

hoz said:


> When I bid a strip job I always try to pull a little corner of loose paper to try and get an idea of the problem. I once had a HO shout at me for pulling a corner near the sink in his bathroom. Try as I may to explain I needed to get an idea how it was going to come off he persisted it belittling me. But when he called me "stupid" I hit the ceiling.
> 
> "I think you'd better call someone else" I said as I walked out his front door.


I think I would have asked him to step outside to see if we could both figure out what his problem is. I know that even as owners we work for the HO, but I am not going to take their bullying tactics when they do not have the manners God gave a mule.


----------



## hoz (Sep 27, 2010)

4ThGeneration said:


> I am not going to take their bullying tactics when they do not have the manners God gave a mule.


I also said, "You are in America now, and you don't talk to people like that."

I'll let you imagine what I meant by that remark.


----------



## Lambrecht (Feb 8, 2010)

I just finished a removal job on a house that was 4500+ sf with paper on every wall in the house. 96 hrs later and I was happy to be done. Bid this as T&M, have never and will never remove paper with a set bid price. If a customer does not agree to [email protected] I pass on the job.


----------



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

I have gotten quite good at stripping and I do estimate each job. I ask the HO if I could test the paper somewhere inconspicuous, after all, I remind them, you're having the whole room stripped anyway. I am a firm believer that with enough experience and proper testing one can estimate properly. Over the years I have faithfully taken notes on stripping, that has helped tremendously understanding how long it will take. 

This job was somewhat of an exception. Even though I was encouraged to test where a small section had pulled up, because the next layer was painted, it was difficult to be 100% positive another layer was there. But I saw the edge of the second layer on an outside corner. The HO was also pointing to proof there was a second layer. 

I did give two figures, one for a single layer and one for two layers. As I said, I beat the estimate for two layers, but I worked like a dog so I am not real motivated to invoice for actual time.


----------



## Lambrecht (Feb 8, 2010)

I did a removal job on a house about 4 yrs ago that was built in the late 1800's which ended up having 6 layers. This is one example why I always bid T&M. If I kept better records of removals I would probably feel more confident in giving a set price.


----------



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

You are correct that something outrageous like six layers should be T&M. That's above and beyond any chance of being a set price. 

My worst was five layers, two of which were painted. That was T&M back in the 70's and I used a steamer. 

On one or two layers and maybe three, basically each layer is a multiple of the first.


----------



## bikerboy (Sep 16, 2007)

daArch said:


> Well today Bikerboy was in my thoughts for most of it.


daArch,

 You'd be surprised. About this time last year we added "wallpaper stripping" to our arsenal of services. Have done 8 of them this year alone. The nice thing is we got a couple of paint jobs out of the deal because "Well, since you guys are here, can you give me a price on....." 

 So, I may paint over it, but its been at least a year. (am trying your rolling paste and covering it with plastic trick the end of this week.)


----------



## BC_Painter (Feb 14, 2010)

Hey DaArch, what's your going rate per layer per room? :jester:


I rrely had good experiences with wallpaper stripping, between those paper tigers strippers, steamers, I've still had jobs that had 3 people in a room ALL day since the first layer came off easily, but the second layer glue ws absolutely rock hard.

I have not offered wallpaper removal through my business yet since I've had so many bad experiences, and must be missing something, but ill do it if asked.

The odd one went pretty easily, but 95% are T&M now if at all ( through my old boss, I was basically his right hand man til I started up my own company a few years back ) Seems once in a while, no matter what I do, the drywall behind it is destroyed too requiring skimming priming to get it flat and ready to paint again >.<


----------



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

BB, I hope it works for you. Let me know how it turns out and tell us if you learn any additional tricks. I am the first one to admit it's not a science and what works one day on one situation, does not work as well on something similar on a different day


BC, seriously, my "average" production rate is one minute per square foot. I adjust up or down based on my tests. 

Paper Tiger - SUCKS ! 

36 grit in a palm sander does much better. I did use a Paper Tiger yesterday because the surface was still wet from stripping the first layer. 

Again, Paper Tiger sucks. It just does not score enough of the surface to allow even and quick absorption of the solution

Although more brute force necessary, it was quicker in the long run to SHAVE the painted surface off with CAREFUL use of the stripping blade, then soak, strip, and wash. 

Always wait for the stripping solution to soak through and rewet the paste. IMO, three people in one room is WAY too many, unless someone had been in there for the past three hours keeping the walls wet. The biggest mistake I see my painter buddies do is spray and scrape, spray and scrape. Never having the patience to give the solution a chance to soak in. Some new pastes (strippable) rewet quicker. Old wheat paste can literally take three hours to rewet. SERIOUSLY

If the paper is pasted to raw rock, then priming over with Gardz maybe the only solution. One of the ONLY time I acquiesce to painting over wallpaper is when it is pasted to raw rock. 

HOWEVER, sometimes successful stripping can be accomplished by applying paste on the wallpaper and then covering with plastic, as bikerboy mentions. Then wait many hours as the paste you've put on SLOWLY rewets the paper's paste and with luck you can strip with judicious use of a blade. 

This is not a 100% guaranteed solution for every situation, but it has worked for many. And I hate it when I have to do it.


----------



## BC_Painter (Feb 14, 2010)

I agree 3 people in one room is ridiculous, but with how the project was progressing it was the only thing we could do at the time. The rest of the project wasn't as bad, except for the fact that we had to re-skim just about everything.


I am definitely going to be trying the trick with the plastic you mentioned on tough stuff in the future. On my jobs I'd never have 3 guys stripping at once likely anyways 

Thanks for the info though, ugh I could go the rest of my career without wallpaper removal no problem


----------



## Scottclarkpainting (Jul 17, 2010)

I like to sand the face of the paper with a random orbital sander then use a steam stripper, I find it works 90% of the time.


----------



## hoz (Sep 27, 2010)

I've hung 3mil plastic over wetted walls, but I've never used paste for the solution. I mix 2 cups fabric softener with hot water in a garden sprayer and throughly wet the wall.

Occasional I've met my match where nothing I do will cause the paper to release without major damage. Maybe the drywall wasn't primed, maybe they used non strip paste. In my area these walls were usually hung sometime in the late 70's or early 80's. In that case I've explained the problem to the HO and primed the walls with Kilz, or Bulls Eye and skim coated the walls with trowel and mud.


----------



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

Have I described my latest tool tweak?

Well first, my sprayer has a twenty foot hose on it. That was an adaption suggested to me years ago. It's an amazing help not to have to carry three gallons of water around the room. Get the reinforced hosing, it don't crimp.

Last winter/spring I woke up one morning and my brain was actually firing on most cylinders - something new.

I bought an auto tire air valve and mounted it on my tank, and then bought a B&D "Air Station" pump. One can set it to turn off at a specific PSI.

So now when the tank gets low on air, I just flip the Air Pump on and go about my business. No wasted time and tired arm from hand pumping the tank. NO, the Air Pump does not have an auto on when the pressure gets low. You all with spray equip could easily adapt something.

Here's a pic.


----------



## Sammydog (Oct 7, 2010)

Very nice.


----------



## hoz (Sep 27, 2010)

genius!


----------



## bikerboy (Sep 16, 2007)

daArch said:


> BB, I hope it works for you. Let me know how it turns out and tell us if you learn any additional tricks. I am the first one to admit it's not a science and what works one day on one situation, does not work as well on something similar on a different day.


 
 Went to get the paste and they had DIF in a gel form. Bought 2 gallons and rolled that on and it worked like a charm. The face was coming off the paper, so it is not the best test. Would like to try it again but it was faster than just water, with less mess.

 Like your spray tank invention.!!! :yes:


----------

