Removing Foil Metallic Wallcoverings / Prepping the Wall For Foil Wallcoverings

I know it is hard to believe but the old-fashioned metallic foil wallcoverings are making a comeback bringing with them the problems of yore. The Mylar "foil looks" of the late 1970's fixed the removal problems of the ealier metallic foils but it appears the industry has forgotten the lesson.

One thing is clear though, in the old days, homeowners would shake their heads when told their foil wallcovering was not removable without massive wall damage. The difference today is the customer will likely say, "Who can I sue?"

The following video shows how foils can be difficult to remove. Yet sometimes they are surprisingly easy to remove. When in doubt though the best method I have found is to use Cavalier's HD Non Woven Liner paper available at www.wallliner.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R972K9raeOE

Muralo 8900 Removal Job

I'm working right across the street this week, literally. I am removing PBV from a two story hall, dining room and kitchen. I remember this job that I did in 1994. I had just started using Muralo 8900 Wall Protecting Primer (gold can.) The house built in 1987 had extremely crappy builder's flat. I did a one coat of 8900 everywhere at the time.

Hall and DR came off like a dream. But the kitchen was tougher. I recall that I had had to remove a vinyl coated paper in 1994 before hanging the new. There was no primer underneath that paper...it was hung directly on garbage. I suppose I washed it down the best I could at that time before priming with 8900.

What happened this week is that I sprayed the paper backing and after the backing was wet for more than 5-10 minutes apparently the removal solution was making its way to the garbage paint thereby loosening the foundation of the 8900.

Having sat through many an hour of paint rep talk at the BCM one thing I have learned about paint is that two coats are better than one especially when water is an issue. When paint dries there are all sorts of pinholes in the coating for various reasons. When a second coat is applied there are also pinholes but due to the randomness of them the pinholes of the top coat do not line up with the pinholes of the botome coat. This renders the two coat job more impervious to water no matter what the "perm rating" of a paint is.

IMO when the pores of very porous garbage paint is loaded with paste that dries, it is impossible to fully "clean" this surface no matter how much water is used. For this reason as of 2011 I am going to change my procedure for this type of situation and "first coat" prime with Gardz and second coat it with a white acrylic.

Phillip Jeffries Jackson Square Update

This product has been a headache for everyone concerned. For those not familiar, it is a wallpaper of appliqued squares that have long strands of wood attached to those squares. After trying every paste, pasting method and application method it eventually became clear that the product would never produce excellent results so the company went back to the drawing board and fixed it. I test hung the new Jackson Square by using normal hanging methods; i.e. I pasted it, I booked it and put it on the wall. Voila...no bubbles. If you get some of this to hang just be sure to ask if this is the new stock.

Easily Removable Wallpaper

If you think wallpaper removal is something you would wish on your worst enemy,think again. Fabric-backed vinyl is the best kept secret in the wall covering business.  It has been around for decades.  Some installations themselves have been around for decades....like the Fabric Backed Vinyl in my own hallway that was installed when Reagan was in the White House.

And Now An Important Message From Vanilla Ice...

People Magazine October 2010
Stars at Home

 Don't do wallpapering yourself. "I can walk into any house and tell if a professional or a homeowner has done it."~ Vanilla Ice

Wallpaper: "It's so hot right now. I have a seagrass color on my bedroom wall. It's soothing." ~ Jeff Lewis (Flipping Out)

RRP Lead Law as it concerns Paperhangers

The new RRP Lead Law will have far reaching effects for anyone who is a contractor or property owner.But it might not be so bad for paperhangers who observe the EPA guidelines to legally avoid the law.
I just posted this to Parodi Palace:
http://www.parodipalace.com/rrp_lead_law_and_paperhangers.pdf

How To Hang Phillip Jeffries Jackson Squares

Phillip Jeffries Jackson Square has been problematic for paperhangers to say the least. Even saying the name is a problem because PJ calls it Jackson Square and paperhangers call it Jackson Squares. 

I tested the product 2 years ago after PJ was getting reports that the material bubbled up after being pasted and the bubbles never dried out after the material dried on the wall.  I thought I had come up with a workable solution at that time until I heard from installers in the field who said they still got bubbles using my "fix."  So I went back to the testing board and came up with something much better.  I'm hoping this is fool proof and I will never get another phone call about the stuff.  Truth be known, I am not even crazy about the way it looks.  Phillip Jeffries has some really beautiful and unusual offerings http://www.phillipjeffries.com/ and IMO this isn't one of them. 

Before you watch these videos I also want to say that I made a big mistake right off the bat.  I thought that those random strands of stuff all over the surface of Jackson Square were strands of sea grass. But when I went to PJ's web site to find out what the current hanging instructions are... I found this: 

Made from Paulownia wood known in Japan as the “good luck”

princess tree, the wood is first hand cut into thin veneer sheets.

It's Paulownia wood strands not grass. How could I be so obtuse? Maybe all our luck will change to "good luck" now that we know what to call it.

(I suggest you right click on embedded videos and choose "Watch on youtube", then choose the full screen option because there are some close-ups you will want to see in HD.)