Oh My, What Have I Uncovered Here? A Weird Wall That's What!

@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
January 30, 2012 10:49am CST
I've made a start on taking the wallpaper off in preparation for plastering, etc. Whoever wallpapered it before didn't bother preparing it, just slapped the wallpaper over the top of the weirdest wall I have ever seen! Check it out for yourself in the photograph I've just taken. I spoke to Mum about it over the telephone and she reckons it's Lincrusta from Victorian times (the house is well over 100 years old as the road itself was constructed around 1863) but what do you think? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincrusta Whatever it is..it's WEIRD!
7 people like this
23 responses
@fannitia (2167)
• Bulgaria
30 Jan 12
Hi, Janey, this is so interesting, I love old things. You should really call an expert and maybe it would be possible to make a restoration? I know, this is a crazy idea, but years ago I put a lot of effort to restore an old window. It was covered by layers of painting and I wanted to see the wood. It was a hard work but I was glad to do it. I'll be glad also to know what will happen with your wall.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
30 Jan 12
Well, it seems the wall (or, the wallcovering) isn't as old as I thought it was and it can actually come off, according to my hubby. The walls themselves aren't in a fantastic condition but nowhere near as bad as at first thought. What we plan to do is remove all the layers, get it re-plastered and skimmed to smooth it all down, then it will be a nice base to (either) get it painted or wallpapered. We shall take the present dado rail down but I'm unsure if we're having that replaced. I shall see what it looks like with the wall prepared, then I shall decide on what goes on it. I do know the colour I want though...light blue!
@fannitia (2167)
• Bulgaria
31 Jan 12
Light blue is just fine! If I were you, I'd put a painting. We are waiting for the result! Good luck.
@GreenMoo (11834)
31 Jan 12
When I stripped wallpaper I once found a really spooky eye painted on one of the lower layers, which followed you around the room. It's no wonder they wallpapered over it!
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
Oh God, I wouldn't fancy that one bit. I know people say that the history of rooms is fascinating but only if they've done a good job in the first place..do you know what I mean?
@peavey (16936)
• United States
30 Jan 12
What one person thinks is weird, another thinks is beautiful! The first picture at Wikipedia reminds me of a grand hall in a large mansion.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
30 Jan 12
Ahhh.... I see. Still, it surely was prettier when it was new!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
Yeh, probably!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
30 Jan 12
My pic didn't actually load properly into the discussion but it is in my profile. Believe me it isn't mansion-esque lol.
@marguicha (215470)
• Chile
31 Jan 12
Where´s the picture you took, Janey? I could not see it and I´m so interested. We don´t have that kind of history within our walls. So please take another picture and place it here. We want to see your wall
@marguicha (215470)
• Chile
5 Feb 12
I saw it now. It is interesting but to me it looks more like a modern picture than a victorian wallpaper. Where I live we never get to see walls with history because we use more paints than wallpaper and we take the wallpaper off before adding a new one.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
Weird Walls - Victorian or Not? - Weird Brown Wallpaper in our house
I did post it a bit further up but I'm hoping MyLot will let me post it again, just for you my friend, seeing as you asked.
@inertia4 (27961)
• United States
3 Feb 12
Nice! Wow, see, some people don't know what they have and cover it up. I think the original wall is awesome. I am sure it fits that house well being over 100 years old. I would restore that and paint the wall instead.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 Feb 12
It's actually very thin, brown wallpaper and it's bloody awful lol. We've found some more of it but it doesn't cover the whole wall, thankfully, but I've a horrible feeling it may run under the dado rail so will be a real ball-ache to remove. Oh, what fun!
1 person likes this
@inertia4 (27961)
• United States
8 Feb 12
Well, the best way to remove it if it is going under the rail is to use a utility knife with a sharp blade. That should cut it off easy. Well, since it is old ugly paper, then it should be removed. But then once the wall is smoothed, you can paint it a real nice color.
@bjc66bjc (6730)
• United States
30 Jan 12
Janey, I am happy to acknowledge that what wierd to one person may not be weird to others...Because I really think those to walls are very nice especially the bottom one...The top one is pretty it just looks like royality.. I would get an expert person to look at it...Is it possible that you have uncovered financial help in your life?????... I really like it....
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
30 Jan 12
Weird Walls - Victorian or Not? - Strange uncovered wall in our house
Is it the pic on my profile page you've seen as there are pics on the wikipedia link too. Unfortunately, I did something wrong trying to upload the pic into this discussion. However, I shall do it now in case anyone else want to take a look.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
8 Feb 12
That's an awesome find. It must be interesting turning up different "finds". I have found a few old coins around my place since I moved in 6 years ago...the best one was as I was crossing the road nearby to visit my friend...I found a sixpence, minted in 1952...that's the year I was born!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Feb 12
I love old coins..never found any though.
@leeloo (1492)
• Portugal
31 Jan 12
It is interesting wallpaper, but it reminded me of the 1920s designs used rather then Victorian, then again I could be wrong, I found this restoration of an old school and they found paper from the 20s which is similar themed - at least to me http://www.belleviewschoolhouse.org/restorationbegins.html I don't think it's Lincrust because Lincrust is textured it feels like it has been carved out of wood. Your wall seems smooth, so I doubt it is Lincrust. It is amazing what you find in old homes though. Have fun with the remodelling.
@leeloo (1492)
• Portugal
1 Feb 12
Well plastering has been around since the Roman times or so. I always find it interesting how things that are old sometimes look new and things that are new look old. I always think of the first time I found out how old Cantilever chair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantilever_chair and the Wassily Chair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Chair The fact that I thought they were recent designs even though they were close on 80 years old. So the wall paper's age is nearly impossible to guess, unless you are very lucky and someone left a message like - I was here and a date. Well hope the remodelling goes smoothly.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
Yes, it is smooth you're right, after hubby found out it can be scraped off. It's very thin but like cardboard. You know what I mean? Extremely stubborn to remove but there again it's had another layer of wallpaper on it for quite some time so it's to be expected. Looks like plaster underneath so I think John's right when he said the strange wallpaper looks old but isn't. I mean, when was plastering invented?
• United States
8 Feb 12
interesting.not sure i like the idea of something made of linseed on the walls tho.. i've found some plaster embossed stuff under ours..and in a couple rooms-some of the butt ugliest,LOUD godawful busy victorian patterns.i can see why they covered it.it looked headache inducing.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Feb 12
It's actually very thin wallpaper that's a ball-ache to get off..but we're getting there..slowly!
1 person likes this
30 Jan 12
Hi Janey, it maybe weird, but O love the colour, I like the blue/grey but the pattern is a bit croweded but the one below it is quite soothing dusty pink. it think. Happy decorating, when you finish that, you can come and mine, lol! hugs. Tamara
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
30 Jan 12
Hello! When John had finished his tea he had a go at taking the wallpaper off and he's done really well. It helps that he's taller than me of course. Considering he'd been working all day I thought it was really sweet of him to help me out like that. Anyway, he reckons the pattern is on wallpaper rather than the wall itself as it CAN come off. I tell you what, I'd put up with that for about a week and that would be it. Tomorrow I shall try to post another pic as it's a much larger area that has no paper on it now lol. By the way, I want light blue on there. Cannot decide on paper or paint but it's definitely gonna be blue, to go with the red carpet I've got my heart set on.
31 Jan 12
Hi Janey, I would love to see your place once its all done, good luck with it and yes, it was nice of John to help you out, my hub hasen't bother to decorate our house for years and I cant do it anymore as I am now disabled, maybe he'll do something when he retires, lol! hugs. Tamara
1 person likes this
• Pamplona, Spain
31 Jan 12
Hiya Janey, Job that you have got going there sounds like it will be a really tough one. I cannot get anything to load properly here at the moment and I am in the middle of doing Dinner for us all as well so I have not got time to wait for these pages to open. We had a "Painter" once into a House we had and the the paint fell off in big chunks and needless to say we had to pay him for the very rubbish job he had done as well. He was furious when I asked him where the base coat of paint was. The truth really hurts and I was the only one who stood up to him and challenged him he only gave me some very black looks and I thought well let him go but someday it will backfire on him. I could have painted better myself and that is saying something. Also was in a very run down place where they had not painted the Wall in at least 40 years or maybe even more we painted over the original paint it was really disgusting and so bad for your health to live in a place like that stuck it out there three whole years.xxx Good luck with your decorating sounds like you need that hope it all turns out well.xxx
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
Fancy a painter not using base coat. That's got me thinking about the in-laws now. Do you think it will be necessary seeing as the walls aren't brilliant anyway, or do these new Dulux paints not need basecoat? Advice please! http://www.dulux.co.uk/index.jsp By the way, I'm after light blue walls. Not a white that looks like a blue but a light blue. There are a few of them on the above site and I'm really starting to like the colour as I know it will go with my dream red carpet I've got my heart set on.
1 person likes this
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
2 Feb 12
[i]How come I can't see the photograph? Is it exactly the same as the wikipedia illustrations?[/i] Anyway, I don't have wallpaper in my house, but that sounds like something that I would do. Not prepare the wall, I mean. If I had wallpaper, and if I wanted to change it, I would just slap the new one over the old. -lazy bounce
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 Feb 12
It's further down the discussion, on the first page. For some reason it didn't upload at the start and, no it isn't the same as the link photographs. Apparently, it's not Lincrusta at all but a naff, very thin wallpaper that is extremely difficult to remove. John has been a love though, he's got loads off..well, the stuff on the top. Haha!
@CTHanum (8234)
• Malaysia
31 Jan 12
Hi Janey! I don't like the old wallpaper, I guess you really need to change it to new. Others might feel that its nice but I have the same thought as yours. It's WEIRD~(^^)
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
It's a real ball-ache to get off but I'm determined not to let it beat me!
@CTHanum (8234)
• Malaysia
1 Feb 12
• China
31 Jan 12
It amazed me to learn that the house you live in is over 100 years old.No wonder you have said it falls to bits before.If I remember correctly in a discussion you started ,You said over there a hardback once hit you on your head and you put it down to Goblin. Perhaps It is a historic site.You might as well make contact with local museum to see if there is research value.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
I'd rather just get rid of it and start again, to be honest. Houses like hours are still commonplace as not all have them have been knocked down to make way for newer estates. In some ways I'm glad but, over the years, the walls have suffered BUT once they're pristine again we can start afresh. I'm determined to leave the walls in a better condition than when John moved in over 10 years ago.
• China
1 Feb 12
As long as it is not dilapidated house,you can renovate it. Sometimes,if you are used to living in an old house,you may hate to move out it.
@derek_a (10874)
31 Jan 12
It seems to me Janey that it could be the imprint of an old piece of wallpaper. I have seem similar things in the old houses that we have lived in. With paper over the top of it, it could be that it is just the colour and pattern that has remained. The covering wallpaper would have been wet when put up, and then it acted like a transfer like we used to use as kids on our skin. Showing my age no perhaps! They did used to have everything in brown in those old days.. Somebody said to me that it was because everybody used to smoke and the nicotene stains couldn't be seen so much on the wallpaper when it was brown. _Derek
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
It's even browner now with age lol. Yes, it's definitely wallpaper. We have issues with light so I dread to think what it was like in here before electricity came along. Probably like a dungeon.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
31 Jan 12
Your wall looks very different from other walls that I have seen. When you remove old wallpaper you suddenly get a glimpse of the past, and I like that. When my husband and I moved into our house last year we decided to remove the old wallpaper in the bedroom, because the last layer of wallpaper hadn't been done properly and it looked pretty awful. When we started removing the wallpaper we discovered several layers of old wallpaper. Our house is from the 1920 and the first layers of wallpaper were from around that time. We thought that the colour and the design were terrible and we didn't like the wallpaper at all, but maybe they are going to say the same thing about our wallpaper in 90 years
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
Haha! Very true. That's the thing with wallpaper. Because it's not cheap it would be a nightmare to pick something that I'm not going to get bored with in 5 to 10 years. This is why I'm warming to the idea of paint instead (once the walls are sorted) and I can always brighten them up with pictures at some stage, seeing as there is a massive expanse of wall to hang them on.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
30 Jan 12
That's neat! I love older Victorian style stuff and it would be awesome if I uncovered something like that! Are you going to cover it or open it up?
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
Take it all off but I'm undecided on paint or wallpaper (but I do know the colour..light blue) and the ceiling is high up so I don't know if the dado rail will be coming off permanently or a replacement is going on. Dado rails tend to break large areas up but I don't really like them, if I'm being honest. If we just painted it all it would be a lot easier than buying wallpaper as the latter is sooo expensive now. The in-laws bought some feature wallpaper at £12.49 a roll for their living-room but if you're using that on a bigger wall (like ours) it starts getting really expensive. If we do paint it the walls will have to look a lot better than they do now, that's for sure. At least it's giving me something useful to do.
@prinzcy (32322)
• Malaysia
1 Feb 12
It's pretty. I wonder what it look like without the wallpaper on. Your house must be really really old to have something like that.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Feb 12
Well, hubby reckons the wallpaper might not be as old as we thought because there is plaster-work underneath. It's very hard to get off though and yes, our house is extremely old but still intact, thankfully.
@tatzkie23 (770)
• Philippines
31 Jan 12
I've seen the picture, it doesn't look good. LOL. And yeah it's kinda weird, and the same time, i think it was cool. If that is for real, your house is antic or something. Try to rip off all the wallpaper, you might discover other things. LOL.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12
It was probably cool when it was first applied but more wallpaper has been added onto it since then, making it distinctly uncool to get off lol.
31 Jan 12
please remember it.then u will understand.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
31 Jan 12