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What To Do With Your Old Wallpaper?

Just yesterday I was standing in front of the ATM in downtown Davis, CA and a gentleman I know that works at the bank comes up to me and wants to talk about what to do with his wallpaper that he no longer wants.  This is actually a very common question we get, because most people understand that removing wallpaper can be a major headache.

When I was first starting out in the painting industry 20 years ago, I had an acquaintance that wanted me to remove her wallpaper in her hallway, then prime and paint it.  I gave her a price, and set out to take off the wallpaper.  To my surprise there ended up being three layers of wallpaper, and what I thought would take me half a day, ended up taking me three days.  I did go back to her and mentioned this, but she refused to pay me anymore, saying I gave her a solid price and that was what she would pay.  Twenty years later, that is why we do wallpaper on a time and material basis. You just never know how long it might take! Wallpaper can come off easily in nice large sections with little damage, or it can come off in dime size pieces and greatly damage your drywall.  So we give a ballpark price of what we think it will be, but we charge an hourly rate when doing this type of work.

When it comes to wallpaper you really have 3 main choices.  The right way is to remove the wallpaper, texture the walls if needed, then prime and paint.  You can rest easily at night that you will have a great product.  The other two options are not ideal, but we do it a few times a year because a customer wants to save money and not strip the wallpaper.  We can prime and paint straight over the wallpaper, assuming it is on solid with no peeling edges.  The other is we prime the wallpaper, texture right over it, then prime and paint it like a normal wall.  The problem with either of these methods is that there is no guarantee your wallpaper will not lift away, start bubbling or have other issues under the weight of the new top coats.

So, if you no longer want the wallpaper look, you have choices but there is really only one safe way to deal with it, and that is to remove it.

- Jeremy Brooks

 

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4.9 rating from 300+ reviews

Consummate professionals! We hired Brooks to repaint the exterior of our house, and they did a fantastic job. The paint looks wonderful, everyone was also on time, friendly, and respectful of our property. Exceptional communication through the entire process. I was worried about damage to the landscaping near the house (bad previous experience with another outfit), but they were all very understanding and the crew was super careful. Did what they said they would do with no weirdness, no smoking, no radio, and they cleaned up after themselves nicely. This picky customer is very happy!

Lisa Goodin
Google

Brooks Painting has be in business a long time in our area. As a native resident we have seen and heard of their professional & quality painting. In looking for bids on painting our house Brooks was referred numerous times. When Jeremy came out to meet us we were sold on using their services and looked no further. Every aspect of this company was very upfront, professional and made us feel safe, valued and comfortable hiring them. The office staff kept good communication with us. The color matching was perfect. The crew showed up on time, were respectful and did a great job from prep to the final end of the project. The warranty offered was a plus and the liability coverage gave us peace of mind also. The price was well worth all that was included in the project so we had little to do but move our stuff away from the house. Thank you Brooks painting, crew and staff for making our home new again :)

Karen Boone
Google

The crew is as neat and reliable as the actual painting job and paint used. No boom boxes!! Cordial staff spoke English. The crew got along with each other and worked as a team. The actual finish is / was beautiful. We would like to use Brooks again!

Donna H.

Efficient, prompt, dependable, quality, respectful, friendly and caring.

Marilou R., Winters

This is a business you can trust to do an excellent job and keep all promises. Came on time, completed in time stated, beautiful result!

Sandra & David M.

We are long time happy customers with many positive experiences with Brooks Painting. We have appreciated the assistance (and patience) with selecting paint colors, the professionalism of the staff and the high quality of workmanship. We recently had some interior painting done and the crew was on time, neat, careful inside the house and very easy to work with. They also cheerfully handled some unexpected drywall repair. I highly recommend Brooks Painting.

Teri Greenfield
Google

I have always received excellent customer service and the crews are always very concerned about ensuring satisfaction!

Shawn W.

Great job in every way- quality of work to customer service.

Debbie M.

Very professional. Painters were very accommodating on the little things.

Claude V., Dixon

Brooks Painting gets in gets it done and out! Quality job, great price. Touch base daily with a report on progress of job. It's important to have confidence in a company that works for you. Brooks is that company.

Jeff Allbright, Nugget Markets Corp.

Brooks Painting is everything you would want. Excellence! Always on time. Great work!

Mary Jane B.

Brooks did a fantastic job on our exterior and interior paint jobs. Quality was high, price was reasonable, and the team was extremely professional and detail-oriented. Mark was our crew lead and the team performed a number of exterior wood repairs, a door re-stain, interior and exterior painting. Mark clearly takes a lot of pride in his work and went above and beyond to ensure the work was high-quality, including finding exact matching siding to fix dry rot, and performing minor repairs that weren't even included in the quote. He and the team were all consistently positive and personable, joking with each other throughout the day, while also genuinely complimenting each other on the quality of their work. It was great to see, and that positivity definitely showed through the work they did. We couldn't be happier with the end result.

Ryan Schauland
Google

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