The wallpaper is gone in all but 3 rooms! Of course, the hall, library, and both bathrooms look pretty ugly now, but looking out into the hall, I'd say the bare primer, with patches of something else showing where the paper pulled the primer off is an improvement.

Originally, it was just going to be the hall and the library. The library was easy, we just pulled it off. The paper was this really thick vinyl stuff, with a canvas-like backing that just peeled off the wall in sheets. We didn't even have to use the steamer. Then, Mom and Dad decided we should do the bathrooms. The pink bathroom, I don't think was quite worth it, because they put the paper up over bare sheetrock, and it was hell getting it off. I think we should have just peeled off the top layer, and left the paper backing, I don't think it was ever going to come off. It was a good thing we did the master bath, though. For one thing, the paper was on top of older paper, which, although hideously ugly, was the same kind as the library paper, and the whole thing just came right off. The more important thing, though, was that I noticed that the floor dipped right beside the toilet. I pulled back the carpet, and the tile underneath was all loose. There didn't appear to be any kind of mastic under it, and the subfloor was rotted. To the point that the toilet could have eventually fallen through the floor. Lovely, no?

The awesome thing is, Dad can fix it. He and Mom are coming back, probably in two weeks. He said it'll take a new wax ring for the toilet, probably some new bolts, a piece of wood, and whatever we want to put on the floor. He also wants to get thinner plywood, like 1/2" instead of 3/4", and put concrete board on top of it, so even if the toilet leaks again, it won't damage the subfloor. This is a lot sooner than we'd planned on re-doing the bathroom floor, but better now than later, when it would involved having to hire contractors and plumbers, possibly after one of us sat down on the toilet and ended up in a hole. Besides, we can totally do the whole thing with one box of peel-and-stick vinyl tile, and if we come to a place where the ceramic tile is actually still attached, I might get to use a sledgehammer.

The upside