Xebionis's post

#리모델링하다생긴일 The reason a single small wallpaper stain went through four rounds of repairs… 🧼There was a bigger problem than the Magic Block😭 We installed a system air conditioner in our first newlywed home. However, after the initial installation was finished, an unidentified black stain appeared on the wallpaper that had been perfectly fine. It was just a small stain, but since it was wallpaper in a new house, I couldn't just let it slide, so I requested a repair from the air conditioner company. The person who came to do the repair first must have thought it was an easily removable stain, as they started scrubbing the stain vigorously with a Magic Block right in front of my eyes. I thought this was the right way. Since the person from the company came to do the repair themselves was doing it that way (I naturally assumed it was a safe method...), The stain faded a little, but it wasn't completely removed; instead, the surrounding wallpaper that was rubbed with the Magic Block turned white. I later found out that Magic Blocks don't simply absorb dirt but work by finely abrading the surface, which means they can wear away the wallpaper's coating or embossing as well. While it can be used carefully depending on the type of wallpaper, I found it really dangerous to rub it hard without testing it in an inconspicuous area first. Eventually, the damaged area had expanded beyond the initial state, so I requested repairs again. But then?! An even bigger problem arose during the second repair. The area around where the Magic Block had touched was already worn down and turned white, yet for some reason, they only cut a small section of the original black stain and applied new wallpaper. At that point, the scope of the repair should have been determined to include the newly damaged area caused by the Magic Block, not just the initial stain.😭😭 However, since they only repaired a small section of the stain in the middle of the whitened wallpaper, the color and texture naturally looked different from the surroundings. It was so obvious that you could tell just by looking that they had patched up only this spot.🥺 So I asked if they should have repaired the whitened area as well, and they said that the color difference would disappear once the wallpaper dried over time. Since the person who came to do the repair said so, I trusted them and waited for now. However... just as I suspected... Nothing changed even after time passed. The temporary color difference caused by the newly applied wallpaper drying was a completely different issue from the whitening of the existing wallpaper surface due to physical abrasion from the Magic Block. Eventually, I called a contractor for the third time. This time, they re-applied the wallpaper over a larger area than before, including the parts that had turned white. I thought the problem was finally resolved, but once the wallpaper dried completely, the boundary and texture difference remained very distinct. It was like magic where a small stain gradually turned into a huge patch... (It wasn't the magic I wanted, though...😭) In the end, my husband and I were so angry that we requested a professional wallpaper installer be called instead of the person who had done the repairs before. Fortunately, the air conditioner company received feedback on the repair process so far and sent a professional wallpaper installer. The expert checked the entire damaged area, the texture of the wallpaper, and how the boundary would look after the repair before re-applying it. As shown in the last photo, the finish is much less noticeable than before. It was upsetting to have to cut out and re-apply wallpaper covering a much larger area than the initial small stain, but since the wall in question was partially covered by the towel rack (IKEA TRONESRO), I felt it was a relief that the damage was minimal. The lesson I learned from this experience wasn't simply that "you shouldn't use Magic Eraser on wallpaper." First, take photos before cleaning wallpaper stains and test the product on an inconspicuous area first. Second, even if the contractor takes responsibility for any damage caused during installation, request the actual work from a professional wallpaperer with sufficient experience in partial wallpaper repair. Even if the air conditioner company has a separate wallpapering team, I realized that the experience and skill required for new wallpapering and seamlessly repairing existing wallpaper are different. Third, the scope of the repair should not be determined solely by the initial stain, but should be decided after verifying all newly damaged areas that may have occurred during the cleaning process. I don't mean that cutting off a large section is the only correct answer, but I found it truly important to properly define the repair scope to ensure that the wallpaper's grain, pattern, and seams are as inconspicuous as possible while covering both stains and wear. Fourth, rather than just waiting and trusting the saying "it will be fine once it dries," verify the repair method and scope before starting work, and confirm how much restoration is required once it is completely dry to be considered normal. Ultimately, to prevent a small stain from escalating into a major repair, who performs the repair and to what extent is just as important as what you use to wipe it. This is heartfelt advice from someone who had to work on the wall four times because of a single small stain on the wallpaper in their newlywed home... If your wallpaper gets stained, do not reach for a Magic Eraser first. And if the damage has already worsened, do not just cover up the initial stain; re-examine the entire extent of the current damage first.😭 #SystemAirConditioner #에어컨시공 #벽지오염 #벽지보수 #도배보수 #신혼집 #입주기록