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Bob meets up with Charlie Tomaszewski, the general contractor for the Medford renovation project, in the home's existing master bedroom. While awaiting the arrival of the demolition crew, Charlie and Bob carefully remove the old dressing room door with a full mirror so that it can be reused elsewhere in the finished house. The first step is to pull the pins on the hinges which Charlie will tape to the door so they don't get lost. To take the casings off, Charlie first cuts the paint line along the casing with a utility knife. This is particularly important if you plan to preserve the existing plaster wall. Next Charlie removes the decorative rosettes from the upper corners before he and Bob pull out the casing.

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. U.S. Gypsum developed a way to sandwich plaster between two paper faces and make wallboard as early as World War I, but the manpower shortage of World War II is what really made it catch on. Before drywall, builders nailed lengths of wood, called lath, to the studs and then applied several coats of plaster to that for a smooth finish. As many of us with old houses can attest, lath and plaster walls can last a long time but they re hard to deal with if you re having rewiring, insulation and plumbing needs. Drywall comes in various thicknesses. For interior walls, one-half-inch works fine but won t stand up to heavy abuse. Five-eighth-inch is required for fire hazard walls like garages and basement entries. Standard paper-faced drywall is grey and comes in 4x8 or 4x12 sheets, designed to make it easy to cover from stud to stud with minimal cutting. But even cutting is made easy. Most drywall scores and snaps with a simple utility knife. Holes can be cut by hand with a short keyhole saw or a small rotary tool. Special fiberglass-faced drywall was recently introduced to help prevent mold problems that can develop when traditional paper-faced drywall gets wet. This new product finishes just like paper-faced drywall with tape and joint compound. Behind tile, in bathrooms and in other wet areas, it s important to use cement board. This denser product is waterproof and faced with fiberglass mesh that won t degrade or mold when it gets wet. In the past, some builders used a product called green board in bathrooms, but time has shown that this product is not a good substitute for cement board. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com

Bob talks to Ken Lanoie of Owens Corning about adding sound attenuating insulation to the nursery. Lanoie describes the QuietZone Solserene Ceiling Fabric System used in the project. A Solserene ceiling is made up of three components, with high-density fiberglass boards to absorb sound installed in a track system that holds them in place. The boards are then covered with fabric. Lanoie reviews the installation process of the boards, followed by the fabric covering. After the boards are put in place, fabric is stretched over it and tucked behind the track, which has teeth to grab the fabric and secure it. QuietZone Solserene comes with a tacking knife to assist in the process. The system helps reduce the echo effect of noise in rooms with hardwood or stone floors, plaster walls, and other hard surfaces. The fabric is pulled so tight it looks like a normal plaster ceiling and can follow and architectural configuration, including angles, dormers, and rounded edges. It costs about six dollars per square foot.

Whether you want to put up new wallpaper or switch to painted walls, removing wallpaper is a key way to give a room a fresh start.