We are renovating a house that had chair rails along the walls and we pulled them off. I was told that we'll have to float sheet work where the chair rails were, otherwise the line where the paint stopped would always be visible. I was also tolf that after floating the new sheetrock, the entire room would have to be re-textured so it would look uniform.

It looks like the texture was applied under the chair rails, so if I can avoid having to float new sheetrock, I shouldn't have to apply texture.

Is there anything that can bail me out of all the work and expense, or is floating sheetrock and putting on new texture the only option?

 

It all depends on what you have. Without pictures or being there it's hard to offer a whole lot. I think you'll just have to evaluate what you have and what would be the best method to get an even finish. It would have to be a really bad demarcation line to make me consider floating the wall as that opens up a whole can of worms.

Since you see some texture under where the chair rail was I assume it was at least primed. Then I'd focus on the paint line where the chair rail was removed. If there is a definite ridge some careful sanding could knock it down without removing the underlying texture. In the end I almost think you'll have to get rid of any paint line then prime the entire wall with a coarse nap roller to re-apply a uniform texture then top coat.

 

pics would be helpful - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html

How old is the house? more importantly, how many times has it been painted with the chair rail in place? What type of texture is currently on the wall? Texture can be matched! repairs are made everyday with just the affected area being textured although some textures are easier to blend than others.