Luca, the other thing to keep in mind with your house is the value of the plaster and lath walls vs. sheetrock. If you do some hunting around on this forum, you'll find discussions about it. So I won't cover it all here, but just keep in mind: The acoustical qualities of plaster and lath are different from sheetrock, and in most if not all people's opinions, better. The varying densities of the component materials (lath, plaster, and sand) and the different makeup of the layers (lath, scratch coat--which has more sand in the mix), and finish coat) really affect sound transfer. When we go to a friend's vacation home, which is very nice but newer sheetrock construction, I can't get over how the whole house is such a rattly sound box. So, if at some point down the line you are faced with ripping out a wall (to run electrical, put in insulation, whatever), consider that it may be worth the extra time and inconvenience of fishing wires or only cutting out partial sections and patching, than taking out the whole wall and replacing with sheet rock. They just don't build em like they used to.

Yes, the info is outdated. Also, clerks in paint stores will still recommend painting one wall at a time by cutting it in and then rolling it out while the cut-ins are still wet. They are outdated too. I'm a fast painter. If I cut in a 12 foot wall, some of those cuts are too dry to roll over by the time I get about halfway done with rolling the wall. Honestly, I think you have about 3 minutes before they are too dry. If you can cut-in a whole wall and roll it out in 3 minutes, you are good and fast! Of course this depends on humidity, temperature, etc., and adding Floetrol will always give you more open time, but that's just the general idea. Most paints used to be a vinyl and acrylic mix. Those didn't dry as fast as the paints we are seeing all over now that are 100 percent acrylic. The hatbanding effect can also come from rolling over a dry cut-in line, but I have not seen that happen for some time. It probably only happens with certain products and I guess I stay away from them and use what I know works. Usually if I cut-in a whole room, the cut-ins are ready to be painted over within an hour or so after. Just make sure they are not tacky at all. You can do both coats in one day easily. The best thing to do is read the can to find out what the manufacturer recommends for recoat time and again make sure the walls are not tacky at all before recoating...usually most brands can be recoated in 4-6 hours. My normal pole for rolling normal walls is the 2' to 4'. You want to spread the paint on and then on your final pass roll from ceiling to floor. Don't stop in the center of the wall and change directions.

The raw materials needed to repair plaster walls & ceilings are relatively inexpensive, less than $200.00 per room. You would need basecoat plaster for the first layer, and a mix of gauging plaster, finish lime, and retarder, for the top coat. It is easy enough for a beginner to do a small repair, say one foot diameter. However, getting good results on an entire wall or ceiling comes with experience. How extensive are your repairs?

Unfortunately, you do not really have an easy task on your hands there. I've done this numerous times since I renovate old houses. Without seeing exactly how deep the grooves are, there a possibly 3 options: 1-install smallish sheetrock over the ceiling plaster (3/8"). I don't like to do this b/c it is usually hard to hang as you have to make sure you get a stud and not screw into plaster or lathing. And, sometimes it is not really level. To save on removing plaster, I just had an idea but have never done. You could run 1x4 wood furr strips across the ceiling, then run sheetrock. 2-You can do the same for the walls, but then the reveal around the doors and windows is messed up and does not look good. Can work if you have really thick trim and use thin sheetrock. But, sometimes this is wavy. 3-Remove the plaster and sheetrock. Best approach. Then you can open a bit of a can of worms: studs that need to be replaced, need furr strips, maybe new wiring... Will look great when done, though. 4-You can apply a wide fiberglass mesh to the entire wall and mud it in. Use hot mud on the first coat---very important! They come 3-4 ft wide. It is kind of expensive, but less than demo. However, if the grooves are too thick then this may not work since the finishers would have to apply way too much mud to fill it in. Julie