Can you use a pole sander and sand the walls? Pain in the you know what, but it might work.

(A pole sander is like an extension paint roller, but it has a flat piece on the end and you cover that with sanding 'pads')

Jenilyn are you determined to have the walls be smooth? Have you let in the option of leaving it textured?

Just playing devil's advocate here (& I happen to love textured walls; I know not everyone does) :)

Did you post your question on the Paint Forum?

Lots of pros, there.

Thanks for the response. I will post my question in the painter's forum. I'm starting to realize the "texture" is a cover up. DH says it looks like they slapped a lot of mud on the walls and didn't bother sanding it. He called another painter for a second estimate. He is coming tomorrow at noon. Keep your fingers crossed for me that he is reasonable, I really do not want to sand all this, UGH!

Oh boy do I feel for you! We had the same situation in our downstairs guest bathroom. This small room had all four walls covered in thick mud that a diyer with no experience had tried to texturize with saran wrap or a plastic baggie. Adding insult to injury, they painted the whole room in what can only be described as a Baby Sh** brown that was so dark it made the room look even smaller than it already was.

My idea (and I've since been told by 2 other contractors that I was right) was to install new drywall by either tearing out the old and starting fresh or by doing a lay over on top of the old drywall. Unfortunately, the guy I was using at the time was not thrilled with that idea and preferred to sand it instead, giving me a price that was 2/3's the cost of drywalling it. Well he underestimated how much sanding there really was, and as it turned out, it took him THREE DAYS to finish just the sanding. I have never seen so much dust, it was everywhere. But when he finally finished it was still so uneven he had to even it out with several thin layers of mud. While the end result is good enough for government work, I believe the results would have been much better if we had gone with my original plan. Especially in the corners where it was hard to sand, they look pretty sloppy to a knowing eye.

If you decide to sand it, be prepared for a lot of dust, be sure to close off all the entry ways cause it travels everywhere! And don't be surprised if you will need to finish it with at least a couple of coats of mud. But don't just assume that's your only option. Get quotes for both methods, my new contractor said it would have run pretty close for him in price. Even if it's more to drywall, if you can afford to go that route, I would recommend you do so because you'll definately have a better result.

Don't get discouraged, keep your thoughts on the end result, it will all be worth it when it's done and good luck!