I was responding to Monwheels who has only a few cracks +skimcoat - indeed very do-able by anyone with some arts& crafts ability. The roughcoat + finish plaster can be bought at a specialised bldg supply store (not HD or Menards.) Ive just used Gardz on repairs + any raw plaster Ive found but OP might want to research which primer if its very old type of plaster Yes a bit of a learning curve - but generally worth it for old house owner if there are more rooms with issues than just the one. The skill set needed for crack repair is nowhere near what is necessary for a big job re-doing a whole wall of traditional 3 coat old style lime plaster over lath or board. Thats assuming one is using a bonding agent in place of mesh tape that sits on the surface - I would agree that amateurs do NOT do well with mesh tape. I had to undo all the crack repairs my PO had blobbed on -they looked like giant scabs all over the walls! My plaster guru taught me that mesh tape or any of the fabric bridges should NOT be used - reason being it shouldnt be recracking again in any major way -but if it does you want to be able to get at it to fix it again and/or address the problem thats causing it (may have been a poor quality application to begin with). FWIW, repairs I did 10-20 yrs ago are still holding with no sign of recracking. But as the saying goes, your mileage may vary. Theres a lot of different approaches to how to repair old plaster, and all old houses are different.

Basically, a 'mud job' is just putting a thin veneer of compound over wallboard..it can also be called a 'skim coat'. It is basically joint compound, rarely it is plaster. Yes the guy has referrals, but what were the projects? Were they sensitive work on old houses to yield something which is like what might have been the original appearance, or were they gut jobs and remodels with no respect for the original house? From what you've said of him, I suspect the latter. Ripping out and replacing work with newer materials often yields an inferior result and costs more money than a decent job--he is pushing for the fastest methods to do the work, like someone who is primarily a 'flipper' of houses, not a true professional. Despite your saying he isn't profiting somewhere with his subcontractors or materials, I don't believe it for a second...he is going to make money somewhere, otherwise he wouldn't be doing the job. Based on the information provided as to his recommendations for the work to be done, he IS suggesting things which aren't needed. With a baby on the way, and new home owners, he is seeing a prime opportunity to make some fast money. Did you get estimates from other contractors and painters? That is an absolute MUST for any project. I know I'm sounding negative to you, but it is just common sense--I used to be a trusting person, but being burned one time too many changed that--and since a house is your biggest investment, you don't want to take ANY chances with such a big ticket expense. With a new addition to the family coming, you absolutely MUST save where you can, unless you have deep pockets, which you say you don't. Just a queston of curiosity: who put the idea in your head that the walls lead paint was a danger which had to be addressed by a complete removal? Paint chips are eliminated with vacuuming, unless you let them accumulate for weeks...and painted trim is going to be more likely to give them especially at corners...but again, the solution is to make sure the paint is sound and has a firmly adhered new layer.

Hi, I'm just an average DIY type, but I had the same issues with the plaster walls in my 1900 foursquare. The plaster on the walls consists of a "rough" bottom layer,and a smooth skim coat over that. In our house, on many of the wallpapered walls, when we removed the wallpaper, the skim coat came off with it. In our particular case, we decided to use drywall mud to smooth out the wall and fill in the cracks and the areas where the skim had come off. We decided to re-wallpaper with a good quality (easily strippable) vinyl paper, which hides a multitude of wall "sins". In a couple of areas, we had the same ceiling issues as you did. Cracks, missing skim coats, ugly finish treatments. In both areas, we just put up a 1/4" drywall sheet over the ceiling and screwed it into the studs with flat head screws, which we countersank 1/32", and covered with drywall mud and tape, and painted over it. It looks great. You do need to be sure that the plaster ceiling is relatively stable before you do this, but the drywall will also help hold the plaster together. In one area near our stairs, the plaster had crumbled altogether and lost the "keys" connecting it to the lath behind. We ended up chopping out the remaining plaster and evening out the edges until there was just lath. Then, we again used 1/4" drywall and screwed this to the lath, using drywall mud and tape to span the seams, and sanded it all smooth. Once the wallpaper went up, it looked perfect. In still other areas, we just fixed cracks in the plaster, and painted over it. It has a rough, uneven look to the wall, but a flat finish paint hides that a bit. We looked at a lot of other "historic" houses, and saw that most of them had the rough looking walls as well. So, we just chalk that up to "historic charm". Finally, although I haven't used it myself, there is a product called Nu-Wall, which is like a super wallpaper product, specifically designed to repair plaster walls and cover cracks and such. There is also special paintable wallpaper, which acts as a smooth base for the wall, to hide the imperfections, if you are bothered by that.

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