How to remove Venetian plaster from drywall?

Question

We've just move into a new house and the living room has pretty bad Venetian plaster on the walls. I believe that it is just regular drywall underneath it since that's what the rest of the house is. Does anyone know the best way to remove the Venetian plaster?

Answer 1

Most likely, the previous owners added it, possibly over the existing paint.   If this is so, then there is a slight possibility you could hydrate it, and make it easy to scrape off with a drywall taping blade or a pull scraper.  If it is right on drywall, wetting and/or scraping will probably damage the drywall more than you want.  I recommend scraping as much of the high spots off with a 5" pull scraper, Hyde makes good ones.  You will want to keep the blade sharp with a b*****d file.  

   Then, after you've applied all the elbow grease you feel like putting into it (and cleaned up the mess), you will want to float the walls smooth with a large drywall knife, such as 12", and some All Purpose Joint Compound.  The idea here is to flatten/level it out as much as possible without fussing too much.  Put on the minimal amount each pass, and expect to get all the rough spots out after a few passes.  Usually 3 for covering that heavy a texture.

    Now, depending on the texture you want, it may be ready to retexture, or if you want a smooth texture, you will probably want to switch to Topping Mud and float it out.  Of course, between each coat, after it is dry, you can lightly scrape it with the pull scraper to get out tool marks, or even get a drywall sander (wear a mask).  Good Luck.