Wagner Power Roller 949

Two years ago I hired someone to paint the exterior of my house. Contract called for pressure cleaning the house to strip off old paint, 1 coat of primer, two top coats. I spec'ed Benjamin Moore Fresh Start primer and latex paint. I wasn't at the job when this went on, I was traveling on a business trip and when I came back it was done. Three months later on the lower side of the house paint started bubbling and peeling. I can see under the new paint the old paint. Called the painter back and phone disconnected. Now I am going to repaint and will be hiring out again. I wanted to make sure I find someone who I can depend on. House is concrete block stucco. I have some questions. 1. Shouldn't the pressure washing remove all the old paint? 2. Should the house be allowed to dry (how long? hours? days?) after pressure washed? 3. Is there a way to protect the shrubbery in front of the house that are about 18" away from the walls? My wife is worried that the pressure washing will rip her plants apart and the peeled paint chips will be everywhere. 4. Do you typically hire the painter and have them do the pressure washing, or this is two separate hires? 5. Are those single coat prime and paint any good? Or better stick with prime coat then two top coats?

Ok, I'll admit that I'm a relative newbie, but I've done a fair amount of research and am still stumped. My wife and I just purchased our first home, a 1960s rambler with what I am assuming is original wallpaper in the bathroom. Other than the wallpaper from the top third of the wall, the rest of the bathroom is tile. So, the first thing that wallpaper removal sites tell you to do it just grab and pull and pray. So, I did, and the wallpaper was nice and vinyl and pulled right off. But, I have NO idea what is underneath it. It's not drywall. I am guessing that based on the ceramic tile in the rest of the bathroom, that it is backerboard. Is that right? If so, how would I go about painting it? Do I need to use drywall mud to skim coat it and then sand? Or am I going about this the wrong way? Thanks for any suggestions.... Here are a couple of pics. The bottom pic is the whole bathroom, and you can see where I started to peel. The top pic is a picture of what's underneath the wallpaper as I pull up.