I'm wondering if it is possible to plaster right on top of the popcorn ceiling in my condo. I'm reading about possible asbestos and the mess of removal, so I'm thinking about putting a plaster ceiling product right over the top of the popcorn. Has anyone ever tried this and found it to work or not? Any other suggestions besides ..."paint it and leave it be"?

We recently bought a place from an old woman that passed on. She had wallpaper in the kitchen and bathrooms- silver wallpaper on the walls AND on the ceilings. Here's our problem: We removed the wallpaper ... and skipping those details, our ceilings especially, but some spots on the walls also have these deep looking gash marks- like ridges or indentations. These look like a kid took something blunt and pressed into soft wood to carve their name or soemthing, except it is extremely noticeable. We've tried putting some lightweight compound in the spots, but there are so many spots, that we are basically putting compound everywhere and the ceilings are extremely difficult to do and it's hard to get it smooth on the ceiling, even after sanding afterwards. The question is what is best to do now? 1. Do we continue to put compound, sand and prime before we paint? 2. Can we patch with something without cutting and putting new drywall in place? Something like that wire mesh patch for larger holes? 3. Is there something we can apply over the walls/ ceiling like a very thin piece of drywall or similar that we adhere to the existing wall/ celing (via glue since we only need something lightweight, not a new wall for supporting things), or nailing a new wall over the existing one? We have an extremely limited budget, so hiring professionals is our last resort. The compounding is a lot of work and hasn't looked good so far, so we are desperate for another option!!