I'm confused. My house was built in 1938. The plaster walls in the upstairs bedrooms were covered with panelling by the previous owner. After we bought the house I ripped off the paneling and (in two of the rooms) the furring strips which were nailed into the walls. There are some cracks and some holes of various sizes in the walls (including a 3x4 ft. area in one corner near the ceiling that is crumbling due to water damage). I've contacted several contractors about repairing the walls and have gotten differing opinions as to what to do. One recommends replastering the walls. Another would put sheetrock directly over the plaster. Still another would put up the sheet rock using furring strips. Yet another recommends ripping out the plaster walls altogther and attaching the sheetrock to the wall studs. In this way, he says you can address other issues at the same time, such as the electrical wiring/outlets, insulation, lighting, etc. (which sounds like it could get expensive). The plasterer says he can do all three bedrooms and the hallway for about $1,200. The sheetrockers are charging about $4,000 and up. I would prefer to replaster since I won't lose any depth from the original natural wood moulding around the doors and baseboard trim, or have to remove (and risk possible damage) and replace the trim (and then have to adjust the depth of the door bucks). I'm just not sure how long a replastering job can be expected to last, and whether the plaster will start crumbing if I try to hammer a nail into the wall to hang pictures, etc. My thought is to replaster since even if I had to replaster again in several years it still will have cost me less than sheetrocking, and if at some point if I decide that I don't like the way the plaster walls are holding up, I could always sheetrock them then. What do you think?

my husband and i are redecorating our 100+ yr old house. our first project is the master bedroom. After discovering 20+ layers of wall paper, we found that the plaster underneath is in terrible shape. huge holes, pulling away from the lathe. ironically though, the plaster ceiling is still in pristine condition. we are planning to tear out the plaster and wood lathe on the walls and put up sheetrock instead.my dilema is should we replace the plaster ceiling as well, or just leave it alone? thanks, april