how to determine what my walls are made of

Remodeling an old farmhouse. The 1st floor has lovely plaster walls. The 2nd floor however has walls that look like rough concrete. There are no outlets and only one light fixture in each room. Neither the walls or ceiling have been painted. Would this be unfinished plaster or something else? How can I figure this out? I'd like to paint but i am unsure how porous this will be or what kind of paint to use. Any help would be so appreciated

 

Welcome to the forums Christi!

I wonder if maybe it's just the brown [base] coat of the plaster and never had a finish coat of plaster applied ?? Not sure if we could tell from a pic but it wouldn't hurt to post one or two - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html

 

marksr is probably right. If the house is old enough to have plaster over wood lath it was common in that era not to finish all the walls. If they were never intended to be finished the walls are probably not too straight and the plaster is probably pretty thin,therefore, not too strong. Remember hey had to get the plaster up there the hard way, maybe even before he stairs were built so they made it go as far as possible. Put up some pictures from a few different angles.

Yes this can be painted. It is probably very dirty. Use a good stain blocking primer. The walls will not look muchc better, finish wise than they do now. They will be clean and sealed and tougher, not harder or stronger but tougher, that is a little more scratch resistant. Don't God banging around on those walls. Just thought of something else. I bet somewhere like in the attic or someplace you can see what those walls look like from the back side. You can tell for sure if it wood lath with plaster.