Oh the things one finds behind wood paneling! And here, I thought the previous owners were just attached to that classy 60s look. Turns out, they had every reason to panel the living room wall, as I discovered to my horror two window frames that were blocked off by aluminum siding on the outside and paneling on the inside. (Note: Its too late to put the paneling back: I circular sawed right across the middle of it to open it up, as it was pinned down along the top by timber beams and had warped in such a way as to scratch the immaculate fireplace mantel if I tried to work it away from the wall in one piece.) The plywood covering the window space is flush with the plaster wall.

My challenge now is to cover over the plywood and frame wood and match it to the surrounding plaster. Is taping and a 5-gal bucket of joint compound my only option? Or is there some sort of adhesive sheet material I can use to blanket over the plywood and provide a surface comparable to the surrounding plaster?

Thanks!

 

You can sheetrock the wall. Then your taping and mudding will be limited to the seams and fasteners.

 

True, but that's complicated by the finely finished brick fireplace and multipiece mantel that's pressed to the plaster wall, plus the timber beam along the top. They got away with the paneling because it was relatively thin.