Plaster walls?

Phyllis Main
by Phyllis Main

So I am attempting to redo my bedroom and stripped the walls and realized that they are plaster. I wanted to but wainscoting half way up and paint the top half. Now I am stuck with stripped plaster walls. Should I hire someone to finish? I feel like I’m in over my head

  5 answers
  • What exactly did you do to them? Can you post a photo?


    You certainly can do wainscoting. If you removed all the plaster down to the lathe, you can hang drywall, then paint.

  • Gk Gk on Oct 11, 2018

    You should be able to add wainscoting if you know where the studs are to nail the wainscoting to the wall. You can also paint the plaster once it is clean and you have made ay repairs. You will need to prime first and I would check with a local paint store to make sure you have the right primer and paint

  • Jennifer Ritchie-Trush Jennifer Ritchie-Trush on Oct 11, 2018

    You actually can NOT use any kind of paint on plaster. It's actually a huge pain to work with. But they have these things called " wall liners" specifically for these types of projects.

  • William William on Oct 11, 2018

    Your about half way there. First prime and paint the walls. Don't need to paint where the wainscoting is going. The use a construction adhesive like Locktite Power Grab to glue the wainscoting on the walls and tack it on with a few small finish nails to hold it in place. Install the top rail and your done.

    • Phyllis Main Phyllis Main on Oct 11, 2018

      What would you suggest to repair the plaster. There are only a few spots that need filling and then there are those other pesky hole from screws and what have you?

  • William William on Oct 11, 2018

    Use no shrink drywall patching compound to fill any areas. Comes in small tubs. Hardware store or homecenter.