When we moved into this house, the paint on one wall of our bedroom was cracked and lifting off the plaster wall due to efflorescence. The leak that led to the efflorescence has been stopped, and now we're trying to fix the wall to repaint. Everything I read on the internet said that we had to get the paint off the largest surface possible, since the water could have seeped through the plaster far beyond the visible loose areas and there could be efflorescence under the paint. When we started scraping off the loose paint, all the layers of paint came off at once, leaving bare plaster. All fine so far.
However, in some places, the topcoat of plaster came off too. It's pretty easy to scrape off the topcoat at the exposed edges. I can't find information about this on the internet. Is that normal, or does it indicate a problem? Should we scrape off as much topcoat as we can and replaster before painting? (Is plastering a DIY job?)
In case it helps, the house is a 1940 brick veneer cape cod. The wall is an outside wall. The construction is plaster on metal lath.
I love the feel of plaster walls, but have no experience working with them. Thanks!
