You were certainly told the truth, on all counts. There is a
large learning curve to DIY plaster. Setting type drywall
compound is a reasonable , though not best practice, repair
product for plaster walls. I would still treat all plaster
repairs with Larsen's.
http://www.larsenproducts.com/plasterweld.htm
Finding a plaster technician for small repair work is problematic.

Veneer plaster work is learnable, though finding the materials can
be difficult.
Have you yellow paged or asked around about a plasterer
(commercial paint store)?

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Chris" wrote in message
...
I am removing wallpaper in an 80 year old house. Underneath the
wallpaper is plater walls. In many areas, the top coat is
cracking, or
buldging away from the horsehair base. The base is still solid
and
intact.

I had a guy over to see about restoring the walls. He said he
will
hammer out the buldges, tape cracks and then go over the walls
with
two coats of joint compound and sand.

Is this a standard procedure? I was just reading an article on
line
saying that joint compound is meant for drywall, and the real
way of
dealing with plaster repair is to use plaster products.

The thing is, I asked him this, and he said that he doesn't have
experience with plaster, all he knows is that a plaster person
is alot
more expensive than he is, and a plaster project is not a DIY
project.
but, his procedure will still work..