Walls and Ceilings - Linoleum on Wall Problem

Bought an older 50's home to remodel. I can't believe we're doing this again! Former owners did some real dumb things to this house.

My concern at this time is in the bathroom. It's large. Remember the old lineoleum on the walls? Looked great in the 50's. Well, someone got tired of it, but instead of taking it off, they spackled over the metal on top and the metal on the corners, didn't bother to sand it much, then painted over the top of that. You can see the square design on the linoleum through the layers of paint. :(

What is the best way to get that off the walls? Is it going to rip the sheet rock? Do I need to redo the rock?

I even thought about covering with wainscoating, but not sure I can do that.

Thanks for any help.

If it were me I would gut the bathroom completely. That linoleum isn't comming off without a fight. Be a lot easier to remove the rock and hang fresh.

If gutting the walls is too much work, you could hang 1/4" rock over top of what you have.

Thanks so much for the info. I figured that would be the answer. What about Wainscoating? I thought about that yesterday. The linoleum is actually the same height as wainscoating would be. Would that be too thick?

If you cover it with wainscotting, the thickness doesn't matter a whole lot. A little bit of creative trim work at the top will make it look fine.