Patching and Plastering - Amateur drywall job looks hopelessly beyond repair

I have a customer that wants to have her family room painted. She has ripped down the old paneling, and the drywall underneath is a real amateur job, and looks hopelessly beyond repair. Short of re-rocking the entire room, I think the only solutions may be new paneling (which the customer doesn't want) or some sort of texturing.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Just what exactly is wrong with it? I'm having a hard time imagining what beyond repair would entail.

You should be able to patch any damage and then skim coat the whole wall. A skim coat of mud should hide everything but a bow in the wall.

BTW texture can help hide defects but you still need a good straight base to apply it to. Popcorn is the only texture that will really hide and even it has its limitations.

Well, the drywall was not taped, and no mud work was done. And, some of the walls are a patchwork of small pieces of sheet rock with very wide gaps. Also, the family room was an addition to the original house, and I suspect the framing job was not done properly, because the sheet rock is very uneven.

I've patched some pretty bad walls, but these walls are REAL bad.

You can give your customer options along with prices for each.

install paneling $
repair and paint drywall as is $ explain what it will look like done with likely defects
give price to tear out and replace drywall

Once a customer realizes what different options will cost they can better chose what they want done. They are also not apt to be as fussy when they know the potential pitfalls of the way they pick. If you excede their expectations you look like a hero.

Plaster comes to mind.