Patching and Plastering - Old paint won't come off plastered walls....found under newly removed wallpaper!

I recently removed wallpaper, and found a couple layers of old paint underneath. After I got the paper off, the paint began to crack and chip as it dried. I began chipping away at it, thinking it would all come off easily. Now I am left with 3/4 of the walls chipped successfully clear, with the rest of the paint staying strong. Under the paint is a plaster surface. I had originally wanted to just sand the remaining paint down even with the plaster, but my house was built at least in the 60's and I do not want to chance any lead dust. Any suggestions on how to take care of this situation? I do not want to re-wallpaper, put up paneling, or just paint what's there (as you'd see all the uneven surfaces). I'm looking to even up the surfaces. Is there any product I can apply to the old paint that will eat away and let me scrape it off?

First of all are you sure it's paint and not glue? I just did a kitchen in my mother in laws house with 3 layers of paper and some hard glue. Get a bottle of DIF fast acting and spray it down good and wet. Try to scrape. If it stays it's paint.

If the old paint is that strongly bonded then prime with BIN from Zinnser. Just remember to ventilate will, it's shellac based.

After the primer is dry get a bucket of ready mix joint compound and thin it so it spreads easily. I use a round edge pool trowel and a hawk and skim the wall. I usually do 2 thin coats 1 day apart,and after each coat is on about 45min to 60min I will spray it with water and go over it again with the trowel to eliminate as many marks as possible. After the second coat dries I usually only have to sand with 220-320 grit paper.

If your not good at spackeling, prime and hire a good spackeler to skim it. It won't take them very long. Hope this helps

Jeremy

Thanks for the idea. I did think of this and told my husband we might need to just hire someone to cover all the walls, since neither one of us have done it before. I didn't think of priming first, so thanks! It's my project...and I can definately handle the priming.