that sounds to me like a (bad) renovation. what really sucks is damaged plaster & lath being ripped out and patched with drywall. that's the worst of both worlds, since you don't get the seamless barrier that is plaster or the ease of use of drywall.

Oh god there's so much bad renovations everywhere. My kitchen is technically an addition so one wall is: paint, drywall, wall paper (4 layers), lath and plaster, exterior cedar shakes, shiplap, and finally studs.

Beautiful. Part of why that happens I think is everyone is afraid to peel a layer off for fear of what they’d see underneath. A lot of contractors try to avoid renovations because it’s a never ending series of pandora’s boxes.

My favorite when checking out a potential house purchase once was a small wet spot in the middle of a wall.

When I pressed on it with my finger - and my finger went right through - into live termites!

That finger press probably saved me $75k and months of headaches.

Yeah, I now assume any minor renovation project is exactly the same as a "tear down to the studs" rebuild. When it turns out I don't have to, I feel great!