How do I prepare this porous interior wall for paint?

Question

In one of the rooms in my house the walls are wallpapered. Underneath the wall is rough and porous (see picture).

My plan is to strip the wall paper and eventually paint it, but research seems to suggest that it needs some kind of treatment first. I have read about skimming, and plastering, which while tricky, I'm happy to have a go at, but I have also read about using "alkali resistant wall primer".

What is the best way to tackle this? I am after a decent enough finish, ideally without spending a fortune, and if possible not too tricky.

Answer 1

Skimming walls is hard to do well, and generally best left to a pro.

An alternative is to put up thin drywall. It is available in sheets as thin as 1/4 inch. While it needs to be taped and the joints compounded, it is much easier for the average craftperson to do a good job with this method than with skim coating.

Answer 2

If you're going to paint you will need to skim or paper the wall. If you've never skimmed a wall before it's much trickier than it sounds, hire a pro instead! Or you could paper the wall and paint on the paper.