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I have a 100 year old house in the Midwest. I took off a chair rail trim that was put up in the last couple years. Removing it peeled off several layers of paint from the wall in a few spots. And looks like it may have gone down to the plaster in a couple of the spots. There's now a line around the room that's maybe 1-2mm below the level of the current painted surface.
What would be the best way to smooth this out? Sanding and spackling? I'm a total noob to this.
Sanding and spackling?
You could probably make it look OK with spackling followed by sanding.
Better results could probably be had by using joint compound followed by sanding, using progressively larger drywall knives. This method (which is the same used for joints in new plaster-board/drywall application) will result in a wider repair band, feather sanded smooth, which should be less noticeable.
Either way you will be left with an area that has a different texture than the rest of the wall. Depending on your need for perfection this can be remedied to some degree by using a thick nap paint roller and painting the whole wall, or even texturing the whole wall. Visibility of texture differences can be affected by things (oblique lighting and glossy paint tend to make it more visible).
