I have just purchased an older home that has a very odd plaster stucco throughout the main cavity of the house (entry hallway, stairwell, upstairs hallway).

The stucco ("dash and over-trowel" I think) is textured like a cave wall -- very tactile & bumpy, almost like an indoor climbing wall. I've never seen anything like it, but apparently it is original and was common in the 1940s in Toronto.

I'm looking to get smooth walls, and two approaches have been suggested by the contractors who quoted. The first is tearing down the plaster and putting up drywall. The second is plastering over the existing plaster wall with a three-coat modified plaster.

Does anyone know the benefits and/or drawbacks of these two methods?

Thanks for your help.