Roughly put, my understanding of the history of interior walls is:
- In olden days, plaster. Good/bad/indifferent – not everything was 3-coat. Good work took time. $$$
- Drywall. Faster, cheaper. Largely supplanted plaster, ex in Europe and Boston. $
- Then, skim coat. With joint compound. $$?
Apparently, skim coat looks better than straight drywall? If so, is that because the (taped & coated) joints are hard to hide?
Bonus question: if you're going to skim anyway, why not use veneer plaster, either over blueboard or over drywall plus a bonder? Am I wrong in thinking that plaster is much easier to trowel?
(Full disclosure: I'm going to do some drywall, for the first time. I have done some veneer plastering. I found the results more that adequate, and didn't think it was impossibly difficult – mostly, it set faster than I wanted. But, I'm far from a pro.)
Best Answer
I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing with "skim coat", but it's just a higher level of drywall finishing for improved sheen management.
https://www.thespruce.com/the-five-levels-of-drywall-finishing-4120152
Modern joint compounds are used for their ease of application, relatively quick drying, and light weight. I'm not familiar with the application of plaster over drywall in modern scenarios. My 1950s home did have plaster over drywall, but that's a much more involved process than simply skimming wallboard.