Wallpaper or plaster? Which is better in new construction?

I would like to highlight one more positive point about plaster, which was already mentioned above: we have some walls that are partially made of concrete and then of sand-lime brick. At the transitions, after about 4-5 years, significant cracks developed over the entire room height, according to the structural engineer due to shrinkage from material drying. It was not a problem to cover the cracks with several layers of mesh and re-plaster and paint, so that they are no longer visible. In my opinion, something like that is not possible with fleece. If you do not have such material transitions, of course this point does not apply.

We are happy with the smooth walls and would choose plaster again at any time.

Well, in theory, with painter's fleece this crack would simply remain hidden behind the fleece. That often works. Sometimes it doesn’t. And then it’s true, it’s more difficult, but not impossible to repair the whole thing with fleece.

I also did that recently in my condominium. Gypsum-plastered concrete wall with painter’s fleece. Unfortunately, the plaster was too sandy in one spot and almost completely crumbled off when we once installed a cat tree. Before renting out, I had to fix it again. So I puttyed and sanded several times. Afterwards, you could only see it in raking light and only because I am not particularly good at puttying. But a difference between the painter’s fleece wall and the newly puttied area was at least not visible (possibly palpable).

thanks for your experience. Did you plaster the walls yourself or have the painter do it completely? A potential disadvantage of plaster is that any unevenness becomes immediately visible under grazing light (e.g. wall lamp or light strip behind the sofa). Can't the damaged strip of painter's fleece be simply replaced if it's damaged by cracks? So remove the old one, then close the cracks, and then put new fleece over it. We want to do the walls ourselves in the upper floor and attic to save costs. We want to have the ground floor and stairwell done by the painter. For doing it yourself, fleece is probably the best option, right? Spackle and sand as smoothly as possible and then put the fleece on yourself? That way, as a layman, you get the best result, right? Or are there other simple alternatives that can be done easily by laymen without prior knowledge?

Did you plaster the walls yourselves or have the painter do it completely?

During construction by the painter, repaired the cracks myself.

A possible disadvantage of plaster is that any unevenness becomes immediately visible with grazing light

That’s true. We have cement plaster in the bathrooms, which is much rougher. Today I would also use gypsum plaster here. In the rest of the house with gypsum plaster everything is perfect, even in grazing light.

For do-it-yourself, fleece is probably the best option, right? Smooth it as much as possible with filler and sanding and then apply the fleece yourself? That way, as a layman, you get the best result, right?

I would say yes. Use heavy quality (min 130g/m²)!

I haven't read everything, so sorry if it has already been mentioned.

We have the Erfurt fleece backing fiber on the kitchen ceiling. It's okay, but personally, I wouldn't want it on the wall. It's just visually... well... The processing of fleece wallpapers is quite nice, but I have no comparison because I've never properly wallpapered before. Can a non-professional plaster so that you can wallpaper with fleece afterwards? Definitely! You do have to practice, but basically it's not that difficult. Especially if you are already given Q2 finish. Rough plaster or roller plaster can also crack, and if you want a smooth wall at some point, you'll be really cursing. Although with rough plaster, it might still be okay. I might test that this year in the WC.