No masking, no hassle, easy peasy. 

Blood from gun shots,, we let it dry, cut out damaged sheetrock,, flooring carpet & pad cut out and wrapped up like a buritto,, plastic gloves, face masks,,  one guy died in bed,, put the mattress in a tarp and rolled it up and out. 

Buying condos is a mixed bag even without them being vacation rentals, seems like another risk layer?     

If you keep peeling back layers, if there is something to find, you will find it. 

It could not be covered with drywall and be flush, so he put a layer or 2 or 3 of drywall mud and sanded it smooth and textured to match the rest of the wall.

Ours are always a heavy layer of lathe & plaster, then a layer of plywood on 1x3 nailing strips held up with 3inch nails, then another layer of old '70'd drywall.

BUT, remember what flight attendants tell you pre-flight:  put your own oxygen mask on before trying to help others.Best of luck.

I know this question goes a million layers deep, but do you just go by the pictures that are posted online, or use a general calculation per square foot?

Because it’s applied in layers and flows while leveling it has ‘depth’ to it like a real stone.

You can still be a limited partner with the insurance providing an extra layer of coverage.