What can I do about my home's ugly wood paneling?
Question:There is 1970s wood panneling in almost every room (I just bought the house, blame the previous owners :-] ). Can it be removed? Painted over? Wallpapered? Help please!
Answers:
Painting can leave you with all of the vertical grooves screaming, "painted over paneling". If you thoroughly clean the surface and paint it with a sealer you can fill the grooves with sheetrock mud aka joint cement.(not spackling) Joint cement is easily sanded with a wet fabric, denim works great which creates very little dust. wipe the surface down with a "tack cloth" to remove the dried dust then prime over the joint cement "stripes". You can now paint or paper (I like paper - it has dimension and a color scheme to work with) over the paneling and it will look great. Oh be double sure there are NO loose edges. Nail or glue (liquid nails) anyplace you are unsure of. Good Luck!
You could do either. Painting would be the easiest. The link below gives some tips.
You can paint it, but I think painted paneling is hideous. You can cover it with paper (not recommended), fill in the lines and paint it or put drywall over it.
I had some beautiful paneling in our house, but the previous owners were heavy smokers, and the wood holds that smell for YEARS, so I tore it out and had the house drywalled.
Painting it is the easiest way to disguise ugly paneling. It doesn't have to be hideous. I've painted over several rooms with paneling and it was a great improvement. Keep the color neutral and hang lots of framed artwork, etc. on the walls for distraction. This is the quickest, cheapest solution.
It may not be hard to remove the paneling if there is drywall or plaster behind it. Then it's just patch and paint. If no other wall surface, removing it is difficult and expensive.
That wood paneling can be horrible. It can be painted and still look good, it just depends on how much time and effort you are willing to take. If the paneling is in good condition and you won't mind the grooves (which can give it a beach or country feel when painted), then your best best is to KILZ it first which will cut down on any stains or odors so they don't seep through. KILZ can be bought at Walmart or your local home remodeling center.
Whatever you do, it's not worth the time and effort in my opinion to fill in the grooves and don't waste your money on wallpapering over it.
Paint or complete removal is best. Just be prepared if you remove it because the walls underneath could be the real problem...i.e. maybe why they were panelled over in the first place.
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