Paneling question?
Question:how do i go about making my panelling look smooth(like drywall),what do i use,how do i use it, what will i need? any good web sites?
Answers:
You can do what you are asking for, but it will involve a lot of work. Most people that I have seen do the work use sheetrock mud to fill the cracks in. After filling the cracks with mud with a trowel, let the mud dry overnight and sand with sandpaper or a drywall sander. Since the mud will shrink, you will need to fill the cracks once again and sand smooth. After you have achieved the smoothness you want, seal with a sealer such as Kilz that will prevent any stains from coming through your new paint. After the Kilz is applied, you can paint it what color you want. It's not a easy process so you may want to price taking it down and putting up drywall unless you are willing to do the work and take your time.
If it's wood with groves you can use a putty knife and joint compound to fill the joints and then paint. Been there done that.
Six of one, half dozen of the other on this one. Lot's of labor involved to fill in the cracks and then sand. Might be just as easy to gently remove the paneling and install fresh dry-wall. There are lots of 'day-laborers' out there that can "finish" the dry-wall after you have cut and installed it.
I have done this in 3 different rooms...lots of work ahead of you, but it's worth it. The first room we used joint compound, it took a lot of sanding and scraping and the outcome was great. The 2nd two rooms, we found a joint compound in a caulking tube, this was so much easier!! Highly recommend this, we found it at lowe's with all the caulking products but i don't remember the exact name.
Edit** I think we also used a high-hide primer and it was made specifically for paneling. That way we only needed to fill in the large cracks of the paneling and prime the rest. Looks just as nice as dry wall in all 3 of the rooms.
Good Luck!
You will have to plaster over it, prime, and then paint
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