Painting wood paneling

15 years ago

Hello, here's a question about painting wood paneling. Our lower level has one wall (about 11ft x 7ft) covered in a thick wood panel. It is currently painted off-white, although the paint job is nothing special. We hate the wood panel look so we're wanting to match it with the rest of the basement, which is all drywall. There are three options I can foresee, keeping in mind that the basement has a false (suspended) ceiling. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

(1) remove the panel and install drywall. this will require removing part of the ceiling grid and tiles, which is nailed directly to the panel. this option is obviously the most difficult but may give the best results.

(2) drywall directly over panel. this would eliminate having to mess with the ceiling. the main thing i'm worried about here is, what do i use for a top edge of the drywall where it meets the ceiling grid? the grid probably 3/4-inch wide, so even with the thickest drywall, there will be some visible edge at the top. what should i do here?

(3) prepare the panel and paint it again. the wood panel is pretty standard in appearance with normal grooves. i'd want to fill the grooves and paint it again. i've seen some advice online about doing this. has anyone done it?

i'm thinking i'd first clean the panel, then sand it, prime it, mud/tape/fill grooves, sand again, prime again, paint. i'm liking this option best because it seems like the least amount of difficult work. but what will the results be?

does anyone have any experience with this? thanks!

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Comments (5)

paintguy22
15 years ago
I would remove the ceiling grid, drywall right over the panelling and then put the grid back up. There is really no reason to remove panelling if you are installing drywall anyway....why create more garbage that you need to throw away. If you don't want to remove the ceiling grid, there are some commercial type plastic or vinyl covers I believe that you can fit right over the top edge of the drywall and then butt that right up against the ceiling grid. If you are very good at cutting drywall, you can also just butt the drywall up against the ceiling grid and then caulk that gap at the top, but I think the vinyl trim piece at the top would look better if it exists.
randita
15 years ago
If you want to paint the paneling, you have the right idea with this procedure:

"i'm thinking i'd first clean the panel, then sand it, prime it, mud/tape/fill grooves, sand again, prime again, paint. i'm liking this option best because it seems like the least amount of difficult work. but what will the results be?"

I recently painted wood paneling (chair rail height) in a room, but I didn't fill the ridges. I tried to create the effect of wainscoting. So I rolled on the finish paint, then brushed through it to get a smooth finish. I would think that if you just rolled the paint on the paneling in the same method as the walls, they'd look pretty similar as far as the roller stipple is concerned.
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Hello! Not sure if I am replying too late, but I just recently went through this in my "new" rental home that had a wood paneled room. Since we plan to eventually gut the room if we decide to buy the house, I took a short cut. First, I gave the walls a good scrubbing. Then, I sanded (150 grit) all of the paneling and wiped all excess dust away with a damp cloth. Now, this is the part that I skipped: if you plan on keeping the paneling up, you'll probably want to fill the grooves in with some joint compound, using a putty knife. Let it dry and sand out any bumpy spots or ridges. Then you'll be ready to prime and paint. I used BINZ primer on my walls. 2 coats because of the darkness. Let it dry, of course, and then paint on! I didn't have any problems, and it looks a lot better!
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I wish I could say there's a quick way...BUT...there's no "neat" way either!! ISSUES: * Grooves in paneling must be filled and sanded if paneling left on. MAJOR dust here! * Drywall behind paneling must be filled/sanded if paneling is torn off. Usually paneling is glued AND nailed to the substrate. SO...depending how much glue was used, you'll have quite the sheetrock "rehab"!! Lots of filling (2 or 3 passes with the "mud"), then the sanding. Obviously, MAJOR dust here too. * NEXT, Priming is MANDATORY. Zinsser's 123 latex primer is a good one. Use good rollers/brushes too! * Lastly (DAYS later ??!!!), after primer dries 3 hrs., TWO coats of color. * I forgot...if you want the "orange-peel" texture on your walls, prime before AND after this process!!! You might want to hire this done. It's SO much faster. I hope this helps! Faron
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Our very old house (~150 years old) has random rooms that were added/porches enclosed someone in the last 75 years. I'm pretty sure in our case that the paneling IS the wall surface. When my husband & I got married 12 years ago he was already living here as it's the old family home, but it hadn't been painted since the 70's. We painted all the paneling. We didn't have the time, money, or inclination to tear it all down and drywall. It's still paneling, but it looks far better. Here's what we discovered: You have to paint it like you would a regular wall, and then work harder. Cut in around the edges and paint at least one coat. Then, take a brush and paint all the paneling crevice lines. All of them, at least twice. Be sure to blend the paint on the surface so it doesn't build up ridges. Then, cut in again and paint at least one more coat on everything, maybe two. Watch out for drips. It's a pain but easier and cheaper than removing, if that's an issue. If not, rip that stuff out! This room was very dark, hideous paneling. It's now a light cream. I had a hard time getting a good picture as it's early morning and the light is bad in here.
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I would not paint the wood..I love it. I think a beautiful oriental style rug in rich jewel tones would look great in the library. Perhaps some tweaking to the bookshelves with some lighter accessories even though I like the sets of books. I would change out the art over the fireplace with something in more vibrant colors. The dining room needs a nicer drape, those are not suiting the formality of the room. Your foyer is perfection...love the lighting in there and that gorgeous rug. The living room is the room that looks too dark..could be more in the photo. I am thinking that it is the dark leather on the dark rug with the dark wood table. I am sure someone with more expertise than I could make some suggestions there..
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globe199
Original Author
15 years ago
My biggest question is, how would I get a smooth appearance? It's going to take a heavy amount of mud to fill the grooves. How would I make sure the final product is smooth as drywall?

Thanks for the advice.
globe199
Original Author
15 years ago
I don't think I can remove the grid AND put drywall over the panel. The grid butts right up against the panel. So if there was another half-inch of wall material, the grid wouldn't fit. Does that make sense?

paintguy, I like your idea of either caulking or using a vinyl cover. Any idea what this might be called or where I'd get it?
paintguy22
15 years ago
Yes, it makes sense. You would have to cut the grid to fit the new dimensions of the room and probably cut the ceiling tiles on the perimeter as well. Yep, it would be a pain. I would check at Home Depot or a big box store for the trim. Look in the drywall area.

Painting wood paneling

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