How to redo plywood walls?

Karen Carl
by Karen Carl
I have plywood walls in my 1942 home and I was wondering how to redo them without replacing them with drywall, etc. Any ideas?
  8 answers
  • MN Mom MN Mom on Jun 06, 2016
    By re-do what do you mean? Paint, surface, replace...
  • Beverly Beamon Beverly Beamon on Jun 06, 2016
    Sand down to the wood and re-poly. This will give you a newer look. But very dusty. You could also put up chair rail at 36" and leave the bottom as is and paint the top a different color, or wallpaper using lining cloth for a smooth serface before wallpaper. Lot of Ideas I could give you. Would like to see pictures. To give you some more ideas.
  • Charles Prock Charles Prock on Jun 06, 2016
    Several ideas depending on how much you are interested in spending...If you are just tired of seeing the wood look you can skim them with sheetrock mud and then texture without having to put sheetrock over it....If paint is all you are after you might want to put some panel mold on the walls first and then use different (read contrasting) colors inside the panels....
    • See 2 previous
    • Charles Prock Charles Prock on Jun 11, 2016
      Absolutely.....there is a flat panel mold that is used on the ceiling...it comes in various widths and there are 1/4 circle arcs to add detail to the corners if you so choose....one color on the walls/ceiling outside the squares and a shade or 2 darker inside the wainscoting squares looks great....
  • Charles Prock Charles Prock on Jun 08, 2016
    Thanks
  • Karen Carl Karen Carl on Jun 08, 2016
    My condo was built in 1942 and has painted plywood walls. I was looking for something to improve the looks w/o the expense of switching to drywall. Maybe something to cover them with, like a thin plaster? Thanks for your help.
    • Segamez79 Segamez79 on Jun 12, 2016
      I did a thick coat of drywall mud and didn't sand and you could not tell I had paneling underneath. Made a knock down in hallway and painted with an antique white. Used to be dark brown paneling.
  • Karen Carl Karen Carl on Jun 10, 2016
    I believe I'm going to do a light coat of drywall paste and cover the plywood walls and then paint them and add new trim. Thanks...I got many suggestions that helped me decide.
  • Karen Carl Karen Carl on Jun 12, 2016
    Thanks. I think that's the best/economical way to update. The walls aren't paneling, but regular sheets of plywood. Yours looks good. Thanks for sharing.