What is a diy way to take care of a poorly insulated paneled room?
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Okay, you want to do something great to this room, but don't want to spend any money on it. Is that what you are saying? You've got me stumped.
I'd recommend removing the plaster and ceiling, insulating, wiring, and installing new drywall. Not terribly expensive if you do it but a lot of work and cost of materials and tools does add up.
wall to wall drapes on perimiter walls....or in my case ...quilts.
You are not going to know what you are working with until you remove the ceiling tiles and the paneling. If you plan to eventually insulate will you be doing it from the inside or outside? If you plan to do it from inside don't waste your time, money and energy on anything more than paint.
We had an old home, with a panelled cold bathroom . You can go to a store (we used Home Depot) and get blow in styrofoam ball insulation; they come with the rental of the blower and applicator hose and tip. Drill 1/4 inch holes in the top of the wall and put them in. We needed a hole every 16 inches to fill between the beams. We polyfilled the holes and them painted to match the wall and they were invisibl. And the room was warm!!
Exterior walls should be opened and batting insulation added between the studs. Close up with drywall, tape, finish and paint as you want. If you home is pre twenties you'll find plaster covered lathe strips behind the paneling. You may have some black pipe that was used for old gas lamps as well. You can remove these or leave them. You will want to look at all wiring in the wall to assure its not the old two wire aluminum, which could be a fire hazard.
Additionally while its opened up you may want to add a couple of extra electrical boxes, you'll be glad you did later.
You can hold of on the ceiling for when you have the funds available.
Don't half-a$$ any of your fix's, you'll be in this house a long time and will always be working on something; so make sure what you do work on is completed.
Good luck and don't rush it. This can be a great learning experience for the whole family. Don't forget to check with family and friends for experienced advice and probably some help if they offer it.
I had an old mobile home that had paneling. I bought textured wallpaper from Home Depot to make it look like a normal sheetrock wall. To my surprise, it totally insulated the room and stopped the drafts. I still had to put insulation inserts behind all the switches and receptacles. It was easy to apply and saved a lot of money.
I also bought white paintable textured wallpaper at H.D. ..adhered to paneling very well gives a whole different look.
I have left it white instead if painting on that wall but the bedroom I will paint..
any windows need to be caulked around the frames, or re glazed if the glazing is missing. again- more time consuming than hard. caulk the base boards as well. "this old house" has or had a check list that i followed for winterizing/ caulking in my house, my house had been a rental for many years- the previous owner wasn't in to efficient - he put 1 bead of caulk on the bottom of the window sill and called it good. my utility bill had been in the 600 usd range for 1 month....its less than half that now. much less.
at one time it was thought that an "air gap" would be insulation enough - it might be if i was in el passo.