Paneling cover up

painted panelling looks great!

wash the walls first with TSP. this will remove all dirt. then prime, then paint. I did this to a room. I had to use 2 coats of primer and two coats of paint. My daughter used a sponge brush to do the lines in the panel and I used the roller. It was hard work, but we enjoyed the bonding experience.

I lived with painted paneling for years and it's a fast, cheap, quick way to update a room.

While painting is a good option, if the panneling is all nicked up there is one other option.

In my house someone put panneling that was designed to look like 4 inch square tile wall. Than it was painted over time and again and chipped and bubbled next to toilet (yuck , right) I scrubbed it, knocked off loose paint and repainted it til I figured out what to do.

On one wall I pulled the panneling off, left was chunks of glue and small chunks of the saw dust board, it required a belt sander to smooth. The other wall with the chipped paint, I left and just left alone after a good cleaning.

(I did want to but new panneling up as the bathroom was small but I love the wainscoting bead board look.)

So I bought wall paper that looks like bead board. Under $15 a roll. Fairly thick, thick enough to imply bead board. It also didn't show any of the nail holes, faux grout lines or chipped paint through the wall paper.

Fyi, the packaging says it can go over panneling, I just didn't believe it.

I have had no trouble with seems, the paper was designed well. Very please, very cheap and nice looking.

I got it a a big box hardware store and they make different textures including but not limited to tin ceiling look, swirl, and pop corn texture. I did buy the paste and I brush it on the paper before applying even though it's prepasted. I hate fighting with wall paper and this worked really well.

You can also mud the wall with texture and make it look like sheet rock. At least if you know how to do the knock down or Monterey drag that professionals do. Can't tell the difference except it's wood that hangs pictures easier. I always use Simi gloss paint that you can wash and no need to paint for years.

When I moved in my house, the basement area was very dark paneling and I did not have the time nor money for the tearing down and sheetrock, sanding painting process so I purchased a textured paintable wallpaper from Lowes. It has no repeat pattern to match, prepasted and goes over paneling beautifully. Comes in different textures, I chose stucco. Then painted it....whala! Seams of paneling do not show. Part of the room I actually left the paneling exposed on the bottom half (painted it), and then papered the top half, painted that and used moulding to cover the middle seam.

That looked nice too.

It is another quick fix and a good way to inexpensively remedy paneled areas, especially if you do not wish to see the paneling seams.

I would paint it for sure!

We painted the paneling in our 1938 house and it looks great !