Painting Over Paneling

The largest wall leads out into the living room which has walls that are a light cedar tongue in groove. I want to paint the kitchen paneling. Any suggestions for color? Thanks.

By JulieWV from WV

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RE: Painting Over Paneling

I am in the process of painting my panelling and I read that spackling the seams and grooves will cause it to shrink and crack over time. So I am using drywall tape to the seams and grooves. So far it is working great!

Post By Diane (Guest Post)

Prep is the key

Make sure you get all the prep work done right. If you don't want to see the grooves in the paneling, be sure to either spackle or caulk over them before you prime.

Make sure to use a block-out primer, not a regular primer to stop that dark paneling from bleeding through your finish coat color. This site has step by step instructions on how to paint paneling: http://www.how2instructions.com/Hom ... /Painting/How_To_Paint_Paneling.html

Post By Mike (Guest Post)

Painting Over Paneling

If you want it to look like a real wall make sure u put puddie or spackle in the cracks, so when you sand it down and place your primer on it will come out smooth. Then u paint it in color of ur choice and it will come out looking like a regular painted room.

Post By Susame (Guest Post)

RE: Painting Over Paneling

I'm working on a project right now where I'm painting over paneling. One piece of advice I got was to let the primer dry for two days so it will really adhere to the wall. I got Benjamin Moore Fresh Start primer, and I used a palm sander and sanded the entire surface. One thing I'm having a problem with is getting paint in the grooves, and it looks like I'm just going to have to take my paint brush to each one. Ughhhh! But even a rough-surfaces roller cover isn't getting the paint in there.

Post By Lisa (Guest Post)

RE: Painting Over Paneling

We used a liquid sander which we applied to the paneling first. It took off anything that would interfere with the paint and left a good surface to paint on. We bought a good brand paint and have never had a problem. If your paneling is a dark color, you may have to paint it twice.

Post By Sandy (Guest Post)

RE: Painting Over Paneling

Our house is full of paneling. First we sanded the walls in one bedroom and then we used two coats of expensive primer and then the paint. After two months the paint started pealing. What would you suggest? We have more rooms to paint.
Any help you could offer would be great!

Post By Kellean (Guest Post)

RE: Painting Over Paneling

I used a good primer like Kilz; then I textured 2 walls and left 2 untextured. Actually, the untextured looked better. The lines in the smooth texture gave the room a cool look. However, I did lightly sand the paneling before the Kilz step. The room is a sport's room for my son, and he loved it!

Post By Dana (Guest Post)

RE: Painting Over Paneling

I painted over all the paneling in my house. It looks sooooooooooo much better then it did before. Here is a photo of my living room. The top is Navajo White, the bottom is Red, Red, Wine, and the middle stripe is just a flat black (cheaper then adding a chair rail.)

Post by Peachb2

RE: Painting Over Paneling

We painted the paneling in 4 rooms of our house about 8 years ago and it's still holding up fine. I decided to try a water based primer, Bullseye 1-2-3 instead of an oil base like Kilz and it worked great. We didn't fill in the grooves since the house sits on sandy soil and will continue to settle forever. I'm quite fond of the grooves. They add an interesting texture to the walls. I've noticed magazine photos recently where decorators have intalled paneling to paint over for the nice texture! I did use oil based primer to paint over garish wallpaper since it had to also hide a print as well as give the wall "tooth" for the paint to adhere to. I've also never messed with TSP on paneling, even the real shiny kind. Works fine.

Post By Miz Lou (Guest Post)

RE: Painting Over Paneling

We painted over the paneling upstairs in both bedrooms. One bedroom we primed, painted the bottom 3rd of the wall in navy the rest in white. I then put baseball border around the room where the different colors meet. The other bedroom was about the same only we used a rust at the bottom and a different border. They look really good. Make sure you use a good primer or the paint won't stick very well.

Post By Janice (Guest Post)

RE: Painting Over Paneling

My sister-in-law filled in all the grooves with spackle and she wallpapered over the paneling and it looked great.

Post by Persnickety Paula

Painting Over Paneling

Request:

I have paneled rooms. I am thinking of painting the paneling. What suggestions can I get regarding paint and other tips for painting paneling. I am also a little worried because two of the rooms have paneling that "shines". What product would cover it best?

Linda

Answers:

RE: Painting Over Paneling
Charlene (Guest Post)

We had the same problem and tackled each room in a different manner. One area, we filled in the cracks and painted over it. This was a lot of work but you can't tell that it is paneling.

The other wall, we filled in the cracks and painted over, then put textured wall paper over it and painted again. This is a lot of arm work also.

Then we did the same, except we put textured mix over the wall. Then in one area we just painted the wall board.

Last but not least, we put thin sheets of drywall over the paneling and mudded and taped. This was the easiest.

RE: Painting Over Paneling
(Guest Post)

First, you want to hand wash each wall with TSP, available at your local home improvement store. This process goes quickly. You don't have to scrub, just sponge over it. This removes the grease, smoke, etc. residue to give you a clean start.

Then you have to prime the surface with BINZ or KILZ. Also available at your local home improvement store. Again, this process goes quickly.

Lastly, you paint. The biggest challenge I encountered was getting the paint into the grooves. I purchased an expensive foam roller specially made for rough surfaces such as stucco. I was very disappointed. I ended up using a foam corner roller which I got for about $3 and just went up and down each crevice once or twice.

It really does totally change the look of the room, more modern, less dated and brighter. It really looks like expensive painted bead-board, not cheap 70's paneling.

RE: Painting Over Paneling
Mary Ellen (Guest Post)

I just painted my son's room which has painted paneling in it. I first primed the walls with Kilz primer. Then just painted as usual. You have to use a roller with a little longer nap so the paint gets in the grooves of the paneling. I'm still not crazy about paneling, but at least now it's the color he and I both like.

Have fun painting!

RE: Painting Over Paneling
Dottie Rae (Guest Post)

We recently painted all of the wood paneling in our home. We had lots of it! Use a primer first, then use a good quality of whatever color you desire. We used the Behr paints from Home Depot because our son, who does lots of renovations, said that would cover better. For the shiny paneling, lightly sand by hand or a sander before applying the primer. Our paneling was a medium brown. Darker paneling may need more than one coat. Hope this helps.

RE: Painting Over Paneling
ginnee (Guest Post)

Years ago I painted a paneled room too. After the primer, I used textured paint. You could still see the grooves but it looked great. The rough texture really added depth and dimension.

RE: Painting Over Paneling
Post by Meari

Lots of good ideas! Here's a few links I found:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/decorating/article/0,1793,HGTV_3545_2100166,00.html
http://www.indianchild.com/architecture/painting-paneling.htm
http://www.alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/faq8.html

RE: Painting Over Paneling
Post by carrie69

We bought a house last year and are still in the process of remodeling.

We painted over paneling in the nursery but did not use a high quality primer... BIG mistake. The paint peels off at the slightest snag. We painted over paneling in the living room with a higher quality primer, specifically made for paneling, and that seems to have worked better. My biggest complaint is the seams have cracks in the paint now.

We discovered a wallpaper product called PaperIllusion earlier this year where you rip the paper in random sized pieces, dip it in water and hang on the primed wall. It works great over paneling, provided you prep the paneling correctly. I've hung the product on a door and it's SUPER easy to install and the faux finish effect is quite stunning.

We have a large room in our finished basement covered in paneling which we want to convert to a home theater. I plan to try this Paper Illusions wallpaper down there next.

If you're interested, you can find out more about this product here. http://www.wallpaperillusions.com/

I love it!

RE: Painting Over Paneling
Gwen (Guest Post)

I agree. Kilz is the best step, then a good paint. We have done almost every room in our old house and in my sons room we did a crackle process and it looks really cool over the old paneling. There was many steps to it, but the bedroom is small, so it was not too bad. Cleaned, then Kilzed, then the base color, then the top color, then the crackle. We did a yellow underneath and black over the top. The yellow shows though the crackle and you barely notice that it is paneling!

Post by ThriftyFun

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