My home was built with paneling as walls, and the paneling in the livingroom is natural wood paneling with a wood grain texture design. The design is deeply carved into the paneling and I would like to paint it again with a little less trouble. The first two coats flaked after a number of years, and it's time to re-paint. My question is, can I mud the walls, in order to smooth them out? If not what can I do? I live on a fixed income and cannot afford to replace them with dry wall. Please help! brheam

 

Yes you can skim coat the wood with joint compound but I've never been fond of doing so. If the walls take any rough treatment [even furniture bumping against it] there is a chance the mud may come loose [in spots]

I suspect that the previous paint failed do to lack of prep and not using the right primer. Paneling should always be sanded lightly before appling a solvent based primer. It can then be top coated with any latex paint.

I would remove all loose paint, prime if needed and then repaint with a quality paint. If you do decide to mud make sure all loose paint is removed first so the mud has a solid base to adhere to.

 

I also suspect the paint failed because of improper prep/materials

I also agree this type of paneling is a bad candidate for a skim coat to smooth it out

I think proper prep and materials would address the problem, not a skim coat

That being said with proper prep you could skim it if you want smooth walls

 

Thanks marksr, I'll remove the loose paint, and get a professional to mud the walls. It takes gallons of paint and days of work to paint the walls without smoothing them out. I looked at another site, which meantioned covering the walls, but they didn't indicate what to cover them with. Is there another material you can use to cover the paneling? brheam

 

The paneling shouldn't be hard to paint. What type/size roller cover are you using? I would think a 3/4" nap roller cover should be sufficent to get paint in all the grooves.

There are heavy wallpapers designed to go over paneling - check local wallpaper shop. You also can laminate over the paneling with 1/4" drywall.

 

The design is wood grain, and some of the texture is very deep, as much as 1/8th inch deep in some places. I used a long nap roller in the past, but I'm not sure of the naps length. You mentioned laminate, can you paint this or does it come in colors? brheam

 

Using a large nap roller is only part of the solution. You also have to apply the paint heavy enough so it will flow into the grooves. Dry rolling doesn't work well. Basically apply a lot of paint to the paneling and then roll back over it to even it all out.

I didn't mean to use a laminate but to take sheetrock and install over the paneling.