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Has anyone successfully painted over wood paneling?

Has anyone successfully painted over wood paneling?


  #1  
Old 12-31-08, 11:24 AM
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Has anyone successfully painted over wood paneling?

We just bought a new home, built in '64. It has wood paneling througout. The paneling in the bedrooms had been painted over SEVERAL times by the previous owners and looked just awful! So, we ripped out the trim and put 1/2 drywall over the paneling, spackled and primed it, and put wallpaper and wainscoting over the top. It looks great!

I'm tired of moving drywall around, measuring and cutting, etc. I found these instructions for painting over paneling... rough it up with a sander (60 grit sandpaper), wipe with a damp cloth, fill in the grooves with spackling (optional- I don't like the paneled look so I'll probably do that), prime it, and paint over it. Apparently it's supposed to look like a "normal" wall after that.

Has anyone done that before? Did it work out well? One wall of the formal den, and the entire hallway have been painted. The living room and the rest of the formal den has the original-look paneling. Can I use this method over previously-painted paneling?

I also ask because we have a divider wall in the den that I don't really want to take out, and it's going to be a beast to drywall around (it has decorative spindle-type things on it, one of which is cut in half lengthwise and is flush against the wall). I think painting over the paneling might make it a little easier to work around...
 
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Old 12-31-08, 01:20 PM
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Ok let me try again #*#*# dial up

You can prime and paint clean paneling. It is best to sand lightly and then use a solvent based primer. Latex primers don't always adhere well to the paneling's finish. The top coats can be latex. Painting paneling, generally requires 1 coat primer and 2 coats of finish to look it's best.

IMO it is best to not fill the grooves. A painted groove looks better than a poorly filled one. There is also a slight chance that the spackling can pop loose or crack if the wall is bumped hard enough.

Any paint applied over previously painted paneling is only as good as the previous prep and primer/paint.
 
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Old 12-31-08, 05:01 PM
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I picked up some vinyl spackling that says it can be used on wood, and doesn't crack or shrink. I have a wall to test it out on... I sanded it earlier and just finished the first layer or spackling. It's my "test" wall- if it doesn't look good, we can drywall it! (It's only 4' wide).

Can you recommend a good solvent-based primer? I have an almost-full 5-gallon bucket of Kilz, but that's latex-based. (DH went a bit overboard...)

And what about the walls that have been painted several times? Do I just sand them lightly, wipe them with a damp cloth, let it dry and prime them too?
 
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Old 01-01-09, 05:32 AM
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You shouldn't need to prime the previously painted paneling unless it has stains or was painted with oil base enamel and you wish to switch to latex.

The original oil base kilz is ok for a primer although your local paint store would have a better selection of solvent based primers to choose from.

Even though the spackling states it doesn't shrink, you will probably need to apply 2 coats, sanding between and again after the last coat is dry.
 
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Old 01-02-09, 08:10 AM
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Well, I tried it, and it looks surprisingly good... except that when you tap on it, it sounds like cheap wood paneling instead of drywall. That really is the only giveaway that it's really paneling!
 
 

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