Does wood paneling have drywall behind?

The home has a lot of wood panel walls (1970's look) especially in the basement which was just painted over with white paint. The whole basement has drop ceilings.
Does the wood paneling have drywall or something similar behind it?
What is the difference between homes with wood paneling vs drywall?
Is the home value significantly affected because of wood paneling and drop ceilings?
Thank you!

 

It should but if it was a DIYer that added it to make the basement into a living space there is no guarantee that it has drywall behind it. I've seen it with and without.

Seems pretty obvious to me, one has drywall and the other has paneling.

In my opinion it is entirely a matter of preference. Some people think that paneling looks cheap (some IS cheap and definitely looks cheap) and others actually like high grade paneling. I prefer paneling to paint, and especially paneling to wallpaper, but others feel the exact opposite. One thing that I detest is cheap paneling that has been painted without first filling in the grooves and sanding it to hide the fact that it is paneling rather than drywall. If you watch the silly "decorator" type shows on cable television the term "dated" will be used often when referring to paneling. People have been conditioned by these shows into believing that "dated" or "outdated" is the same as ugly.

 

Well put Furd.

I like the look of good paneling too. I like the warm tones and look it gives.
I actually have a room that has painted paneling. It looks..... ok. I'm not terribly thrilled with it.

If your basement was paneled without sheetrocking first.... you should be able to press on it and it will flex easily. Try several places in case you're pressing on a stud.

 

How old is the paneling? Most of the paneling from the 60's and some in the 70's was 1/4" or more thick and was fairly solid by it's self. Today's paneling that is only 1/8" thick or even the thicker ones constructed of man made materials need drywall or some type of backer to keep them from bowing between studs.

The biggest downside of painted paneling is many will skip the proper primer and the paint won't adhere as well and is prone to chip if hit hard.

 

The house was built in 1960. Even one of our rooms upstairs and one other bedroom has wood paneling with the bedroom panels painted. But one side of that bedroom wall doesn't have wood paneling. I am not sure if that has drywall or something else? The bathroom is on the other side of that wall. Is that why?

 

I wouldn't think the bath rm on the other side would make any difference on whether the wall is drywall/plaster or paneling. You should be able to remove a switch plate cover and tell how thick the walls are where you have paneling [if it's just paneling or there is drywall behind it]