please remind me how to make paneling look better - Posted by mountaingirl

Real Estate Investing
1

Posted by Robert on August 10, 2007 at 17:56:13:

Whats under the paneling? Typically they place paneling “over” drywall. I would pull back a section and see.

2

please remind me how to make paneling look better - Posted by mountaingirl

Posted by mountaingirl on August 09, 2007 at 18:23:22:

I vaguely remember an old post on how to make wall paneling look like sheetrock, I think part is to TSP the stuff, fill the cracks with hot mud, but how do you tape/fix the seams between the 4x8 sheets?

thanks.

3

Re: how to make paneling look better - Posted by Sailor

Posted by Sailor on August 10, 2007 at 19:39:01:

There is no need to mud. I prefer to prime w/a coat of Kilz & then paint w/semi-gloss or gloss acrylic paint. I like white or very pale yellow, both of which reflect light. Even cheapo paneling looks good painted. If there is no drywall underneath, rip off the paneling & add it.

You can also add a nice chair rail, & paint the paneling above & below different colors. If there is no crown molding, you can create the look of it by adding a narrow strip of molding a couple inches below the top molding & painting all the trip & the space between the 2 trim pieces a different color than the rest of the paneling. I like high baseboards, too, as they add perceived value for not much $$$.

Tye

4

Re: how to make paneling look better - Posted by JD

Posted by JD on August 10, 2007 at 19:03:25:

I have done two different things:

  1. Fill in the cracks with non shrink joint compound, aka hot mud. Then wall paper over it. You do a quick primer coat before you apply the joint compond not TSP.
  2. A skilled drywall finisher can fill in the crack, and seams, as described in #1 above, then skim coat and texture the entire wall. It would help if you spoke Spanish if you go the #2 route :).
5

Re: please remind me - Posted by michaela-CA

Posted by michaela-CA on August 10, 2007 at 06:06:56:

I think it depends on the ARV that the house has. If it’s a low price house, you could just paint it and it will change things. If low to middle you could mud the cracks. If it’s high end, then I wouldn’t do anything short of taking of the panelling and sheetrocking new.

Michaela

6

Re: please remind me how to make paneling look… - Posted by Rich-CA

Posted by Rich-CA on August 09, 2007 at 22:07:06:

Is there any reason you cannot remove the paneling and replace with drywall? I would think the labor costs should be similar.

7

Re: please remind me how to make paneling look… - Posted by mountaingirl

Posted by mountaingirl on August 10, 2007 at 10:33:57:

it is mid value, to improve more than just painting, but not cost effective to sheetrock the whole thing.