No-paint options (paneling, ceiling, kitchen, ceilings)

[springazure]

Here I am, almost finished.... getting my current home ready for sale. Every room has to have the ceilings and walls scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed clean prior to painting. I was fortunate that the Family Room was all wood paneling when I bought it. All I had to do was wash the wood paneled walls and WALLA!!!! DONE!!!! Soooooo much easier!!! (and cheaper - avoid the cost of paint)

Now I'm on the last and final room of scrubbing/painting. I'm sooooo burned out on this right now. All I keep thinking is... I sure wish the entire house was as easy as the Family room.

Which has me thinking about the next mystery home I will end up buying. Having every single room/wall done with wood paneling is a bit much. But it sure would be much easier to keep clean. Don't have to worry about the additional expense of the walls needing repainting every couple of years, etc.

I could be wrong, but I'm thinking the wood paneling also offers additional insulating factor with our winter snow temps (-0 common)

I plan on living in the next home for my remaining years, which means I'll be too old (and probably too poor LOL) to scrub down and paint an entire house.

Any suggestions for the future home?

[TempesT68]

Wood paneling is very much out of style, but was very popular in the 60's-70's. You could possibly move to a dated home with the paneling but if you don't plan on moving again it won't really be a big deal to keep the house "white glove" like you would be when selling. Also if you use semi-gloss paint or other "washable" types they are much easier to clean than flat.

[chet everett]

Honestly, unless you smoke cigars/cigarettes in the house or have indequate kitchen ventilation / improper HVAC , washing walls is not something that really is needed.

Paneling adds just about no insulation, as there is no air trapped by it -- try standing in an unheated shed in the winter vs getting into a fluffy sleeping bag. Its the trapped air that keeps you warm not the material itself...

If you don't smoke and have an exhaust fan to remove cooking vapors I would have a qualified HVAC technician check out the heating and cooling equipment. Walls and ceiling should stay clean.

[KonaKat]

Sorry to disagree with you Chet, but the most important part of painting is the prep which includes cleaning. Depending on individual circumstances there is always a certain amount of dirt and residue from cooking etc on any surface in a home and if you just paint over it, it will peel or flake much faster plus, you can tell from the appearance a wall that has not had good prep before a new paint job. I see it all the time when owners find some "friend" that's supposedly a painter who just underbid my painter. That's why the bid is cheap - little or no prep. The walls look good for about, oh 3 or 4 months maybe.

[fallingwater]

If you use good paint then you can go a long time with it. My house was professionally painted 5 yrs ago. It still looks great. When I get a scuff on the all, magic eraser takes it off. I guess if you really want to forgo painting all together, you could always wallpaper.