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No you can not paint paneling. Well you can but that dont make it right. People paint glass, plastic, asphalt roofs and even the grass on their front lawn but that dont make it right.
You have far worse issues then painting paneling though. You have no drywall under the paneling? I would also take a stab at guessing there is no insulation in there either. It must be an old summer home converted to year round living?
With no drywall that home is unmortgageable with any lender and FHA and VA actually follow federal lending guidelines forbidding mortgaging a home without drywall among other things. You have to tear out the paneling and have it drywalled. Do it right. Hire professional drywallers and then paint it. It will look far nicer anyway and more attractive to a buyer. And it will be mortgageable. Your other alternative is to just sell it for all cash as a handyman special and be done with it and any hassles that go with it.
There's no drywall under my paneling and I had a VA loan. That must be something pretty new...
[quote]With no drywall that home is unmortgageable with any lender and FHA and VA actually follow federal lending guidelines forbidding mortgaging a home without drywall among other things. QUOTE]
This is not the case in my area and I am not aware of FHA/VA making any regional variations beyond what IBC and IRC already call out.
I have seen panelling look okay after painting but the first reply was pretty spot on in regard to not taking shortcuts because poorly painted panelling looks really bad. If it is typical in the neighborhood I do not think having panelling will hurt you.
The cheapest way to cover the panelling with drywall would be to simply install 1/4 inch thick drywall over it (this is the stuff people typically use on curved walls.) Then mud/tape/sand/trim/prime/paint as necessary.
The house we rent has one room that is all paneling, even the ceiling. It is all painted a gloss white and it covered pretty well. You can still tell it's paneling but it's a whole lot better than dark trailer looking paneling.
I painted the paneling in my 1970's house and it looked AWESOME. Pick a netural color (taupe, beige) and add a chair rail around the room painted pure bright white and you'll be shocked how good the room looks. Good luck!
My current house has painted, taupe paneling in the family room and FROG. It looks horrendous. Since we just drywalled the entire kitchen, we're definitely putting this on our job queue... after all the sanding and then the risk of it not looking nice, I'd rather take the safe road and throw up some drywall.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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jc76,
What kind of paneling is this? If you have real wood, tongue and groove paneling then it is completely paintable and can look very nice because you are starting with a quality material. If you have veneered plywood covering the walls, you can probably paint it for a decent result (it will still look like painted plywood) as long as it is in immaculate condition but old veneered plywood paneling is very seldom in immaculate condition.
I have painted paneling (behind a built in bookcase in our family room) and it came out great. I used liquid sandpaper, primed twice and painted. Prep is everything. If I were in your shoes I would consider removing the paneling in a few rooms and drywalling them and in the remaining rooms prime and paint the paneling. Buyers will probably be more willing to accept a house with a few rooms of paneling versus an entire house of paneling. Just my opinion.....
What kind of paneling is this? If you have real wood, tongue and groove paneling then it is completely paintable and can look very nice because you are starting with a quality material. If you have veneered plywood covering the walls, you can probably paint it for a decent result (it will still look like painted plywood) as long as it is in immaculate condition but old veneered plywood paneling is very seldom in immaculate condition.
Quoting this for emphasis! We have the veneered plywood, apparently, lol.
Here's the deal; My Mom left my 2 brothers and I the house when she passed away in May. The house is a ranch style built in 1967. It's around 1700 sq. ft. The problem is that it has paneling througout, as in the entire house (minus the bathrooms) is paneled. There is no dry wall under it either. We want to sell but don't know if we should try to have it painted to help brighten it up some. Some people tell me you can paint it, but I never seen it done and in my mind I visualize it looking very tacky painted. Very unsure what to do. Anyone ever painted paneling? Does it look as bad as it does it my mind? Thanks!
You can paint paneling, and it can look very geood - much, much better than the old dark paneling.
The quality of the primer & paint you buy, as well as the person doing the painting, will make all the difference in the world.
We've painted paneling before and it was great. A friend of mine also put textured wallpaper over hers (she had this gawdawful brown ugly panelling in three rooms of her house...) and it looks awesome! The wallpaper she used was "eco-friendly"... which is a big selling point in some areas of the country right now. Here's a link (I don't know if this is the brand she used, but I just googled "ecofriendly wallpaper"): Eco Friendly Wallpaper : ECO Collection : Graham & Brown
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