i have a room that is paneled with 4′ wide masonite type panels with a bogus woodgrain finish. i think its a very thin film of some type of plastic with the woodgrain motif on it laminated to the masonite. this paneling was likely installed late 60’s early 70’s.
i would like to just paint over it. the paneling color is grey and black, it is supposed to look like old barn wood, i just want to paint it white or slightly ivory.
how should i do this? my judgement says that latex will peel right off. how do i prep this stuff? what should i prime it with? is there a product that will “bite” the plastic layer? what i have right now ready to go is a 50 sheet pkg. of 80 grit. i working on finding the “elbow grease” to go with it.
any and all suggestions would be appreciated, and thank you very much in advance.
davincii
Replies
There are primers that say they are for such a purpose like BIN etc. I would wash the walls with TSP or some type of wall cleaner, then lightly sand with 150 or so grit sandpaper before priming. Then a couple coats of paint rolled on with a medium nap roller for a bit of light texture.
After you are done you will have what looks like painted panneling. Which is OK if that suits you.
I personally would try to remove the panneling if at all possible then do a proper paint job on the walls. That would look a lot better. Bear in mind that if the panneling was glued to drywall, or the wall was covered because of serious problems, this could be a lot bigger job than expected.
Oh yuck. Is it now amazing how something perfectly ugly at one time looked modern and wonderful? I too would remove the paneling or put dry wall over the top of it. I have not yet seen any paint job on that stuff that looks good. I think you can also fill in the grooves with caulk and put a heavy duty liner paper over it and then wall paper.
thanks for your insights.
i'll wait and see what all of my options are.
davincii
thanks for the insights.
would those first coats, primer and base coat w/med. nap roller be an oil base paint with the idea in mind that the solvents might grab a little better. then could i finish with latex?
taking the paneling off is not really an option. it would turn this into a much larger project would put me way over budget in time and money. as for what's behind the wall, i'll let sleeping dogs lie.
all i want to do is brighten this room up, white walls versus the current dark walls. it is a tv, lounge, den area. the walls will actually be mostly covered with framed items.
davincii
I would recommend oil base, but a good latex paint would be ok. Read on the primer to see it it is recommended for panneling. Some latex primers say they will work, but I get better adhesion with alkyd.