Removing old wall paneling

[4mfern]

We currently purchased a home that is 30 yrs old. It has paneling half way up the wall in the upper hallway and someone overtime has painted it (and not well). Can this be removed – the panel that is? If not or if too complicated what can I do with it? It looks really ugly.
Thank you.

[Henry in MI]

Hi, 4mfern. I can’t tell without seeing it, of course, but my guess is that the paneling will be easy to remove. Getting the wall ready to repaint will be more of a challenge. The paneling is probably just nailed through the plaster or drywall into the studs. You should be able to use a WonderBar (wide pry bar) with a wide piece of wood to protect the wall and pry the paneling off. Probably some of the nails will stay in the wall and you can pry them out also. Be careful of the nails when moving the old panels around.

When the paneling is off, wash the walls with Tri-Sodium Phosphate and rinse with water. Spackle the old nail holes and any other marks on the walls. Sand the spackle and the paint line where newer paint met the paneling. Use a sanding screen on a block that you get from the home center. Vacuum up the dust and rinse again with a damp sponge to get any dust off the walls. You are now ready to prime and paint.

Good luck
Henry in MI

[Brad]

If the paneling is glued on, removing it might get messy and complicated. Something I’ve had some success with is to wallpaper over the paneling. Make sure that all of the paneling is secure to the wall. Use some spackle to smooth-out the grooves in the paneling and paint it with a good wallpaper sizing product before putting on the wallpaper. You can even put a nice new trim piece along the top where the paneling meets the wall.
It’ll look like you meant to.
Good luck!
Brad

[Jay J]

4mfern,

I, personally, am not a big fan of ‘covering up’ the paneling. For some reason, you may end up with more than you bargained for.

Of course, it’s the least expensive way to go but you may not be ‘happy’ with the results down the road. This may sound-offish but paneling, as I know it, isn’t made to be papered over, spackeled, and/or painted. Yes, it can be done but I’ll tell you, you will KNOW that it’s been done. In other words, the ‘finished job’ will not look like, say, wallpaper on drywall. (They have a different ‘look’.) SO, what should you do?

Well, you could go the ‘cover up’ route and see how it goes. If you are pleased as the years go by, then leave well enough alone. If, on the other hand, you’re more of a do-the-job-once-so-you-don’t-have-to-do-it-again person, like me, then remove it. The paneling may be nailed AND glued to the studs (which is no problem because you can hang the drywall directly), or, it may be nailed AND glued to drywall (in which case you may have to remove BOTH drywall and paneling. If you’re careful, maybe you can remove just the paneling in which case you may have to ‘cut out’ the glue, and then spackle.)

For more info on this subject, read Painting Paneling. If you need more ‘help’, ask away! My best to ya and hope this helps.

Jay J

[Susan]

I read with interest the message by 4mfern on September 06, 2000 and the replies regarding removing paneling. I have removed paneling from a house in Florida. It was glued directly to the wall. The paneling came off with no damage to the walls, However, does anybody have an idea how to remove that panel glue from the wall … short of cutting it out?????? I’d appreciate any suggestions! Thanks. Dec 23, 2002

[lisa]

I’m about to purchase and house that is 20 year old that have paneling on it that looks like it have swollen. The paneling is hard where the swelling is. But the swelling is not in one place it’s through out the living room. The swelling looks as if it could pop at any given time.

Do anybody what have caused this? And I was also wandering if there is wall underneath.

[Lucy Acosta]

I have a room that has wood paneling on the walls and I wish to remove them. I would like to have painted walls. Please advise on how to remove the wood paneling myself without having to have someone come in to do the job.

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