How do I prepare pannelling for painting? Do I fill in the seams?

Question

I want to paint my livingroom pannelling and I wan to know what would be the best to use to fill in the vertical lines on the pannelling.

Answer 1

You can fill the seams and grooves in the paneling with drywall compound, but it is all but guaranteed to crack and even fall out. Drywall provides a stable base for the compound, but wood paneling does not. No matter what type of wood paneling you have, it will grow and shrink with changes in humidity, thereby cracking the compound. If you wish to have smooth walls, the best advice is to remove the paneling and install drywall.

If you think you can live with the vertical grooves and wish to paint the paneling, there are a couple of steps you need to take to ensure a good result. The first step is to wash the paneling, especially of there are smokers in the house. Make sure you take a damp sponge and remove all soap residue and then let it dry completely. The next step is to lightly sand the paneling in order to give it some "tooth". This will give the paint something to stick to. After sanding, use a tack cloth to clean any sanding dust from the surface. You are now ready to paint.

The paneling must be primed before a finish color is applied. You need to use a stain blocking bonding primer like "Kilz". The properties of this type of primer will stop your finish paint from simply soaking into the wood paneling as well as preventing chemicals in the wood paneling from bleeding through and ruining your finish coat. It will also adhere to the paneling well and provide a bood base for the application of the finish paint. Make sure you work the primer into all of the grooves of the paneling. If you pick your finish color prior to the application of the primer, your paint store can tint it close to the color of your finish coat. If you use use a high quality paint, you should only have to apply one coat of finish paint once the stain blocking bonding primer has dried.

In my experience, a flat finish works best when painting paneling. Any other finish will look terrible because it will highlight any and all anomilies in the surface of the paneling, especially under the glare of electric lighting.

Now is not the time to buy the cheapest paint you can find, unless you are willing to be disappointed with the results. Brand name paint, from a good paint store, will cost you a few bucks more, but the trade offs are worth the extra investment. The paint will stand up to washing and the finish coat should cover in one coat.

Good luck with your painting project.

Answer 2

No you can't fill in the lines between the panels. First you have to prime the panel with a really good primer your local hardware store will have one. I would apply two coats of primer, then you can paint the walls you want. Once the walls are primed two times and the paint is applied, which may take two coats depending on the colour the lines will not be that visible.

Hope this helps and it looks great, I work in a paint department and some of my customers have done this and came back and told it looks great. Good luck

Answer 3

Your best bet is to get it off the walls. The wall behind your wood paneling will be solid and much more suitable for painting. Usually the paneling is only held in by a few small nails. Once you get an edge to pop up, you can peel the rest of the room like an orange.

In the long run, this is less work than trying to fill the lines.

Answer 4

I like the look of painted paneling without filling in the lines. Clean it well with ammonia and water. Then paint it with a good primer. Then put your paint over it. The light cream colors really look nice, give a cottage feel to it.
Good luck!

Answer 5

You can paint the paneling if you prime it first. If you want to fill in the lines you will have to use something like dry wall compound. It would be similar to finishing drywall seams. Fill, sand, repeat, prime, paint, done.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Spackle or drywall muck will fill in the lines if that is what you really want.. but those lines will give that wall some character so why would you want to. ?
don't forget to sand it a bit first ..
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Answer 8

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Answer 9

Really the best way is to pull it out & drywall ~