Painting paneling in an old mobile home...?

Question

I bought this mobile home, single wide, large bedrooms, only one problem: Dark, dated, depressing paneling throughout the wholeeeeeeee place. Blehhhh. It is very economical to live here, and I want to make this place work. I' m so sick of looking at it. How do I paint this stuff and not make it look terrible? I may want to resell it someday. Any suggestions will be appreciated...thanks.

Answer 1

I have done it, I used Kiltz first,then painted. My wife foe painted with a sea sponge for a pattern with a little darker paint it looked real good the lines were not as obvious.

Answer 2

I have done this before and it turned out ok -at least it was an improvement over the ugly brown! I would suggest that you rough up the surface slightly so it holds the paint better -especially if the surface has that slightly glazed look to it. The paint may peel off or scrap off easily if you don't. So use a medium grit sandpaper to rough it up a bit.
I would say, however, do NOT wallpaper the paneling. Although we filled in the grooves so they did not show through the paper, the paneling had a tendency to expand and contract on one of the walls and the paper buckled or tore at the joints. It looked really great on most of the walls, however. It was a royal pain to fill all the grooves in . I would never do it again. I would definitely remove it next time.
I have seen it painted an off white color and it looked pretty darn good. They did not fill in the grooves either.

Answer 3

Your best bet is to do what my son did when he got out of the service & bought a mobile home. There's a special wallpaper that goes over the paneling & it covers the imperfections in the paneling. (grooves, etc.) I have only seen this paper in white, but it can be painted. Go to where they sell wallpaper & ask for the wallpaper that can go over paneling. I'm not sure if painting the paneling would look good or even adhere to it, so I think the paper would be your best bet. I have seen it on the paneling in many mobile homes, & it looks really nice. What a big difference!!!

Answer 4

Don't even think about painting until you have used KILTZ first. Then, you will be surprised how nice that mobile home will look with fresh paint! I would paint it with soft tans and creams, maybe pale greens and yellow. These would be easy resell colors . Bold colors like orange , bright blues, etc. make an area appear smaller. Use a good quality paint.

Answer 5

A good primer coat is a necessity. I have seen people fill in the vertical lines with caulk or drywall mud to look less like painted paneling.

Answer 6

Another opp. would be to lay 1/4" sheet rock over it. using mainly an adhesive like liquid nail's in the field of the board.
finishing it out and starting like you would a new home. this ill help with alot of little problems your going to get by just painting it. also help with out side sound a little. and help with the resale

Answer 7

if the wooden paneling has previously been varnished or has a sheen to it.It would be wise to key(sand down)the surface before any painting.if you choose to paint the paneling use a good quality emulsion of your colour choice.

Answer 8

I painted my paneling in my trailer, it looks great...just go pick out the colors you like and paint away!!

Answer 9

use a good oil base paint, it may be more exp, but in the long run will last longer,
just wipe the walls down with a wood cleaner, let dry then paint

Answer 10

oh boy.......get you some KILTZ primer and then you can paint the paneling any color and don't forget the wall paper and or beautiful borders..........