# What to do about this wood paneling?



## tqm (Mar 8, 2009)

Hi,

Just bought this 1919 home and I've got some issues to deal with I can tell you.  I guess you could call this a fixer-upper.  Damn, I didn't think I was gonna do that again.

Okay so here's a link to some pic's (I'm new so you'll have to cut and paste)

home.comcast.net/~tqm/site/?/page/remodel_pics/

What I'm looking at right now is that the dining room, front hall, living room, den are ALL covered with this real wood paneling (as opposed to the stuff with a picture of wood glued over some thin plywood).  Oh and the ceiling is done in this lightweight (like compressed fiber stuff with a stamped "wood grain" effect) tongue & groove (I assume) paneling stuff.

Right so the walls are traditional wet plaster but the substrate isn't lath it's origional "dry wall" (a 3 layer plaster sandwich).  Needless to say I don't really want to take down the wood paneling and "patch" / "rebuild" the walls and I sure don't want to just paint the paneling "as is".

I've read some stories about people using drywall mud to fill in the grooves but that just sounds like a ridiculous amount of sanding and building and sanding to deal with.  What about using a sandable painters caulk to fill the grooves?

My labor might be "free" but we're taking about 2,033 liner feet of grooves to be filled in and smoothed!!!  Am I out of my mind and should I just order up a bunch of 1/4" drywall and put it up over the existing finish?

As for the ceiling... I put a little j hook up to hang a lamp and have a very strong feeling that they put up something like 1/2" furring strips to mount the stuff so the removal should be quite straight forward.  At that point I could assess how bad the ceilings are and if I just need to put drywall up over them or repair the cracks etc.

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.


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## handyguys (Mar 9, 2009)

I'm doing a kicthen right now that has that 'drywall' with plaster over it. Wall thickness is 3/4"-7/8" (varies). You can patch it with regular joint compound. I brought a guy in to skim everything one all my roughins were done (I made a mess for him).

The corners on my project were reinforced with wire lath.

Anyway - I am not a big fan on layering one thing over another. Either paint the wood or pull it off. Same with ceiling.

I have never tried to fill the groves in panneling. I would think it would be a bad idea with real wood (seasonal expansion/contraction).

There are sheets that can go over it like wallpaper. They are heavy duty and can supposedly bridge gaps. If you do anything like that I would fill the joints with joint compound and do one sanding and then put those sheets up. They can be painted or then papered over. I think the sheets are called wallpaper liner, they are sold at wallpaper store.

Personally - tear down the paneling if you want it gone.


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## tqm (Mar 9, 2009)

I'm thinking about this more and more (mostly 'cause I got let go from Ford Motor last month and have WAY to much time on my hands) and here's where I am now...

Pull the ceiling down and deal with whatever is up there.  Most likely I'll have bad cracks in a wet plaster ceiling so I'll put new sheetrock up.

As for the walls well... okay if I put up sheetrock over the paneling I'm going to have several things to deal with that are going to make this a tough job.
     a)  the walls are 101" high so I can't use 8' drywall w/out a filler at the top or bottom so I'd have waste $ on 12' and cut down right?
     b)  i'd have to retrim the windows and door openings to deal with the additional thickness.  There's more added cost and labor pain.

I have concerns about trying to pull the paneling down and then patching the walls as needed.  If this was done with construction adheasive and nails I could be looking at a LOT of damage to repair.  Up side is that it's not very expensive to do and I'm pretty good with mud & sanding.

I'm liking the idea of using paintable wallpaper liner... I'm going to cost that out.


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## handyguys (Mar 9, 2009)

TGM - Finding a new job should now be your full time job. Believe me, I've been there. At least 35 hours a week. Keep a log. Network with other job seekers and keep each other accountable. Good luck.

As for your wall - if you DID overlay drywall you are right about dealing with door jambs, window jambs, trim, etc. Its a big project. As for the 101" walls. You can use 8' sheets and piece it. i would go horizontal. and put a seam near bottom or in the middle, horizontally.


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## tqm (Mar 9, 2009)

And I haven't even begun to tell you about the floors in this house!!!!  Upstairs is okay over all I think but the main floor well that's a different story.  There is carpet in every room except the (tiny) kitchen.  All over the place there's these hard "bumps" and I'm failry sure that the floor has buckled, or, popped due to bad settling of a 90 year old house on a brick foundation.  I'd love to save the floors but they are only 3/8" thick.  I tore a wall out inbetween two closets to join them for the master and was, at first delighted to see the hardwood under the carpet and then surprised to find that the wood was so thin.


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## tqm (Mar 9, 2009)

Thanks handyguys... I totally agree with you about the job search and you're right on target.  I spent most of last month going through the stages of loss and have now got my resume done and have started actively networking.  It's  a tough market.  I've got about 1 years worth of cash b/4 I go under so I think I'll get on my feet again b/4 then.  Worse case is I send the house keys to the bank and walk away to another state for a job.


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