I am seeking your opinions and guidance on a renovation that I am planning to start soon.
Our basement walls are covered with some kind of wood panel. It is kind of semi-glossy with a black line (groove) every 8″ more or less. It seems to have natural knots, holes, etc. The paneling seems like real wood. Paneling was original to the house when it was built in 1979 and it is the Northern Virginia / Washington DC area
We will like to remove this wall covering. I am afraid if I start removing this paneling, tears and holes will result on the drywall, necessitating lots of patching work. Plus me falling backwards on my tail bone, destroying and wrecking more things as I go along. Sort of like the ‘bull in the china shop’.
An alternate solution that I thought off was to cover all the paneling with 1/4″ drywall, joint, sand and paint. What do you think of this solution? Is it better to rip the panelilng? The problems that I can think off from doing this are the electrical receptacles and light switches being set to deep.
I will appreciate any tips, ideas about this. Please let me know if I am in left field (well, I could never catch a flyball anyway…)
Thanks in advance
Replies
Try removing one piece and see how it goes. There could be any number of situations. There might not be drywall behind it. It might be glued to drywall. If it's just nailed to drywall then patching won't be so bad.
Other options. You could paint the paneling if you use the right primer and don't mind the look of the lines. You can fill the joints with drywall compound then prime and paint. I've heard of that done but haven't seen with my own eyes how good it comes out. You can fill the joints and apply textured wall paper, either with a design, or with texture only over which you would paint. The texture helps hide the lines.
If you're going to apply drywall anyway, I'd rip out the paneling and old drywall if any and start over. Then you could inspect the insulation and wall condition, install new outlets (or TV or cable or whatever) if desired, touch up missing insulation, and your problem with existing outlets would not be a problem.
Remember 1/4 drywall doesn't have tapered edges. How good are you at finishing????
I just bought some 1/4" drywall, (Sheetrock brand), and it had tapered edges.
Goof rings and longer device mounting screws, if needed, will cover the recessed electrical box problem. Get the plastic goof rings as the metal ones are more prone to shorts and are a bit more finicky. You can get a box of them at most electrical supply houses.
You can find out more about how well installed this paneling is by removing covedr plates at electrical recepticles and switches and using a small pry bar to gently pull it away from the substrate.
Most paneling is applied over 1/4" or 3/8" sheetrock. Sometimes it is glued well and sometimes they threw away the glue gun or it didn't 'take' very well. Almost all the time, it will come off fairly easily buit if glued well, it will damage the SR and be hard to clean up. I would be wanting to try getting it off since you are considering patchin over with more SR anyway. You might be pleasantly suprised with how easy it comes off.
If you are considering the fabric and paint over it system, you would have to be sure it is definitely well adhered and nailed and that oit is not a vinyl skin over a luan or hardboard core. The vinyl won't let stuff stick to it very well.
Excellence is its own reward!
I've found that if the paneling was glued to drywall with liquid nails or similar glue it gets brittle in time and you can pound the wall with the side of your fist to shatter the glue and make removal easy
I think that you are right on track to cover the walls with 1/4" or 3/8" drywall and simply use extention strips for the receptacles. I know that is what I would do. Just make sure that you find your studs and screw clear through the paneling and whatever is back there to at least 3/4" into solid lumber especially on the ceiling.
There's a reason I don't recommend going over it. As a remodelor, I get to see things where one layer after another in the history of a house is odded in.
Wood trapped between layers of rock can be a wonderful polace for vermin and mold to make there homes without showing signs to the human inhabitants for a lot longer than a single ply wall surface, allowing the problem to get worse than otherwise before correction..
Excellence is its own reward!