Any advice on painting wall paneling?
Answers:
Ive seen a couple of great jobs at friends houses. Primer them first, they'll soak up your paint. The first was a ribboning affect. Each panel was painted with the same color only with alternating textures. One flat , one satin. It looked sharp. The other friend did a venetion plastering on hers herself. Really nice. Looked Italian.
Other answers:
We put a coat of white on first because our paneling was so dark and we were painting a light green color. We did not fill in the veins. It turned out nice!
We put a coat of white on first because our paneling was so dark and we were painting a light green color. We did not fill in the veins. It turned out nice!
Remove trim and cover with 1/4 inch drywall. Tape and float. This will give you a fire barrier.
Try and stay away from a water based paint especially if the room is prone to a lot of moisture. The panelling may buckle with the added water content from the paint.
Do you want to fill in the seams / veins for a smooth finish? If so, then do what Don has suggested. To seal the wood in order to paint and seal the filler, use Kilz (Oil Base Paint) as a primer. It won't allow any stains, oil, or varnish to bleed thru and will seal the filler so it won't buckle or show thru. Let dry overnight, and then paint with whatever choice of paint you want to use.
Kilz does make a water cleanup paint you can purchase and have it mixed whatever color you want, but I have used it and it usually takes two coats or more.
I wouldn't unless it is a shed or soemthing in range, but inside your house, I would remoive them and put new ones up. If your serious about saving money...painting them will look tacky.
You can paint over paneling. Some people like to leave the "veins" in the paneling for added texture for the wall. You should first coat the paneling with a primer/sealer that will keep any colors from bleeding through and help your top coat to adhere to the wall. You can roller it, but may need a brush to get down in the cracks. Same thing when you apply the top coat.
the best advise is to take down the paneling, replace sheetrock.
prime frist and then paint...Check out this guide for more tips What is the best method of removing rust stains from sinks?