How to remove old wood paneling

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Account Closed · Answer

You might be able to tell what's underneath by removing an electrical outlet cover or switch plate if available. In some cases I've screwed fresh drywall over the panelling  and finished it off. If you do that, and have electrical outlets, you can purchase electrical box extenders so the outlets mount properly after the new drywall is applied.

JD Martin · Answer

Depends on what you are doing with the house and the condition of the paneling. If it is a rental, I would paint it and forget it.

If you have to, or want to, knock on it or look for telltale waves to determine if there's anything underneath. Some paneling is the finished wall, with nothing behind it except studs. And its possible that old drywall behind it could have asbestos in it, so keep that in mind.

I have painted paneling in at least 4 or 5 of my rentals. The renters don't care as long as it's painted.

Susan St. Martin · Answer

We have always removed the old before applying the new. When leaving the old and applying over it, thats kinda like putting whipped cream on dog #$it. Recently we pulled all the paneling off the walls in the basement of a house we were redoing and as mentioned earlier there was a nasty mastic holding the paneling on that was giving us grief to remove, so instead of spending days scraping we just put a new layer of 1/4 inch rock in its place and finished it out. One big advantage of this was all the window and door jambs planned out flush again. if you remove the paneling these will all stick proud of finish by a 1/4 inch.

James Maradits · Answer

In my experience paneling is typically over drywall or plaster in poor condition.  If it's the nice thick kind of paneling, you can lightly sand it, prime it, and paint over it and it actually can look very nice afterwards.

Jonathan Preciado · Answer

I learned the hard way - had 1 bedroom with 1970's paneling and drywall underneath.  They had nailed and glued (with some type of tar) the paneling to the drywall.  Paneling came off without a problem, but I had to use a heat gun to melt off the tar, which took days.  In the end, I had to skim coat the wall with drywall mud and sand to get it smooth.

IMO not worth the effort.  If you can get away with painting - do it!

Bill Gulley · Answer

Come on, that's the fun with rehabs, you never know what's in a wall until you get into that wall!

Remove trim first, the demo the wall. Now you get to see what you have or don't have. Know that your studs may not be flush and square now, the depth of plaster will be different than sheet rock, the trim may not fit, so plan on new trim. Check the door and window jams too, the depth may not be standard today. You can also find asbestos, oh happy days!

Might trim the paneling with a skill saw, utility knife or Japanese saw, it buckles because it doesn't fit properly and the nails should be pulled and re-nailed to the proper fit. If your studs are contracting and expanding, you have a moisture issue and insulation problem. Also check the foundation and your roof may be racking with the weather, another issue.

With an older house you better practice feathering drywall mud, you may get a lot of practice!

There are also compounds to cover the cracks in paneling to prep to paint, sanding it you can add Kills or another primer and add mud over it. Not to thick or it will fall off! There is also a paintable wall covering, put it on like wall paper and paint it.

You may be able to fit sheet rock over it, then fill in the jams with furring strips, shims and/or mud to the trim.

Last wood panel job I did was to leave it there, then build a book case in front of it with a new back, what you don't see won't hurt you usually. :)

Kathleen Leary · Answer

One wall in a living room has badly installed panelling - it buckles in the summer & pulls apart in the winter, leaving a big crack (O-L-D house - panels put up in the 70s, looks like). The plaster behind it is destroyed, naturally. I will be tearing out this wall & replacing it with drywall. I did texture it to match the rest of the room, but the movement of the panels make it a problem.

Short answer: if it's in good shape, paint it. If it's poorly installed or has other problems, it may be better in the long run to bite the bullet & fix it right.

Gail K. · Answer

Sometimes the wood paneling is covering plaster walls that are in poor condition (which, of course, was the reason for someone putting up the wood paneling).  Like others, I just prime and paint the paneling.   Never had a tenant complain that this was painted paneling.

Gail

Jason Hirko · Answer

I found this behind paneling in an old commercial building I'm working on...

How to remove old wood paneling

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