Painting fake wood paneling

[Oldtom]

We have a hard used ghetto rental property that I am fixing up during a vacancy. The place has cheapo 1970 vintage fake wood paneling covering some totally destroyed drywall. I removed some paneling and the drywall has dozens of fist and foot holes per square yard :-0 Money is tight as per usual and I just want to paint the dark paneling to make the place lighter and seem larger. Removing the paneling and hanging new drywall is not in the budget, plus the next pack of dysfunctional tenants would just punch holes in the new drywall. The previous 10 year tenant smoked like a chimney and I plan to wash the paneling with straight ammonia to remove the nicotine before priming. Primer will be Sherwin Williams shellac primer since it will stick to an oil slick. Paint will be a good flat SW latex.

Does this sound like a plan? Anything to watch out for?

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[demarpaint]

The paneling must be clean and free of oil and wax. Over the years the best cleaning method I found for paneling to hold paint or even wallpaper is a two step process. Step one is to wash it with a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and water. When that completely dries wipe it down with Mineral Spirits, then a dry rag. Take proper safety precautions when using Mineral Spirits, which include a respirator and gloves in a well vented area. No smoking or open flames! When that's done use oil base Cover-Stain http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog...oil-base-primer It comes in quarts and gallons as well as spray bombs and 5's. Shellac is too brittle and dries too fast. The product I linked to is much better for paneling, stops bleed through, and has excellent adhesion. It dries in about an hour, give it about 2-3 hours before top coating.

Some people cheat and do a wash with the Simple Green and give it over night to dry, others cheat and just use Mineral Spirits. The above method is the best. Some cheap paneling had chemicals added to the finish which acted as a release agent, which will cause paint to fail. The Mineral Spirits final clean cleans that off quite well.

 

[OneEyeJack]

 

[Wolf359]

Normally you clean with TSP before painting, they sell it in the paint aisle, but you can use whatever to clean it. It's pretty common for people to paint old paneling. What you can do is get a bucket of joint compound and use that to fill in the cracks, then it's one smooth wall. Unless you rap on it with your knuckles, you might not even be able to tell it was paneling.

 

[Revving2Redline]

After its clean,dull and dry you can use white pigmented shellac from Zinnser or Sherwin Williams.If after that dries and fills to rough you can apply a primer will some fillers/pigment and I would use XIM Peelbond. I would try ProClassic Satin from SW or Duration Matte. Worked at Sherwin Williams for many years and they about have a product for every job.Good luck.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Normally you clean with TSP before painting, they sell it in the paint aisle, but you can use whatever to clean it. It's pretty common for people to paint old paneling. What you can do is get a bucket of joint compound and use that to fill in the cracks, then it's one smooth wall. Unless you rap on it with your knuckles, you might not even be able to tell it was paneling.


You have to be sure that the paneling has no waves or space between it and the wall if you plan on filling the grooves with joint compound. All a person has to do is push on the wall, or lean on it and the compound can pop. Ready patch is better suited for filling paneling, it bonds better but can still pop. Priming it first then filling it, and priming it again gives better results. It depends on how much time and money you want to spend. Rental unit, prep, prime, and paint the paneling and forget it.

I'd avoid Bin or pigmented shellac, it dries too fast and is a brittle finish. Cover Stain or a stain blocking oil primer like it is a better choice.

 

[pandus13]

another one would be to fill the "cracks" and knots with wood putty/spackle, sand smooth, then you have a smooth (good enough) wall.
dump a quart/gallon of exterior paint into your flat paint bucket. normally i don't recommend mixing paints, but your flat will still be flat, but kind of became washable.
also don't use white or even off-white (will be dirty in a hurry). go for a light gray
you can advertise "modern finishes"
Edit: wow, Demarpaint and Marco620 really went to town with this. thank you guys for being with us!

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I'd avoid Bin or pigmented shellac, it dries too fast and is a brittle finish. Cover Stain or a stain blocking oil primer like it is a better choice.


Can you elaborate on this a bit more, please? Whenever I study "difficult to paint surfaces" (i.e., recently kitchen cabinets), BIN white shellac is always one of the recommended primers.

Thank you.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I'd avoid Bin or pigmented shellac, it dries too fast and is a brittle finish. Cover Stain or a stain blocking oil primer like it is a better choice.


Can you elaborate on this a bit more, please? Whenever I study "difficult to paint surfaces" (i.e., recently kitchen cabinets), BIN white shellac is always one of the recommended primers.

Thank you.


Unfortunately information is given by paint store staff based on information they gathered from reading labels, or PDS with no hands on experience. Sort of like asking a tech at AAP how to rebuild an engine and all he did was filled out an application and got hired. No disrespect intended there are people who work in paint stores that actually painted and learned, but they're far and few, the same applies for parts stores. Bin is white pigmented Shellac in an alcohol base. It has been around forever and has been recommended for just about everything. It is great for priming knots, water stains and bad fire damage, it dries very fast, and is a brittle finish making it a poor choice for a lot of surfaces.

I'm sharing information from over 40 years of hands on experience. I also did a lot of product testing for B Moore, Sherwin Williams, Muralo, and Zinsser to name a few. I told them what worked, what didn't and why. Bottom line for paneling there are better products than Bin.

With regard to the kitchen cabinets I'd rather look at them and make the determination than blindly make a recommendation.