Painting Paneling?

ntstanley

I've always heard paneling should NEVER be painted but the house my husband and I are purchasing has really old and dark paneling in it. I want to paint over it but the paneling is textured as in it has divots in it almost like someone took a knife all over the walls and just tore little bits out. I want to paint it much brighter but I'm afraid the dark divots will still show or bleed back through and I really do not want my living room looking like a Dalmatian! Any help would be greatly appreviated!!!!! 

musictchr25

The brighter the paint color, the more easily the markings will show, and shadows from lighting will make them more visible too. Going with a darker color will hide those markings, and making sure that you use a flat or satin finish paint without any gloss or shiny-ness will hide the markings more too. 

The other thing you could try is covering the patches with wood putty. If you use a putty knife, a thin layer of wood putty over the paneling will help hide the markings and divots and then you'll just need to sand it down before putting on a coat of primer and then painting. Try an area near the floor or in a corner if you're not sure that this would work for you.

You may want to just remove the paneling all together. If you do it yourself, you would save the cost of demo, and then depending on what is underneath the paneling, you will likely only need new drywall. If you're handy, drywall is very easy to install, but you may not need to do that depending on what's underneath - the paneling could just be glued to the drywall, meaning you'll just need a heavy-duty adhesive remover to get the glue off the drywall and then you'd be ready to prime and paint the walls.