How to paint wood paneling

[911Ads]

Hi Guys,

We have wood paneling in our house; the downstairs hallway is full length and then the stairs and landing is half height. The downstairs hallway \ entrance is really dark and rather than removing all the paneling (as the skirting board and picture rail seem to be connected- possibly glued) I would like to paint them white.

What's the best way to tackle this? My guess would be light sand, wipe down, and paint. What paint do you use? emulsion? eggs shell? if egg shell, a primer first? I will be leaving the picture rail, top rail and skirting board varnished to match the staircase.

Attached is a copy of the stairs as I couldn't get a clear enough picture of the downstairs hallway.

[guindilias]

I'd go with sugar soap to degrease, a quick sand, then paint. You will normally be fine with emulsion without a primer - some decorators actually use cheap emulsion as a primer - but otherwise sugar soap, sand, prime (with emulsion if you want!), then topcoat with satinwood, gloss, or whatever takes your fancy.

[911Ads]

Thanks. Think we would want a Matt emulsion.

Curious as why to sugar soap before sanding and not after.

[guindilias]

Either will do the job really - you're just removing any surface grease. I always do it before, so I'm not sanding any grease into the scratches I create when sanding. Quick wipe with a rag after gets rid of any dust.

[RobinOakapple]

I expect in 30 years time a new owner will strip the paint off and discover the lovely wood underneath.

[911Ads]

Makes sense, thanks.

[mcbook]

Just a word of caution - I sanded down and then painted wood with egg-shell. I didn't use a primer and I'm now regretting it as it has scratched off quite easily in a few places. In a high traffic area I would use a primer just to be safe.

[911Ads]

Thanks guys. Thing is I like the stairs and the landing paneling , the landing was initially very dark and narrow so we had a couple of Sun tunnels fitted.what an improvement!

The entrance however, is just too dark..I have been thinking about leaving the frames and painting the inside..heres a picture, it's like this in all the hallway. [url]

[Mallinson1984]

911Ads said:

Thanks guys. Thing is I like the stairs and the landing paneling , the landing was initially very dark and narrow so we had a couple of Sun tunnels fitted.what an improvement!

The entrance however, is just too dark..I have been thinking about leaving the frames and painting the inside..heres a picture, it's like this in all the hallway. [url]

I have to agree with you re: liking the panelling. We have some similar panelling in our home and I like ours... Have you not considered changing the flooring? A nice light tiled floor in the entrance, change the stairs & landing carpet for something lighter and splash some emulsion around the top? All in all creating a lighter environment but retaining the feature panelling and not running the risk of ruining what you like about the space...

[Some Gump]

Class, you have he entrance to my local as a front hall!

Agree with you that paining would be good - make it much lighter =)

[911Ads]

Yes the wallpaper will be painted over or removed and painted to a light colour.

Wouldn't want to go lighter in the carpet as we have two young kids..but I get what you are saying about the floor..maybe tile it in a cream tile matching the kitchen. Not sure how the current floor has been put down. There is electric ufh under it.

I was also considering asking a carpenter to see if they could change the full height paneling to half height.

As for the local comment..Yes..hence the need to make it brighter.

[Zyp]

guindilias said:

I'd go with sugar soap to degrease, a quick sand, then paint. You will normally be fine with emulsion without a primer - some decorators actually use cheap emulsion as a primer - but otherwise sugar soap, sand, prime (with emulsion if you want!), then topcoat with satinwood, gloss, or whatever takes your fancy.

Emulsion is emulsion, primer is primer.

Different paints for a reason, and if any decorator of mine used the former instead of the latter, they'd be sacked.

[trev540]

If Iwas doing the redecorating of your Hall,Stairs and landing I would not paint over existing wallpaper and as to the panelling I would give it a good rub down then a wipe of with methylated spirit to remove any wax and dirt then use Zinnser Bin 123 followed by two coats of Dulux Quick Dry satinwood trade finish.As to the wallpaper strip it off and reline with lining paper then two coats of matt emulsion because if you strip and decorate on to the wall you can never get all the old paste residue off and it will crack and flake after awhile and do you want to be redecorating after a short time.Also agree that any so called decorator that uses emulsion as a primer is a clown to use polite terms.

[trev540]

forgot to add to the above go to a proper decorators merchants and not B&Q etc as they will give you good advice and the correct materials to make a good job of it and will not end up that much more expensive.Try Brewers or Dulux Decorating Centres