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kriszs

what to do about shredded basement paneling

krisz
18 years ago

We live in a house that was built almost 40 yrs. ago. The basement walls are covered in light colored paneling that I like. However we had water damage down there and ripped out the carpet that coved up a few inches to meet the wall paneling. I had a contractor here working on a kitchen bath remodel and had him take off some of the paneling to check for mold. It was ok. I planned to have GC put in baseboards. Well, now that it is time to do that, I am having second thoughts. The room is about 14'by 25' and along one long wall, the paneling is shredded in places almost 5" up the wall. Taking all the paneling down is a bigger project than I had in mind, but putting baseboard on shredded paneling doesn't make sense to me. Do you have any suggestions? This paneling is 1/4" thick, is light with dark vertical grooves and the shredded areas are the color of the grooves. It doesn't seem like paint would be the answer, but I don't know. I'd appreciate your suggestions.

krisz

Comments (2)

  • sierraeast
    18 years ago

    If you haven't addressed the water problems from the past, they could re-occur and damage any new finish work that is done in those areas.If the water problem is solved, i've had good luck pulling all trims, lightly sanding the gloss off of the paneling, and mudding the grooves and meshing the seams similar to drywall finishing.After one coating the seams and grooves with joint compound, i skim coated the whole surface with one more coat of joint compound followed by another coat of topping compound.For a smooth wall finish you might need a third coat in places as well as touch up. Lightly sand,prime and paint.The shredded areas might need attention before skim coating depending on how severe the damage. Mesh tape can help in those areas as well to help reinforce and give the mud something to adhere to.It will resemble drywall when finished.

  • tomcat2k01
    17 years ago

    I've seem texture paint used over damaged paneling to create a stucco look. I think the paint can be colored to what ever you wish. You can paint the bottom half and leave the top half or so as is and install a chair rail to separate.

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