Feasible or not?

17 years ago

We are looking at a different house than one I posted about a week or so ago.

I am wondering about whether certain things are reasonably feasible. The house we are looking at is 25 years old, well maintained but very dated. I am particularly wondering if two things are feasible.

1. The texture on the walls and on the ceilings is very dated and unusual looking. The walls ars mostly a very rough almost bubbly looking texture. Some of the ceilings have circles on them. By that, I mean that there is a pattern of circles in the ceiling...I've never seen that before. Anyway, can all that be gotten rid of? Is it hugely expensive?

2. The house has lots and lots of medium brown wood panelling and built in shelving. All of the wood in the house is this medium brown color. Every door in the house, every door frame, every window, every built in shelf and a 2 story living room with wood paneling. It all seems very nice and I do like some of it. But there is so much of it that it is overwhelming. So I wondered if it was possible to, well, stain it a different color (maybe something darker - I tend to like wood either light colored or stained very dark). Or would that be a heresy or something? I even wondered if I could perhaps paint some of it white? (Such as the shelves in the closets maybe).

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

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Comments (8)

oruboris
17 years ago
I was all ready to tell you to go ahead and paint the paneling till I saw your example photo: This appears to be real wood, and pretty high quality to boot. I'd hate to see it covered with paint...

But the interiors of the closets and the like? Sure, why not.

As to re-texturing the walls and ceilings: doable, but pretty labor intensive. Might be worth having a local contractor take a look before you submit an offer.

I'd say that unless the house is a great value, its probably not the house for you.
User
17 years ago
One thing to consider is that different paint colors can make the appearance of stained wood much different. In your photo, the plaster part of the walls look pretty white. If you were to paint a soft gold color or some shade of dark red, for example, the wood will look alot different. Also, once you get things/books on the shelves, the brown color is hidden and therefore gone! I definitely wouldn't paint that wood...I'm partial as I'm a huge natural wood lover.

Re-texturing can be done. And as oruboris says, it's labor intensive and messy. If you go with that house, I'd get the work done BEFORE moving in. You can do it yourselves, too, as a cost saver but I'd also talk to a contractor first. Estimates will vary regionally. That style of texturing wasn't uncommon at all 25 or so years ago.

Good luck with your decision.
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garycook
17 years ago
If the wood paneling and shelving are of the same quality and type as in your example please don't paint it!! the wood in your example looks to be cherrywood and is very desirable.

I would get a drywall contractor to look at the ceilings and give a estimate on any work that maybe required.

As for painting I would pick a soft designer color. Kelly Moore offers several colors, two I would reccomend are "fuzzy slippers" and New York New York" as they would go great with all that cherrywood.
garycook
17 years ago
I might add that the woodwoork in your example is architectual grade and is very uncommon to be found in residences except very expensive homes. The woodwork in your example I would guess to replace today might cost about $50,000 and up.
kats_meow
Original Author
17 years ago
The wood is very nice in the house. There is a lot of it though. We've decided to pass on the house and to go back to our original idea of building. The house needs a lot of updating (totally apart from the wood - still has 25 year old on ovens!). Thanks for the feedback.
User
17 years ago
Once a wood is stained and finished, changing the color is difficult. All the finish has to be removed as stain will not penetrate any finish. Once the finish has been removed, staining darker is possible, but the color will be very hard to predict or determine without actually trying the stain. That means there is no adjusting for lighter color if desired.

The wood work in that picture is spectacular! I have worked in $400,000 homes that did not have anything like that in comparison.

That pattern on the ceiling/walls were popular features some years ago, rather expensive to apply. If it is done in drywall mud, it can be scraped off and whatever new treatment applied. If it is done in plaster, it will be quite expensive and problematic to change.

I think it would be sacreligious to change the woodwork at all---but I am a woodworker as well as a remodler and value beautiful wood above other forms of finishing.
bob_am
17 years ago
Sounds like you made the right choice! I'm of a different opinion than the others, in that I'm not all that impressed with the wood. I'd save the mantel & bookshelves, and paint the rest. Or, pull it off & sell it to Mac & Gary. I'm no pro, but the panels not being equal in width, let alone in height, don't strike me as great workmanship. Also, the photo makes the finish look muddy. It seems like it was either low bid, or DIY. I'd paint them off white, and call it a day. It will be easier for the next owner to strip the paint off if they want it bare.
sombreuil_mongrel
17 years ago
Hi,
Glad you came to a decision that's right for you. It would be hard to decide to paint anything that had such a solid unified look as that panelled wall. I have to say though, IMO that style of paneling is no great shakes. It's plywood overlaid with some 1x stock, and trimmed with panel molding. Obviously takes some carpentry skill and decent material (the plywood looks like birch to me) but it's not particularly desirable right now, certainly not a sample of highest quality. If it were raised panels in solid wood, then you'd have something. But it's just plywood and trim.
Casey