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View Full Version : Covering Decorative Wood Strips (1970s)



Joe Pelonio
01-17-2010, 2:40 PM
We have one 2-story wall in the entry of the house with that thin wood strip finish popular in the days when the house was built, 1978. To make it worse the wood is stained dark. The downstairs powder room had it too, and when I tried to remove it the adhesive was well absorbed into the drywall and tore it up so badly that I had to cover it all with 1/4 which costs 3 times as much as 1/2".

This wall is nearly 15' high x 12' wide less the opening to the living room. I'm thinking of installing the 1/4" right over the wood. Is there any other sheet product that would work for this, that might be thinner and lighter but accept drywall mud? I'd spray texture to match the rest of the walls. The wood has not curled up at all, it's nice and flat, but from the shrinkage there are gaps in the seams so it has to be something stiff. I wonder if I might even be able to prime/seal, mud directly onto it, sand smooth then apply the texture?

Mitchell Andrus
01-17-2010, 3:19 PM
I hate to say this but I'm well past the point in my life that I nickle and dime a repair/alteration. Rip it out, put up new sheetrock... be done with it. I'm not happy with myself when I do something half way. Pasting 'mud' on top of this is not going to work well in the long run, and isn't any easier than hanging a few sheets of 1/2 sheet rock right onto the studs.

Patching/covering this stuff will likely leave you with something that any prospective buyer will put on a list of problem areas which means you might be doing this twice.

Opening up the wall offers you the abilty to add an alcove or two, wiring for sconces (on either side of the wall), etc.
.

Dave Johnson29
01-17-2010, 4:15 PM
the house was built, 1978. To make it worse the wood is stained dark.

Hi Joe,

I have a similar problem but my house was like it throughout. Built in 1978 and I did a lot of research on solutions. I too tried removing the test piece of paneling but as you mentioned, it ripped the drywall underneath so badly I put it back.

I found some thicker wallpaper intended for just this purpose and it is robust enough to cover the cut gaps that simulate the strips of timber in the paneling.

Wallpaper shops have this heavier paper. It almost looks like finely woven cotton canvas or similar. That texture disappears after a couple of coats of paint.

It was suggested to optionally hang the wallpaper horizontally to help mitigate the appearance of the grooves but I opted for vertical anyway. You need to make sure that the paper edge never coincides with a groove edge. I juggled things by starting at the center of a wall and working both ways to the corners.

I cut 1" strips off the wallpaper roll and then taped them end to end for a strip longer than the widest room. With a helper, I was able to move that left and right to find a start point so that all grooves would be covered.

Another suggestion was to clean, prime with Kilz then mud the grooves, sand and then paint. I opted for the wallpaper as it seemed less work. I hate house stuff. :) The wallpaper was a fairly quick and painless solution for me.

David G Baker
01-17-2010, 5:20 PM
Joe,
There is a fiberglass product designed to cover rough wall surfaces. I doubt that it is cheaper than 1/4" Sheetrock. The installation is similar to laminating fiberglass sheeting and matt on a mold when building boats and car bodies by hand. Instead of a mold the material is laminated onto the rough wall. I haven't checked out this process in years so it may not be available. Try a Google or a Bing. I think it was originally designed to cover cracks in lath and plaster walls and reduce the further cracking.
I tend to agree with Mitchell A, a tear out may be the quickest and cheapest way to approach your problem.
I have capped several walls and ceilings in the past and have not had any problems but I used 1/2" or 5/8" Sheetrock as the cover material.

Matt Meiser
01-17-2010, 5:44 PM
If it were me, I'd think about re-drywalling too. It seems like if you put thin drywall over it, you'll end up with problems over time from hanging photos, etc because of the hard layer underneath. It won't cost anymore, except anything you might have to pay for disposal. About the only drawback I can think of is a little more mess and work.

Joe Pelonio
01-17-2010, 6:25 PM
I have a lot of experience with drywall, and 1/2" is a lot cheaper, so other than the mess and disposal the tear out does seem the best way to go.

I also love Mitchell's idea about the alcoves and wiring for sconce. As you can see that wall could use something up high and the chandelier hanging down is not enough light at times.

Tom Godley
01-17-2010, 9:28 PM
Not seeing the rest of the space I can not tell what the look of the house is - but we had a house on the coast that had many walls like this and we painted them.

You must spray them so that every crack gets painted. We also had larger moulding then what you are showing.


The painted walls had a casual elegance that I liked -- something different than plain flat. Added some interest on the high spaces.

Joe Pelonio
01-17-2010, 9:53 PM
Not seeing the rest of the space I can not tell what the look of the house is - but we had a house on the coast that had many walls like this and we painted them.

You must spray them so that every crack gets painted. We also had larger moulding then what you are showing.


The painted walls had a casual elegance that I liked -- something different than plain flat. Added some interest on the high spaces.
It's only on that wall, the rest of the house is all sprayed on (orange-peel) texture. The ceiling was the post-asbestos version of "popcorn" but I have over the years gotten it of as I repainted each room. I painted the powder room wood slats
and it was quaint, but we eventually got tired of it. On this wall my wife says it goes.

keith ouellette
01-17-2010, 9:57 PM
If you have room to get to an edge of the wall I would use a saws all and start cutting the nails/ screws from behind the drywall.

a you cut from the first stud you should be able to pry and wedge the wall board out just enough to put the saws all in further and cut the nails off the next stud.

If that works it would be the least work and least mess to remove the whole thing.
I find a lot of times its just easier to tear it out and start over.

Pat Germain
01-17-2010, 10:36 PM
Why can't you just drywall over the wood?