Paneling had its day, but nowadays, more appealing materials are used to finish out walls of new homes. If you have an older home, though, or even a mobile home, you might have paneling coming out the ears. If so, then you already know that paneling can easily be scratched, or otherwise damaged. The problem with that is, the most common way to fix paneling is to replace it with more paneling, and paneling can be sometimes hard to match. Home improvement stores often dont carry a large variety of paneling these days, and if they do, they might not have the kind you need.
Simple scratches in paneling are usually easy to repair. A marker is sometimes all you need to cover up a scratch. If the scratch is deep, and there are splinters, wrap a piece of sandpaper around a butter knife - or similar object - then sand the scratch. Use the marker or crayon to cover the sanded scratch. If the scratch is more like a scrape try shoe polish to cover the spot.
If there is severe damage it may not be necessary to replace the entire sheet of paneling. For instance, if the damage is only on a lower or upper area of the paneling, you can replace just the damaged area then add a piece of molding across the top of the new piece. This technique works only on walls that are no wider than one piece of paneling. Cut away the bad paneling, replace it with the new, then nail on the molding piece. If you can, add a piece of molding on another small wall, just to make it look like the molding was in the original design. If a particular wall is not paneled, and has a damaged place, you can actually use strips of paneling to create a design that will cover the damage. One way to do this is to cut paneling into strips. Since paneling has sections this is easy to accomplish. Cut two or more identical sections to hang on the damaged wall. Create a pattern, such as three strips made from paneling, to cover the damage. The three pieces should be perfect spaced and one strip should cover the hole or other damage. The other two strips are merely to finish the pattern. If you dont need to have the paneling strips go from ceiling to floor use other strips to encase the three youve hung. Now it looks like the pattern is framed. The paneling doesnt necessarily have to be hung vertically. It can also be hung horizontally to cover wall scratches. The design you make is all your own. When youre finished no one will know there was ever any damage. Many mobile homes have patterns, made from paneling, built in by the manufacturer. After time, these can become scratched, but replacing all the decorative paneling design could be expensive and time consuming. In some cases you can use adhesive wood-look shelf liner to cover the mars. Just cut the strips of adhesive paper to be the size and shape of the wood pieces and stick it to the surfaces. Although, upon close examination, the adhesive paper does not look like wood, it will cover scratches and fool people from a distance. Youll find the paper available in many styles and colors at a home improvement store or places that sell shelf liner. The adhesive paper can also be used to cover light switches and make them blend in with the wood paneling. Use masking tape or even caulking to fill in the indentations of the paneling. Now you can use a good primer, and paint, to cover damaged paneling. Make sure you buy a good primer to begin this job. Painted paneling can look like a regular wall when its done correctly. You dont have to be embarrassed about your scratched up paneling anymore. There are ways to fix the damage - or to hide the paneling altogether - and all of them are simple enough for anyone to accomplish. Get out your crayons! Youve got some home improvements to do!
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