Pam Willis, Mobile Home Living’s newest contributor, has been busy remodeling her 1975 single wide mobile home in rural Wisconsin. You can see her ceiling fan face lift project here, and her creative tile board back splash makeover here, and her experience with Federal Pacific electric panels. This time she is tackling her wood paneling.

There are lots of common wood paneling makeover ideas such as paint, wallpaper, caulk, and grout. Each method has pros and cons and should be carefully considered to fully achieve the desired results.

In this case, Pam wanted to create a cottage look using an aged plaster treatment over the wood paneling in her older mobile home.

We’ll cover her process and get first-hand tips and tricks to get the best results.

Wood Paneling Makeover: DIY Aged Plaster

I wanted a cottage look for the house and this treatment worked well to get the feel that I wanted.

The aged plaster application is great for covering wood paneling without having to remove it. It can also be used on drywall and vinyl panels.

Project Notes:

The aged plaster treatment hides a lot of blemishes, gouges, and holes in walls.

It is essential to use a super adhering primer before applying the ’plaster’/drywall compound. It’s pretty easy to do, but takes some time.

Because it is done in multiple layers, there is a lot of drying time between each step and will take several days.

The plaster look was done on the upper 2/3rds of the wall.

Tongue in groove pine panel board (aka ’car siding‘) was used as wainscoting.

The panel boards were stained with Minwax Whitewash Pickling Stain and then polyurethane was applied.

Supplies:

Dirtex All Purpose Cleaner

Wire Brush

Trowel and Mud Pan

Sanding Block

Ultra-Lightweight Drywall Compound – I like the pre-mixed which comes in a tub or bucket

Drywall tape for butt joints, corners and large holes. I prefer the webbed self sticking type

Super Adhering Primer ( I used Zinzeer brand) DON’T SKIMP ON PRIMER, GET THE SUPER ADHERING!!

Paint brushes , rollers, foam brushes.

Rags

Latex Paint – One color to paint the entire wall, this will be the base color. I used a very light grayish white called Travertine

Latex Paint – (smaller amounts for the glazing) I used three different colors. Brown, Grey and Off White.

Glaze – I used a product called “Artistic Impressions” from Ace Hardware

Disposable cups (like Solo cups) for mixing the glaze and paint

Prep Work:

Prep work is essential. Clean paneling thoroughly with Dirtex.

Step 1: Using the wire brush, rough up the surface. If you use the super adhering primer, you don’t have to get too aggressive with the wire brush.

Step 2: Tape and mud any butt joints (where two panels join). If you don’t tape, the drywall compound will crack along the seam. Tape and mud any large holes or gouges. Tape and mud around corners. Let Dry.

Applying the Aged Plaster Treatment to Wood Paneling

After the prep work has dried you can start on the process to achieve the aged plaster look on your wood paneling.

Step 1: Paint the paneling with the Super Adhering Primer, just as you would any wall.

Let the Primer dry thoroughly.

Step 2: Trowel Drywall Compound into all seams and grooves in the paneling. Let dry. You will find that the compound will shrink down into the grooves. If you don’t fill them first and let the compound shrink down before going to the next step, you will have a striped wall, the grooves will show through and it will look bad.

Step 3: Trowel Drywall compound over the entire wall. You can make this as smooth or rough as you like, moving the trowel in sweeping , curving and smoothing strokes. If you Google “Aged Plaster Look”, you will see many ideas. Let Dry. You can come back the next day and add more compound if you need it. Let the second application (if needed) dry.

Step 4: Using the sanding block, sand the wall. You can sand down as much or as little of the drywall compound as you desire, depending on how rough or smooth you want the wall to be. Remove dust with vacuum cleaner.

Step 5: Paint the entire wall with the Latex base color you have chosen. Let Dry.

Step 6: Mix some of the glaze and the secondary paint color in cup. The more paint you add to the glaze, the more intense the color will be on the wall. This might take some experimenting in an inconspicuous place. You can always repaint the test area with your base color.

Step 7: Brush the pigmented glaze over the wall, small sections at a time. Use a sweeping motion. (You will get different effects when using either the bristle paint brush or the foam brush, experiment….have fun). After glazing a section, and before the glaze dries, lightly go over the area with a wet rag. Rinse the rag often. The glaze pigment will collect in the nooks and crannies of the ‘plaster’ and give you that aged look. How much or how little glaze you leave on the wall is up to you. Be sure to do small areas at a time. You don’t want the glaze to dry completely before going over it with the wet rag. The glaze will also give a nice seal on the paint, and will make it easier to wash later. Let Dry.

Step 8: If desired, you can add more layers of different colors of glaze. I generally use two to three layers. Let Dry.

Thanks so much for reading Mobile and Manufactured Home Living!

8 comments

Christine Deuel says:

October 18, 2016 at 2:07 pm

Instead of doing the full glazing process, is there a way to just paint over the wood paneling where you don’t see the seams? I just inherited a 1969 doublewide. It’s in good shape but definitely needs some updating (kitchen especially). I would love to lighten up the color by painting the paneling but am afraid it will just look like painted paneling:(
1. Crystal Adkins says:
  
  October 18, 2016 at 2:46 pm
  
  Hi Christine,
  
  Unless you add some kind of texture to the wall or use a wallpaper (the thick paintabtle kind is awesome) your likely going to see the lines in the faux wood paneling. I have it in my 1978 single wide and we painted it a medium teal and while it does look a lot better it is still obviously painted paneling.
  
  Research the paintable wallpaper – I think it may be exactly what you need and it’s gonna be a lot easier to deal with over the texturing.
Jane Black says:

May 24, 2016 at 5:38 pm

What type of fireplace is that, and does it need to be vented, or is that for decor?
Thanks!
1. Pamela Willis says:
  
  June 5, 2016 at 9:21 am
  
  Hi Jane, that is actually a wood burning stove. It has a stove pipe (chimney) that goes through the roof. It is very efficient and heats our whole house during the winter. I have a small heat-driven fan that goes on top, and pushes the warm air down the hall and into the bathroom and bedrooms. Here is a link to my ‘pin’ about the stove which has more information: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/555350197772368071/ Thanks for reading MMHL. – Pam
2. Pamela Willis says:
  
  June 5, 2016 at 9:27 am
  
  P.S to Jane. Here is a link to the Enerzone page and the exact stove: http://www.enerzone-intl.com/en/heaters/solution-16-wood-stove — Pam
3. Pamela Willis says:
  
  June 5, 2016 at 9:37 am
  
  Jane, another view of the stove, showing the stove pipe. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/555350197772368060/
Suzanne Melton says:

April 12, 2016 at 7:16 pm

Pam, you and your husband did a wonderful job…and the step-by-step instructions are great!
1. Pamela Willis says:
  
  April 18, 2016 at 3:09 pm
  
  Thanks Suzanne. I’d used this method in my old house when we were getting ready to sell and needed to update the old paneling. When we moved into our Single Wide with the 70’s paneling, the decision to do the same treatment was a no-brainer. Actually, I really enjoy doing this process….it’s kinda fun!