Decorating ideas for stained wood panelling

[Brit2000]

We have bought a 1930s house the hallway of which has been cladded with mock tudor wood panels which have been stained dark brown. All of the downstairs doors and the skirting boards, door frames etc are all in the same colour.

I don't object to the panels per se but they make the hall look so dark. Some of the panels have also blistered over time.

Any ideas? We thought of either painting with a light colour or in a worst case ripping all of the cladding out and re plastering but that seems a big task.

Also, how would one strip the panelling back in order to paint it if that was what we decided to do or should it just be rubbed down? What about the blistered panels?

Any help gratefully appreciated.

Regards

Brit

 

[chappers]

are you saying that the panels are made of ply and the actuall wood is blistering or is it the varnish and stain.
If it is the latter then yes I would just give it all a damn good sanding down (thats what I did to similar paneling in my dining room).
If its the actuall panels then depending on how big the blisters are you will need to either replace the whole panel and caulk/ fill around the edge, if its a large blister or if it is smaller then break out the affected wood and fill the resulting depression(best done with a decorators caulk board).
I was haveing the same dilema last year and decided to keep it and painted over it (emulsioned it so as not to make it too glaring), now people come round and say "oh thats nice was it always there or did you put it up when you did the room"
Give it a rub down and a coat opaint and see what you think before you spend to much effort repairing it.

 

[Zampa]

I would sand it down thorougly, then apply a coat of melamine primer of dulux super grip....paint doesnt take well to stain/varnish so you will need to apply some sort of primer coat such as this to form a key...then fill/caulk etc...then paint...id go for acrylics or water based stuff....it cuts down the fire hazard aspect.

 

[Brit2000]

Thanks guys for your suggestions. Chappers, the panels seem to be made of ply with pieces of wood laid across and down to divide into panels. The ply wood itself is blistering, quite badly in places so I'm guessing that those panels would have to be replaced.

The local DIY store suggested an egg shell finish (as having the lowest sheen) but this looks too shiny on a test strip, possibly because I didn't rub the test panel down sufficiently to create a matt base; nor did I add a primer for the test. What finish emulsion would you use? An interior decorator friend suggested half strength dulux gardinier for colour.

I hadn't appreciated that some paints carry a fire risk. What about the Dulux paint?

 

[Zampa]

If you dont like eggshell then you could go for either flat oil...or matt emulsion, but bear in mind both are harder to clean..more so the emulsion.

There is another type of emulsion called diamond matt..or real life..its a scrubbable emulsion..harder wearing, but personally myself ad quite a few other painters find it an 'odd' paint to use and you can have problems with it.

That fact that you didnt rub the surface down is irrelevant..it would have made no difference really.

All paints (except fire retarding ones) carry some sort of fire risk..oil more than water based.

The primer is crutial though...dont skip it.

 

[big-all]

i would want to know why the pannels are delaminating !!!!!!!
you may find a damp problem behind the pannel
either caused by the pannel [no circulation]or masking the problem
how longs the pannel been up for!!! or how long would you guess!!!

 

[chappers]

I just used dulux vinyl matt on mine would wonder too why the ply is delaminating usually only happens when it gets either damp or too dry.

 

[Brit2000]

Thanks All

The panels that are blistering/splitting are on an inside wall dividing front room from hallway. I cannot see any obvious cause for the disruption. I thought that possibly there had been a water leak but cannot see from where so bit of a mystery really. I don't know how old the panels are. They were certainly there when our vendors purchased in 1989 and poss for many years prior to that.

Regards

Brit2000

 

[big-all]

i was just wondering if they had panneld to hide a damp problem!!!!!

if its rising damp it comes up normaly about a meter!!!!!!!!