Walls and Ceilings - Gluing Paneling to painted poured cement foundation

Hi All,

I'm wrapping up a basement project in my house, and i've got one wall, which is the foundation that's been bugging me. It is poured concrete, and they used long boards to form the wall, so there are many many ugly inconsistencies throughout, sometimes up to a 1/2 inch difference from the top of where one board was to the next, permenantly formed in the cement. I plan on knocking down the high points before beginning.

I was just going to leave this alone, but it realy takes away from what could be a very nice finished space. I've found some mdf beadboard with the tongue & groove, and plan on simply gluing it onto the painted cememt wall (no furring strips, no plastic barrier, no nothing!) then adding some molding on top and bottom to finish the look. I've asked everyone at home depot if there's anything that could go wrong, gluing light weight mdf to a glossy painted latex surface, and everyone said I'd be fine & showed me what adhesives to use. So when everyone at Home depot agrees on something, i get a feeling i'm missing something (cause they tend to be right about 10% of the time!).

The wall has no cracks, no water damage, is completley dry and stable on basic observation.

So, what could go wrong? or, is this going to work out fine?

ps, the reason i am not using furring strips is that there's just no room, it's a very awkward space toat goes around a corner and up some stairs, otherwise i would do it.

thanks!

The only problems I forsee are as follows:

1. If the wall isn't perfectly flat you will not have an even glue layer. If you can't press the T&G against the wall it may fall away from the wall.

2. To prevent boards from falling, they should have some kind of pressure applied while the adhesive dries.

3. If the walls are humid and you just can't see it, you may get dampness behind the T&G.

My .02