Buying and Selling Vehicles - Painting Over Existing Paneling

I want to repaint the dining area of my home but that area was evedently paneled years ago. The previous owners simply painted over it but you can still see the vertical grooves in the paneling.

Ripping the old paneling out would be a pain, so I will paint over it as well, however I want to fill in the grooves first.

What is the best "filler" to use on wooden paneling that has paint on it, and, are there any other issues to be careful about so the filler does not fall out, bleed through etc etc.


Thanks
Bill

Welcome to the forums Bill

You can use either joint compound or spackling to fill the grooves, the corners should be caulked. You need to fill the grooves, sand if needed when dry and apply a 2nd coat to correct any shrinkage of the 1st. Sand and prime when finished and it's ready for paint.

IMO painted grooves look better than poorly filled grooves. There shouldn't be any problems with the filler falling out unless the wall is really abused.

I'd think for a job like this that joint compound would be a lot easier to work with than spackle. You'll want the job to be pretty much perfect before you paint (Mark's idea that painted grooves will look better than poorly filled grooves), so patience is in order. Skim coat, sand smooth, repeat if necessary.