Wall Wood Paneling

[swords99]

Hi everybody,

I recently bought a Victorian house built in 1889. In one of the upstairs bedroom, the previous owner tried to do some remodeling and put up wood paneling possibly over plaster as the rest of the house has plaster walls. I want to restore this house as much as possible, hate the look of paneling and was wondering if anyone can give me any suggestions as to whether I should remove the paneling, or paint them.

Thanks in advance.

[pushkins]

How is the paneling attached to the walls, is it glued or did they use furring strips and nail it to the furring ?
If it's glued then you will need to address the glue removal from the plaster and the fact that the glue may well pull some plaster with it.
Very often the reason why the panels are put up in the first place is because of cracked plaster, so be prepared for this as well.
I owned a old Victorian with cracked plaster (it was poorly maintained over the years) in the end I removed all the plaster from the entire home all 3,800 sq. feet of it and replaced with 5/8" drywall, this is no easy task and far from a clean one.
Look for how the plaster is cracking, is it just a small crack from settling over the years, contraction and expansion, moisture issues or is the plaster actually loose on the lathe (push the area gently looking for movement).
In many old homes exterior walls are plastered directly over cavity brick, so cracking plaster in these walls can often mean other reasons may well need investigating.

[Janeofalltrades]

It is true that the wall panels you have on your newly purchased home hide damaged walls beneath, however, this may not be the case. You will not know for sure until you remove the wall panels and check out the situation first- hand. It would be neat if you where to consider using some duplicated examples of Victorian frescos to push the design motifs of the Victorian era forward. Suppose it is a matter of taste whether or not wall panels , paint, or even wall paper is favored. I would encourage you to look up some additional information on Victorian era architecture if you are looking to stick close in with what was the prevalent design motifs of the period.