The fake paneling drywall in a mobile home requires a few special painting and prep techniques.
Fake paneling drywall may look attractive when it is brand new and offer a cheaper alternative to real drywall throughout your home, but eventually fake paneling drywall becomes dirty, marked, scratched and even punctured. Do not lose all hope over your fake walls; you can repair and paint those walls just like painting traditional drywall without having to cover the walls in plasterboard first. The process is relatively simple and only requires a little extra wall preparing.
Instructions
1. Remove trim strips between fake drywall panels using a utility knife to pry the trim loose without breaking it, which leaves cracks between the panels that you must fill only if you do not plan to replace the trim pieces.
2. Fill all holes and cracks in the fake paneling drywalls, regardless of the size of the holes. Larger holes are more difficult to patch and may require special wall patching kits, while you only need to smear smaller holes full of spackling using the putty knife. Allow the freshly applied spackling to dry for two days before proceeding.
3. Use sandpaper or an orbital sander to sand down the patches of dried spackling to make all wall surfaces completely flat and blemish free. Once finished, removed any small particles sticking out from the wall, run the sandpaper or orbital sander across the entire wall surface to remove the slick texture from the fake paneling drywall to produce a rough surface that primer and paint sticks to better.
4. Clean the walls with an equal part solution of ammonia and water applied with a damp cleaning sponge. Be careful not to over saturate the walls and postpone the painting process even further. This process removes sand and dirt from the walls to create a clean surface upon which to paint.
5. Allow the cleaned walls to thoroughly dry overnight. Fill a paint tray with paint primer, and use a roller to apply a single, solid coat of paint primer to the walls. Allow this primer to dry for a couple of days. Clean the paint tray and roller with paint thinner after applying the primer.
6. Refill the paint tray with paint this time, and paint the fake paneling drywall walls with your choice of paint color. Allow the paint to dry completely for at least two days, and reapply a second coat of paint to cover any light areas or patches where no paint exists. Allow a final drying time of one to two days before touching the wall or replacing wall art pieces.
