Weird particle board on walls-what would you do?

Question

Hi all, I saw a house for buy and hold that is in really good condition. Wouldn't need much updating (except it needs a new roof). The problem is that 50% of the walls in the house are covered with particle board (like the stuff in the pic, I found that on google; not from the house) and painted over with glossy paint. At first glance, you might not notice it, but after 30 seconds in the house, I realized it was particle board and then saw it was everywhere. It was used as wainscoting, an entire wall, the kitchen back splash. The homeowners said the wood was up on the walls when they bought the house 30 years ago!! They tried to remove it and it ripped off the plaster so they had to leave it.

If it weren't for this one thing, I'd probably have made an offer already. But is a tenant going to say "What up with the walls?" and look elsewhere? What about selling someday? Any prospective buyers would have the same questions I'm having, and all I'd be able to do is shrug and say "I dunno, it's been there for 60 years!" (Just fyi, this isn't an amazing neighborhood, probably B- so maybe tenants wouldn't care?)

Would you pass or perhaps negotiate the price to have someone actually remediate this? Or would you leave the particle board up, since it is pretty durable against tenants? The house has been on the market for over 170 days and the last price cut was in January. List price is about market value right now.

Ryan Murdock · Answer

@Suzanne A. A local investor friend bought a house last year with bare OSB walls. Very tenant proof! He skim coated them all with joint compound and it came out great. You'd never know it wasn't sheetrock until you tried to put your buddy's head through it during a raging keg party.

Patrick Liska · Answer

That is called OSB ( oriented strand board) and is mostly used for sheathing on the outside of the house under the siding. the problem with putting Spackle over it to try and hide it is that the moisture from the Spackle may get into the board and start to de-laminate it. if it is only 3'-4' high, you can dress it up with some sheets of 1/4" bead board, if it's the total wall you can cover it with 1/4" drywall. look at it this way, there is no way a tenant will put a hole through those walls after you cover it, i would consider having that a plus.

Russell Gronsky · Answer

@Suzanne A., why not just hang drywall over the particle board and finish it with a updated semi-gloss paint? Maybe less expensive than skim coating/sanding and a sure way to get rid of the particle board look and the glossy paint. It shouldn't stick out too much....drywall is pretty thin, relatively speaking. Also, I don't think tenants would mind if it does stick out slightly.

Corby Goade · Answer

@Suzanne A., I ended up tearing it all out- it was a gut job. New plumbing, wiring, framing- the drywall was the easy part!

Mike Reynolds · Answer

@Suzanne A. I worked on an OSB factory office that had that all over the walls. They do make it there so it is more of an advertising thing. Of course the offices I remodeled were drywall so even they dont like it on the interior walls lol. Just a thought...you could buy that 1/4" bead board and go over top of it and not mess with the trim if you plan to paint and not stain. Just cut it close enough to your trim to caulk it. Your trim would still be proud of your walls.

Russell Gronsky · Answer

@Suzanne A., if you plan to flip the property, I'd hang the drywall myself but pay a pro to finish it, if you've never finished drywall before. It is harder than it looks and potential buyers will notice large imperfections in the walls.If you plan to hang on to the property and rent it, feel free to do all the drywall finishing yourself. It will look good enough where tenants won't object.

Corby Goade · Answer

It's funny- I bought a house a few years back where they used OSB on the walls, too. I've seen it in a few more places over the years, and it's usually more expensive than drywall, I have no idea why someone would do that. I would not skim coat it for the reasons listed above, and even if it wouldn't delaminate, best case scenario, it's still going to look kind of weird. Either tear it out and put drywall in or put 1/4" drywall over the top.

Alfred Edmonds · Answer

for the wainscoating you could use the sheets from home depot that come in 4'x8' sheets I think they are 1/8" or 3/16 thick and pretty cheap, maybe 20 bucks a sheet. cap it on the top like traditional wainscoating. for backsplash use either tile or or linoleum. the wainscoating can be put right on top with some liquid nails and finish nails and the tile could be put right on top. traditional wainscoating is 3/4" so you wouldn't be far off with the depth. If the walls are covered to the ceiling with that stuff then I'd say adjust your offer accordingly.

Marian Smith · Answer

My brother “floated “ a cedar beam with drywall mud for me. It could not be covered with drywall and be flush, so he put a layer or 2 or 3 of drywall mud and sanded it smooth and textured to match the rest of the wall. Most painters can skim coat a wall and drywall mud sticks to wood and paint...maybe not high gloss paint.

Angel Gutierrez · Answer

Pay market price for this house? I don't think so.To "remediate", sheetrock the whole house with new moldings and doors. I've done it on every old house that looks like crap and had to rehab.