Wood Walls in a flip????? What to do?

Question

I recently looked at a single family home that I plan to flip. I’m putting an offer in this week and am trying to calculate my rehab expenses. The home is up the street from a lake and the interior of the home has a TON of wood. The cabinets are wood, the floors are wood and a lot of the walls are wood (vertical).  Almost all the wood is in good condition, but I’m unsure if keeping it is the right decision. It does give it a “cabin feel” , which makes sense because it is near a lake, but I don’t want to limit my buyers. I’m trying to figure out what I should do with the wood, mainly the walls. Do I keep them, paint them, or eliminate them completely? Is there a way to modernize it ? I have attached several pictures.

Justin Marshall · Answer

I've recently looked at a few potential rentals myself and had similar findings. What I would consider is to paint the walls, to cut down on cost as well as break up the ongoing wood look!

interested to see how this turns out!

Andrew Faukner · Answer

You've received a lot of good advice here Zach. I am currently considering a buying a cabin to flip that has a lot of knotty pine. Maybe too much. One piece of advice I haven't seen mentioned is finding out what other cabins in the area have. If they all have wood walls, you should probably keep some wood. Painting some of the wood seems like a good option also. You might want to look at this Pinterest page I've been putting together with before and after photos of rooms where they painted the wood. Good luck!   https://www.pinterest.com/afaukner/painting-knotty-pine/

Colleen F. · Answer

It does not look like you have 70s paneling based on some of those pictures. It looks like you have wood boards. I would actually pull some of it and see if you have wall board behind if it is like a wood planking.   If it is thick it may also be worth it in some areas to sand it then stain in  the lighter white stain or pickling which is an updated look. Some areas like the kitchen should just be sheetrocked over. Probably the best solution is not to have one solution for all areas. Also keep in mind pine like you have can bleed through paint so if you do paint you need a good primer.

Lynn Gormley · Answer

I just did this on a rental. You have to wash the paneling, sand the varnish a bit, a couple coats of primer (at least) and a couple coats of paint (at least). Pain in the rear but now that it's done, it looks so good. Make sure you have a lot of time or a lot of worker bees. I have also heard of skimming it with drywall mud and painting over.

Glenn R. · Answer

There is a type of wallpaper, called "liner paper", that's made for covering wood paneling.  I think it's available with a smooth texture that looks like drywall, but mine has a woven looking texture.  It looks better with a coat of paint.

It's also good for applying over damaged drywall.  I used it on a wall that was damaged from old double-faced mounting tape that had been used to attach mirror tiles (from the 70's).  The drywall paper had lots of tears and would have taken a lot of time and effort to repair with mud.  The liner paper only took an hour and the texture is a nice bonus feature.

Alan Pederson · Answer

The wood sure gives it a 70's look. The cheap route would be to paint it. To actually update it, you would have to take it out and put in sheetrock.

Alicia Herring · Answer

This is my first official post on Biggerpockets....

Hope you were able to get this place under contract, Zach.  I would basically go crazy with white paint in this place.  Take down the mini blinds, cover the baseboard water heaters with an updated metal cover (white) and paint all the walls and cabinets white.  Go for the modern farmhouse look: white wood walls and dark metal accents.  Consider replacing the kitchen floor to match the adjoining room with the slate to make the entire space appear larger.  If that's cost prohibitive, paint the vinyl kitchen floor with tones from the slate.

Ralph Hughes · Answer

Here are few ideas that can make made your walls look stylish and stunning

1. Add a coat of paint- A popular method for covering up wood panelling is painting it, this will quickly brighten up a space and will give the boards a cute cottage vibe.

2. Obscure it with shelving- You can Built-in bookcases to steal the focus, while stylish accessories turn the panels into a decorative backdrop.

3. Lighten up with art- If you want keep the wooden color for a rustic room, but don't want the space to feel too dark or dated, use your accessories wisely: A small gallery wall and a large, show-stopping mirror can gladly take the attention away from the deeply stained wood.

4. Cover with curtains- When you can't beat it, just throw long drapes over it so you don't have to look at it.

Adam Odom · Answer

With the right paint paneling can look very modern - we've done it on our last house and it really looked good. Definitely try that first before wallpaper.....

Wood Walls in a flip????? What to do?

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