“Yuck, paneling,” may be your first thought. But if you don’t think you have the ‘touch’ to make a textured sheetrock ceiling look good, you may get good results with paneling. In fact, with all the choices of paneling available today, you could get pretty darn creative decorating your ceiling with paneling.

Similar to hanging ½” sheetrock, the first step to installing paneling is to screw up furring strips across the rafters every 12 inches. Since paneling is so thin, the furring strips are a must or the paneling will sag.


Once the furring strips are leveled and screwed in place, the paneling can then be installed. First apply a bead of construction adhesive to the furring strips, then nail up the paneling using finishing nails. When working overhead, an air finishing nailer can be a real life saver.

When the paneling is up, the seams can then be decorated with stained rough-cut wood or whatever creative flair you can come up with. If you don’t want to use wood paneling, there’s a host of other options including paneling that looks like bead board; check with your local home improvement store for more ideas.


Texture Tips