I painted my wood panelling walls when we moved here 5 years ago.(I do have some before/after picks on my profile) I used the zinser primer, made sure to do 2-3 coats on the lower parts of the walls where people bump it. It's runny and smells horrid but seems to do the trick. In heavily used areas like hallway, just the bottom half- I did sand the walls abit to help even further with adhesion. I have two kids in a small house so the walls get beat up pretty bad. I have had to do touchups over the years where paint would chip off and reveal an ugly brown spot but it's no big deal you would have to do that with drywall too.Not sure if my walls had a waxy coat but they were definitely "slick" and alittle shiny. I did end up re-painting the kitchen in a terra cotta due to the light walls showing dirt from grubby little hands so I went with a semigloss and it's holding up MUCH better than the satin I had used before. Not as attractive, but more functional. If you don't have people banging around you'll probably have excellent results, if you have rough kids you'll be touching up some but it shouldn't be too big of a problem. Overall I'm happy with the painted panelling. Looks good, have gotton alot of compliments on it, most people don't notice it's panelling unless they really look. If I did all over again, the only things I would have done different is bought the most expensive paint I could like Ben Moore (I used Valspar, it's OK, used Behr on the kitchen re-paint, it was alot better) or something, also would have got a sander and sanded the heck out of the walls.
o I use dirtex (powderd) to wash /rinse as I did for bathroom walls b4 that paint project? Or simple green, vinegar-water, or something else? Still have to buy the zinsser, & caulk.
