Wet Paneling Over Wet Drywall

9/6/2018 (Permalink)

Drying wet paneling and the drywall behind can be challenging.

Often a water release in a building which has paneled walls will have wet drywall behind the paneling, as was the case in this Groesbeck, TX, duplex.

The problem is the water will wick up the dry wall behind the paneling very quickly, as oil wicks up the wick in a lantern.  However, the moisture is very slow to wick back out of the wall, down from whence it came or through the paneling as the paneling is drying.

Sometimes the drywall will dry behind the paneling using just the drying equipment.  Sometimes it is necessary to open drying holes in the both layers (paneling and drywall) of the wall.  Sometimes sections, or all, of the paneling has to go.

In this instance, we were able to save all the walls intact. A little trim was removed in a few places to open up the walls in those areas.  The trim was easily replaced and everything was good to go.