Painting paneling in '76 Travco.

[Steve Spencer]

I would like to paint the paneling and trim in my '76 Travco 270.  Thee is a vinyl covering on all the paneling.  What have you guys done to achieve a satisfactory paint job on this type paneling?  Have you had to strip this old vinyl coating off first or did you paint over it and what did you use as a first coat primer and then a follow up coat?  Thanks for any assistance.  Steve Spencer, Clinton Tn.

[M K Wilkie]

Steve, we are renovating our fifth wheel now. The walls were covered with white vinyl wall paper with pink flowers and the cabinets were medium brown plastic fake wood look. We used Glidden Gripper as a primer. Great stuff! One coat of primer then we used Behr on the walls and Behr alkyd on the darker cabinet. Virtually one coat of finish did it with some over rolling with s small foam roller or paintbrush on the thinner areas. We used a white that has a tan tint to it...not stark white as most people are doing. We are finally finished with the painting and on to other things. That Gripper is amazing as are the little foam rollers. We did use regular low nap rollers as well.

[Steve Spencer]

Hello MK,Thanks for the information.  You are correct about not using the white color.  I would like to utilize the off white color.  Could you share with me the name of the color you used?  I already have the small foam rollers and several small fabric rollers.  I appreciate your response. Steve

[M K Wilkie]

Steve, we took a piece of wood in to Home Depot to get the color matched. But, it looked whiter in our old trailer than in this one. They have hundreds of whites on color chips. I guess you could pick one that appeals to you. I think they also sell little sample cans that you can take home. I wish I could give you a name but it doesn't have one.