How to Refinish Pecky Cypress Paneling

Pecky cypress wood is a hard material ideal for home paneling. If you have nicks or scratches in your cypress paneling, you can refinish it with just a few tools. You can only remove nicks and scratches by sanding the wood down. Because of the hardness, you must use a mechanical sander to get rid of the marks. You don’t have to be a builder to refinish your pecky cypress paneling, you can do it yourself.

Refinish your paneling yourself using a roller and some varnish.

Step 1

Remove the furniture from the room. Vacuum the wood paneling to remove any dust or dirt from it using a vacuum hand tool.

Step 2

Sand the paneling using a mechanical sander with a coarse grade sandpaper. Make smooth up and down strokes on the paneling. Overlap each panel so you do not miss a spot on the paneling.

Step 3

Sand the corners around the paneling using an orbital sander. Remove any sanding dust from the floors and paneling using your vacuum.

Step 4

Repeat steps 2 and 3 with a medium grade sandpaper to smooth out the paneling. Remove the remaining dust from the floor and paneling using your vacuum.

Step 5

Leave the paneling for about an hour so the dust will settle, then use a wet rag to clean the paneling.

Step 6

Apply the stain with which you want to refinish the paneling using a long paint roller. Dip the roller into the stain and then roll the paint roller along the paneling. Wipe up excess stain from the paneling using a rag.

Step 7

Allow the stain to dry for about 10 hours. Apply a varnish to the paneling with a new paint roller and allow the varnish to dry for another 10 hours.