Wood paneling is a traditional method of creating a beautiful interior. Wood paneling has the characteristic of providing the aura of coziness and comfort to any home. It comes in many types depending on the type of wood used.

Wall panels are becoming an integral part of interior design. These are used for different purposes. Many business establishments use it to hide any electrical wiring and are excellent to decorate the interior of any room.

Portable wall panels are also used as a divider for offices or cubicles. Wall panels are commonly made of wood and sometimes combined with wallpaper or other textured materials to decorate it. For recording studios, a special wall panel is used which is capable of absorbing sound for better acoustics.

There are many types of wood paneling available in leading hardware. They vary in sizes, color and quality.

Surface Types

The veneer finish wood panels are made of three plies such as the face, back and the core which is in the middle. Pre-finished wood veneers are the most expensive types. Some variants consist of grains to achieve an excellent finish. Less expensive wood panels does not have grains.

Vinyl coated type consists of different wood designs which are laminated into plywood. The designs are usually printed through photo process. This type of wood panel can be cleaned easily but must be treated with care to avoid scratches.

Surface printed is one of the less expensive types of wood panel and commonly used for DIY projects. It consists of wood grain finish by the use of state of the art photography. It is important to use specific cleaning substances for such materials to avoid damage to its finish and color.

Printed paper panel makes use of printed paper with various designs which is then laminated into wood to create a beautiful finish. This the ideal type for a low cost interior.

Backing types are generally available anywhere. They can be made of medium density fiberboard (MDF), hardwood or plywood. If you are short on your budget, you may opt to use hardwood. The expensive variants of wood panel are more tolerable from any moisture because it had been manufactured using various wood treatments.

Grooves are used for wood panel surfaces. This can either be real groves or the painted grooves. Real grooves are the best in quality which can be identified by visually inspecting it. Grooves which are straight and sharp are of high quality. Painted grooves are typically cheaper compared to real grooves.

Wood paneling is continuously gaining its popularity especially that there are more options which are being introduced by many leading manufacturers. More and more variety of wood panels is designed for Do It Yourself projects where you can easily install your own wood panel in your home.

Make sure that the walls are leveled and dry before installing to avoid moisture from building up and warping it. For concrete walls, it is important to do some sealing by using furring strips as a spacer to help evaporate any builds up of moisture. Even if you are going to use moisture resistant wood panels, you still need to do the first steps.

Wood paneling provides you a lot of options in designing your wall. It is also essential to do regular polishing to avoid moisture and help increase the durability of your wood panel. As long as you know how to take care of your wood panel, you will enjoy the benefit of its beauty for many years.