Do I need to remove the paneling in the basement?

[Fransberg]

We have pine paneling in two basement rooms, no moisture (i.e. no elevated moisture levels during inspection, no smell, no mold, no "raw" basement climate). One room has only one exterior wall, and we've just painted the paneling there. The other room has three exterior walls, and we plan to eventually use it as a bedroom. Should we tear out the paneling there and replace it with steel studs & drywall? The room feels "fresh" and the paneling has been there since the '70s. We'll probably re-drain it soon anyway, as it hasn't been done since the '70s. The house was built in '43. What do you think?

 

[Stefan N]

I would have exposed the wall behind without covering it with plasterboard and other materials.
Also, having a bedroom in the basement is not optimal if you can avoid it, as it feels like sleeping in a bunker.

 

[Fransberg]

Well, a bare concrete wall doesn't feel so fun. There are windows in the room, so it doesn't feel like a bunker at all. But thanks for the answer

 

[Stefan N]

You polish up the walls and paint with silicate paint, definitely the best for the walls.

 

[Fransberg]

Oh, you mean like that, yes, that sounds reasonable. Don't you think it will get cold? The panel insulates a bit, doesn't it?

 

[Demmpa]

At the same time as you are draining, you also put insulation boards on the outside of the basement walls that are below ground level; the advantage is both to keep the wall dry and to make the wall less cold.

 

[Flöjten5]

Yes, clean the walls! There's no better place to sleep in during the summer! In winter, you can turn on the floor heating if available

 

[Roundup]

If you don't have any problems, there's no reason to do anything. Tearing out and polishing is not done in an instant. But there may be other things to improve if it's going to be a good bedroom, such as ventilation, electricity, and lighting.

 

[possum77]

If you have no problems, then you probably don’t need to do anything unless you're simply aesthetically tired of the room. All houses are different, and even though paneling against concrete in a basement is a risk construction, it doesn't mean it causes problems in 100% of cases. If you have a house with a proper basement foundation and functioning drainage sitting on an elevation with sandy soil, it should work well for another 50 years. There are many self-proclaimed experts who say it "must" be one way or the other, but their claims are often based solely on personal experiences which provide a rather poor statistical basis