How Much Does It Cost to Remove Wood Paneling? [2025 Data]

Cost Breakdown

Removing wood paneling isn’t as easy to break down as a simpler task like, say, replacing a faucet. The type of paneling affects removal time and cost, as well as what material the paneling was affixed to. The good news? Material costs are often extremely low or nonexistent, as many removal jobs require only a hammer, crowbar, and eye protection.

Size

The size of the project matters much more when you’re installing, as you need to budget for the material cost, but size has a direct effect on the cost of your project in terms of time. Time is money, as the saying goes, and you can estimate some rough costs of time value when removing wood paneling, assuming each square foot takes 15 minutes.

This includes prep, removal, and cleanup, and is a rough estimation. These are DIY calculations, so let’s assume your rate as a DIYer is $30 per hour.

As you can see in the table above, this is an involved job that requires several steps. The total hours could jump drastically if you are dealing with wood paneling with many nails or a type of paneling that requires sanding, such as polyurethane. 

Materials 

There aren’t specialized materials required when removing wood panels. All things considered, it’s a straightforward project. The issues begin when something unexpected occurs, such as finding asbestos under the paneling, or your adhesive paneling starts ripping the substance it’s affixed to.

You may find that you don’t need all of the items listed above, and that’s a good thing. The worst case scenario is that during removal you notice a major issue, and you’re forced to learn the cost to remove an entire wall.

Labor

DIY labor is technically free, but what about hiring a pro for removal? Wood paneling removal isn’t demolition work that just anyone can do, so you need to hire either a carpenter or a contractor familiar with wood paneling removal. These professionals charge between $50 and $125 per hour. 

While this may seem expensive, their expertise can potentially save you much more than they cost, as would be the case if an improper panel removal done by someone unskilled results in a needed repair to or replacement of a wall.

Prep

Prepping a wall for removal is mostly about prepping the room itself. There aren’t many steps but each one is critical to keep the job site clean and ensure a smooth removal.

• Remove furniture from the room.

• Lay down plastic sheeting to protect the floor.

• Turn off the power to the room.

• Open all windows to ventilate the room.

Part of your prep work will involve an extremely careful removal of the first panel. Inspect how it’s attached to the wall—nail, adhesive, staples, or screws—and plan your removal accordingly. You don’t want to start crowbarring panels that would come off much easier by using a screwdriver. 

Installing Drywall on Top of Wood Paneling

You might be wondering if you can skip removal altogether and just install drywall directly over the paneling. While this is technically possible, our recommendation is that you don’t do that, and there are a number of reasons why not.

• The drywall is often too heavy for the paneling, and can rip it out. 

• The drywall usually won’t be uniform or flat. 

• You may inadvertently create a small gap where mold could grow undetected. 

• It is much more involved to remodel the room later.

It almost sounds like it makes sense to install drywall directly on top of the paneling, but in practice, it should be avoided. A bit of good news is that removing wood panels is a great DIY job, so you don’t necessarily need to invest much more than time to get the wall ready for new drywall. You may damage the drywall while removing the wood, and you’ll need to replace it. 

Repairing Drywall

Repairing drywall is hopefully something you won’t have to do. Unfortunately, removing wood panels can often damage the underlying material and for many builds, this means drywall. For smaller jobs, you may just be able to get by with spackling a few holes.

For more involved work like large cracks, big dents, and ripped drywall beads, hiring a pro to repair drywall costs $50 to $75 per square foot to repair. For this reason, any significant drywall damage might actually be more time and cost-efficient to remove it completely and reinstall.

DIY vs. Hiring a Pro

Whether or not you DIY this project or hire a pro will largely depend on how involved the removal process is. If you have simple wooden slats nailed into a solid wall underneath, you may not need to hire a pro because you could do it yourself with a prybar.

On the flip side, if you remove your first panel and notice it uses both an adhesive and fasteners to attach itself to a wall that’s already damaged, you should hire a local professional handyperson. Hiring a pro ensures that any unforeseen damage is handled expertly, plus you don’t have to waste your nights and weekends on a tricky and labor-intensive project.

How Angi Gets Its Cost Data

Home is the most important place on earth, which is why Angi has helped more than 150 million homeowners transform their houses into homes they adore. To help homeowners with their next project, Angi provides readers with the most accurate cost data and upholds strict editorial standards. We extensively research project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We rely on reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects. 

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