You can bleach the wood but it would be necessary to take the clear coat off first,more trouble than it's worth.

Try stripping the old finish off - often it's what has darkened.

If you decide to paint, putting a couple of coats of clear shellac (the alcohol solvent kind) under the paint does two things: It makes it easier to paint, and if a subsequent owner wants to remove the paint, it's easier to remove because the shellac seals the pores and keeps the paint out of them.

Where is this house? The pictures don't clearly indicate redwood although it is possible. I am no expert, just lived near many Eichler homes of the period. I would not have expected a shiny coat like that.

Well, it sure is dark. Like klem, I think it would be very hard to strip. However, if this is a classic period home, restoration might be in order.

It is possible, as klem1 posted, to lighten the paneling by bleaching. Or stripping any finish, which may be adding color.

However, to do so would mean removing the paneling to treat. That means damage to some panels and a huge cost. Trying to strip in place will require months of time and result in incomplete stripping(at ceiling/floor junctions).

Plus, the panels will be various shades of color simply because they were all different shades to start.

Much more fiscally and time worthy solution is to either paint(as lazy_gardens posted) or remove and replace with new paneling, keeping the general look.

Sheetrock will make the house look ordinary, which is a shame.

We are in southern California. I was able to find some pictures of the original house. It looks like the panels were part of the original house. I assume a past owner must have put the finish on the wall panels. As far as I can tell, the original walls don't seem to have a clear coat. From the pic, we are thinking of removing the ceiling panels to see if the rafters are still in good shape. Ideally, we would like to see if it is possible to expose the rafters and refinish the wall panels. However, it sounds like it will be too expensive. What do you guys think it might roughly cost? Thanks again!

An option that might be worth thinking about is not changing the color but instead making the paneling look newer and fresher. Through cleaning followed by light sanding then applying a fresh coat of flat no gloss finish will result in a lot of improvement. A painter under direction of a color consultant can color clear coat while leaving natural grain appearance. One of you interior decorator types correct me if blue/green hue won't take the wall in direction of ceiling color. White tint would change value to farther bring wall toward ceiling color.

Thanks for the insights. Guess we are real novices and have no idea what is all involved.

All of us started with the same level of noviceness. :-)

Looks like we need to talk to some professionals. Where should we go locally to find the right help? Thanks

Best option(also probably the most expensive) would be a restoration specialty company. Next, someone experienced at a paint store(like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore). Third, a remodeling company specializing in older houses. And on a small scale(which could show you what to do on a larger scale) a finishing expert at a wood working supply(like WoodCraft).

You might start at the woodworking supply store, the folks there might know others with knowledge.

I'd post this in the Old House section with close-ups and good lighting.

Dan,I don't understand the need for cross posting this. I'm a student in the sense that I'm eager to gain knowledge. For the purpose at hand,what relevant details might be missing in pictures above? Are you of the opinion someone at old houses could have a simple diy proceedure that has been overlooked here?

lc-

My concern is that you could spend a ton of money stripping and bleaching the wood, and then when you refinish it it ends up just a bit lighter than it is now, and/or streaky, and/or may darken over the years afterwards. It's pretty stuff, but the overall effect, regardless of how light you could make it, is that it is almost overwhelming and probably makes the rooms feel small. If it were up to me, I would avoid the uncertainty, the stress, and the cost of trying to salvage it: remove it and replace it with sheetrock. Maybe you could leave a bit on a wall or two as an accent.

Still working on getting the renovation plans approved. I was showing the house to a general contractor today and we snuck a peek at the beams by removing the plastic panels under the kitchen lights.

The GC said they look like 4x8 beams. Looks like there was an aborted effort to paint them white. If I were to remove the ceiling paneling to expose the beams, what would it take to strip the paint off? Or should I paint the exposed ceiling and beams a uniform shade (white?). What do you think? Thanks

What do I think? I think you can do almost anything if you have the time and money to pay for it. I also think you should be asking your contractor what he is capable or incapable of doing. Painting is by far the least expensive.

Still not any closer to deciding what to do. Been busy trying to get the building plans approved. It was suppose to be close to approval back in March. We are still waiting.

We were told by our architect that we could not keep the existing redwood exterior siding as we are in a Wildlands Urban Interface area. He suggested stucco. We saw there is a WUI approved product list for California and talked to some of the vendors. We currently have 1x8" tongue and groove vertical redwood siding and the vendors told us that is WUI compliant. Who should I believe? We would prefer to keep the wood siding.

Because the existing exterior is somewhat neglected, we are wondering how we can get the wood restored and how it will look with new 1x8" redwood siding that we will need to put in for the addition. Will this be the same kind of professionals we need to get a hold of as the ones suggested for the interior paneling? Thanks in advance!

Here are a few pics of the exterior siding: