What is this unknown wall trim material?
Searching online for comparable materials like melamine or marlite often turns up nothing for this unusual trim. Not knowing the specific name stops people from figuring out how to paint over it, and leaves them afraid that cutting or sanding the old backing and adhesive could release asbestos.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1treating the material as potential asbestos and getting a test kit before sawing or sanding
- 2sealing it up with a thick coat of paint to trap everything in place
- 3Searching online for suspected material names
- 4Examining the surface texture and finish by touch
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“In all my years of home improvement work, I've never run into this stuff. This trim strips runs around the upper edge of a room's OSB walls and is hanging up a friend who's worried cutting into it will release harmful particulates into the room's air. He's asked me what it is? Darned if I know.”source ↗
“the bit about cutting into it is fair though, if it's old enough there's a chance the adhesive or the backing has some nasties in it. i'd tell your friend to treat it like potential asbestos-containing material until proven otherwise, get a test kit before doing any sawing or sanding”source ↗
Where this came up
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