| Decorative painted floors are can be an inexpensive way to jazz up a room. Painted floors — painted hardwood, plywood, or even concrete — are fairly easy create and maintain, if you do it right the first time. Painted floor designs can give you any look you can imagine. Take your time and enjoy the fresh look for years. |
While putting in your own floors might seem to be the “right” way to add a decorative touch to your home, you will be delighted to hear that painting your floor can work just as well — and be long-lasting.
Painted floors are a great way to simplify your home decorating, as well as business improvement strategy. With only a few ingredients and a good imagination, you’re ready to paint the floors. Painting your old, tired flooring can be a great solution for freshening the look of any room.Here are some quick pros of why you should look into painted floors:
* Most surfaces can benefit from painting
* No special tools are needed
* Low-maintenance
And here are the very few cons:
* Takes a few days to dry
* A fair amount of work to start
Oil paints are especially good when looking into painted floors.Oil paints seem to harden readily, as well as adhere to many surfaces, opposed to water-based paints. Your floor can be wood, concrete, vinyl, or laminate and still be paint-able. The priming part just might be a little different.
If you find you want to apply ceramic tiles over painted concrete floors, research what it takes to make the tile cement and grout stick to the floor finish so that you don’t have problems with the tiles down the road.
Start with a clean, dry surface. If you’re trying to paint the concrete floor in your basement, this may not work out well, especially if it’s damp. Most basements have chemicals mixed into the masonry to prevent floor dampness, so you should be fine. You may need to apply a masonry primer to the concrete floor (if the paint you selected requires it). If you have a wood floor, a primer is strongly recommended in order to hide the grain pattern.
If there are any imperfections in the floor surface, you will want to fill those in with non-porous filler and let it dry and harden before applying the paint. After that, you can paint away. Painted floor designs can be created with the help of plastic stencils or masking tape. Let your imagination run wild.
Here’s the hard part — painted hardwood, concrete and plywood floors need to be left alone for two to three days after the painting is complete. This can be difficult in high-traffic areas, so plan accordingly. After the time is up, you can go back over the surface with a few coats of non-yellowing urethane, or water-based urethane, and let that dry as long as the manufacturer recommends.
The only maintenance you have to do now is to apply another coat of the urethane every couple of years (as well as clean the surface as you would any other flooring). The shine should stick around even with heavy traffic. Many businesses use painted floors because of this dramatic durability and inexpensive upkeep.
Decorative painted floors can really make a statement. You can recreate a 50s diner with the black and white checked pattern. I saw a game room painted like a chess or checkers board, and it looked great! You can create the look of tiles and wooden flooring as well. It’s hard to tell the difference if the paint job is well done. Have you ever seen a “rug” painted on the floor? I have, and it’s a fantastic decorative painted floor. You can even create walkways in a business to direct customers to areas that they may be searching for.
Painted floors are the new rage in modern flooring and design. And because they’re so durable, they’re a great way to improve a room, without cutting and measuring.
Probably not necessary IMO, but if you feel it’s too slippery there are products that can be used to make it less so.
I am looking for info on how to use brown paper bags and polyurethane to cover over an old painted wood floor in a cabin. Do you know where I can get this info?
The best thing I can suggest is to go to your favorite search engine (mine’s http://www.google.com) and input your search there. I’ve never heard of this. Good luck!
What would I need to do to paint over an existing tile floor with that black glue under it?
Hi Patsy…… I’m not sure I’m following you – are you wanting to take up the tile or just paint over it? Either way, the subject has been covered lots and lots of times on this site – I’d suggest using the site’s search engine and type in paint or painting and tile or vinyl.
Where can I see pictures of nice painted floors?
All over the internet! Go to google.com and do a photo search. ;~)
Can I paint the flooring under my carpet? or can I paint my carpet? If so how?
Hi Krystel,
No, you can’t paint your carpet. You can probably paint the flooring under your carpet. What kind of flooring is it?
I have a white textured tile floor and in Florida whenever someone comes in the sand gets caught next to this texture. Is there any way I can paint these tile floors so that they are easier to clean. It would take me a week to get down with a scrub brush and then it would only stay clean for a few minutes!
Hi Marcie,
It would be such a shame to have to resort to painting your floors. Are your floors ceramic, porcelain or stone? Have you thought about using a polyurethane or clear epoxy coat?
The previous owners glued carpet to polished old pine floors in three rooms. The shabby carpet lifts off readily, but there is a 1/4″ layer of glue with ridges (and some glued-in fibres) that three different tradesmen say cannot be removed by solvents or by sanding as the glue melts. I don’t want to recarpet or plane the floors off as I would need to plane the whole house to match. Would it be too weird if I scrubbed it and painted it? If so, what would you recommend?
Since the floor was polished, it might be worth it to do a little testing to see how well removing the glue would work. The polish might keep the glue from penetrating the wood when you go to remove the glue. Try different methods in small areas. It’s up to you if you want to paint it.
There is more info for painting floors here and here.
Hello Flooring Lady, Thank you for your website and time. We just pulled up vinyl flooring in our kitchen and have removed 99% of the glue (oh what fun that was going chemical free up to this point). I think I want to paint it the way I’m seeing garage floors look, with a solid color, no fancy art work or designs. Does all the glue need to come up, like in the corners where it was installed thick, and what steps are needed to prepare concrete for painting?
Hi Jimbo,
It really depends on if YOU think the glue at the edged needs to come up – I can’t see it. If it looks smooth and flat and won’t detract from the overall look AND you can live with it, then sure. Pretty much, all that you need to do is make sure the concrete is very clean before painting – and dry. ;o)
i am wanting to paint a floor in a bedroom. i am pulling the old carpet and it is the wood planks underneath. should i fill the cracks or what is the best process to acheive a shabby chic look?
Hi Lacy,
I would leave the cracks alone if you’re going for a shabby chick look, but it’s really up to you. ;~)
hi..we just pulled up OLD vinyl tiles and I want to paint the particle board floor underneath. the room is approx.20×40,you can see square pattern stains from old tiles so I’m looking for the EASIEST,LEAST EFFORT way to paint it & have it still look good. Some patterns are too much headache & work, do you have any suggestions for a simple fix? by the way, we rent so I don’t want to put too much $ or time,I have a few gallons of earthtone paints I could use and not have to buy(hopefully)any leads will help! (faux/stonewash?) thanks !
Hi Roni,
Painting floors and sealing afterwards has been covered numerous times. Use the search box at the top right of the page.
I have a floor that is painted a tan and black checker board. It is in a high traffic area. Do you recommend coating it with poly or applying a coat of wax, which I would reapply every year (possibly every six months) Is there an advantage of one over the other.