How To Paint A Floor
Our recent sunroom floor staining debacle led us away from semi-transparent floor finishes (which are fabulous for raw concrete but don’t work as well over previously stained concrete) and towards solid floor treatments that are yummy and glossy and opaque. We quickly learned that oil-based porch and floor paint was the best candidate for the room (since latex based floor paints can’t bond to a previously stained concrete surface) and at Lowe’s we happily discovered Valspar’s High Performance Oil-Based Porch & Floor Paint in a perfect chocolate brown color called Brownstone. We’d been longing for a rich brown tone to tie into the adjoining room’s hardwood flooring, and Brownstone was a match made in floor paint heaven. Since the stuff is “extremely durable and resists scuffing while retaining its high gloss appearance”, it was the perfect solution for our high traffic sunroom. And not only is it great for concrete floors, it can also be used on wood floors and primed metal so it’s definitely something to keep in mind for any of the floors in your home that have seen better days.
So without further ado, we bring you the simple five step tutorial to painting your floor:
Step 1: Ensure that the floor is squeaky clean. This can be accomplished by thoroughly vacuuming and then going over your floor with a mildly soapy wet rag and waiting for the floor to dry completely before moving onto the next step. Additionally, if you’re painting a wood floor, any splintered or rough parts should be sanded or patched before moving on to the painting process.
* John sheepishly asked that I add a disclaimer that he doesn’t usually look this mismatched and clashy. We had just returned from a swim at the river so he quickly donned the closest t-shirt and hat for a speedy floor clean-up before hitting the shower. Really, he was actually embarrassed. Isn’t that cute?
Step 2: Edge the perimeter of the entire floor (about 4 inches or so) with a good quality brush that won’t leave any bristles behind. Oil based paint is deliciously glossy, which can makes things like errant paintbrush bristles stuck to the floor more obvious than a matte floor finish would.
Step 3: Use a paint roller with an extended pole attachment to coat the entire floor with one coat of paint. Roll in long even strokes and make a “w” pattern on the floor with the roller to eliminate any obvious paint globs from the side of the roller. Don’t forget to be smart about painting yourself out of the room as oil paint takes a looong time to dry before you can walk on it again.
Step 4: If you’re lucky, one coat of paint will do the trick. In our sunroom it would have except that we missed a couple of teeny slivers of the floor and wanted to go over the whole thing again for good measure and a uniform finish. You must wait at least a full 24 hours before applying a second coat, and even after 24 hours you may notice that your first coat isn’t completely dry (you may see subtle footprints as you walk across the floor) but you can proceed with your second coat since it’ll gloss over everything and leave it looking shiny and perfect again.
Step 5: Wait at least 6 full days to walk on your new floor. It may feel like torture, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. And after almost a week of avoiding the space, you’ll be super excited to move in all of your furniture and make yourself at home. It should be noted that oil-paint is especially toxic and super stiiinky, so keeping a ceiling fan going and the windows open for the full 6 days is a smart idea (which means implementing that plan before the second coat since you won’t have access to the room afterwards).
So there you have it, a simple five step process to fantastic new flooring. Here’s ours looking all glossy and fabulous (like melted chocolate, I tell ya). We love the rich, uniform tone and the luxe sheen, and we’ve both noticed that the room looks a whole lot more “finished” with the newly painted floor.
We also love how it ties in with the dark brown window sashes around the entire room, and makes our white furniture pop even more than it did against our old orangey-gold floor.
And perhaps the most exciting thing of all is how the newly painted sunroom floor so perfectly ties into our existing hardwood floor in the adjoining laundry nook and den. It’s an almost seamless transition which makes the sunroom seem a lot more cohesive (it no longer screams “add-on”) thanks to the uniform floor color and super luxe sheen.
We hope our fast and furious floor painting tutorial has been of help. And of course feel free to send us your floor painting before and afters (we eat that stuff for breakfast). Happy rolling!
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Comments
Hi! I’ve just come across your blog today, and I absolutely love it. I have a question about painting the floor that has nothing to do with this post, so I completely understand if you don’t know! We recently ripped out carpet in our ‘kid’ rooms (the kids are elusive, we don’t have any yet…but that’s where they’ll be once we have them!), and have no clue what we really want to put down as far as flooring goes. I’d like to paint the concrete floors for a fix in the meantime. Do you know if it’s possible to put flooring down on top of painted concrete? For some reason, I thought I had heard that if you paint it with latex, the mortar for tile wouldn’t stick. Do you know if this is true (and for other floors as well)? Thanks for any advice!!!
Kara
Hmm, that’s a good question! We would definitely recommend asking an expert at your local home improvement center or even calling a flooring company to see if they can install something over a painted concrete floor. It seems like they would find a way around it since saying it’s “Impossible” seems harsh (there are a ton of free-floating floors that should be able to be installed over anything, painted or not- and many adhesives and other methods that would hold down flooring that needs that sort of structure). They also sell “etching” products which you should be able to apply over painted or stained concrete to make it rough and porous again- sort of like a stripper. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Your sunroom floor is gorgeous! Now that some time has passed since the floor paint was applied, has it held up well? Has anything heavy been dragged across it, and if so, how has it held up? Did it leave a noticeable scratch? I want to do this in a bedroom, and you know how heavy dressers and armoires can be. I painted with a cream-colored latex floor paint in a different bedroom last year, and every flaw of the slab and every furniture drag scratch is visible. Thank you. Ann
We’re happy to report that it still looks fantastic! We haven’t dragged heavy objects across it (we’re always careful to pick them up or use furniture moving coasters) so we can’t sound off about that particular question, but if you take care of your painted floor as you would a hardwood or ceramic floor you should be just fine. Oh but definitely let it dry dry dry before moving things in (that would result in chips and scratches pretty much off the bat if it’s not fully cured). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I live in a condo with a concrete patio in the front. The only way to get out of or into the condo is through this patio (my condo is connected to other condos on both sides and in back also). My sister and I would love to paint our patio, but the thought of having to either stay indoors for 6 days straight or live out of our carport for 6 days while it dries isn’t too appealing. What do you suggest?
Good question! Just visit your local home improvement store to see what they recommend! They might have something that dries in 24-48 hours so you could stay with a friend for the weekend. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi guys – I just came across your blog and love it! I was searching for answers regarding the Behr semi-transparent concrete stain and here I am. My hubby and I are in a ‘pickle’ and need some fast advice. Here’s the run-down:
We have ripped up every inch of flooring throughout our house and decided to stain the concrete. We bought the Behr stuff in “Loden” and after cleaning and etching our “test room” we applied it with a sprayer (set on the finest mist). Results = horrible!
The stain looks splotchy, and where I tried to blend it in with a roller, you can see every stinkin’ brush mark! And to top it off, the stain isn’t transparent at all – it looks like a really shoddy paint job. So we’re bummed.
Now we’ve bought a little lighter color – the Behr “Natural Henna” to solve the color issue. Now my only issue is…what’s the best way to apply this stuff and have it turn out looking good? We haven’t etched the rest of the house and after seeing that you guys had such good luck skipping the etch and primer, I’m curious to try your one-step method.
With the semi-transparent stain did you just simply roll it on and leave it? Your floors looked amazing but it sounds too easy!!
Do you have any experience with the Behr solid concrete paint? I really want the ‘weathered look’ and not just a solid, blah color.
Here’s a post all about how we stained our concrete floors.
http://www.younghouselove.com/2008/08/how-to-stain-a-concrete-floor/
We had great results (until we tried to stain over them which led us to painting the floor). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I’ve been googling about painting floors and found your post, thanks for the info! Our concrete floor in the basement was painted by a prior owner of the house… so we are not sure if we can use a stain. We probably have to paint. Plus, we have dogs and cats and we don’t really want to use oil based… so I’m looking for alternatives. :)
Hey Cynthia,
It’s true, most painted concrete can’t be stained because it now has an opaque covering so the stain won’t look good or seep into the concrete properly. You might want to visit your local home improvement store to see if they have a stripping agent or etching cream made for painted concrete that might help you get them back to their raw state (which could then be stained). So that’s one idea for you. Otherwise repainting is definitely your best bet. And again, you can ask your local home improvement paint pros if they can recommend anything that will stand up to floor traffic that’s not oil-based. Good luck!
xo,
s
Hey YHL,
I wound up doing this project over the past few weekends. I only have pics of the floor up on my blog, but I’ll post pictures of the entire room once it’s done. I couldn’t figure out where to email you guys pictures, so I’m just posting it here. My blog link is: http://mekhart.blogspot.com/2010/04/painted-floors.html
I gave you guys a shout out in my blog. Thanks for the great idea, we really love our $20 flooring solution!
It looks amazing Kara! Thanks so much for sending us the link so we could see how it turned out. Great job!
xo,
s
Hi guys–
I tried searching the archives so pls forgive me if you already answered this, but I would like to paint my basement stairs (which were hastily painted blah grey in latex by the previous owners). Do you think I have to scrape off ALL the paint, or just sand and paint? And what kind of paint to use? Latex or oil? Since it is a stairwell, does it need extra polyurethane coating? Or is using a floor/porch paint strong enough?
Whoops sorry for the all the questions. I asked the folks at HD and no one was able to agree on one answer! :(
ps. i was hoping to do something like this (from Domino, RIP), but alas, they seemed to have removed instructions…
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/painting-fixing-repair/how-to-paint-rainbow-stairs–048396
Hey Aimee,
As long as the paint underneath is smooth (not flaking) and has a nice firm bond to the stairs, you shouldn’t even need to sand it at all- and all porch and floor paints come with a built-in primer of sorts which will create a nice strong bond for a durable and lasting finish. We do recommend the oil-based stuff since it’s a lot more long-lasting (no need for a topcoat of poly or anything), but our best advice would just be to visit your local home improvement center and check out the oil-based porch and floor stuff that they have and chat with a pro about what will work best for you. Good luck!
xo,
s
wonderful! thanks so much–I’m 8mos preggers and can’t help myself…must…paint (or have my dear husband do it!) so am glad to not have to sand anything down. thanks again, S!! :)
Hi YHL–question, we painted out porch floor–EXACTLY how you painted yours, same color, same technique. problems: it came out super shiny (so we tried to tone it down with a de-glosser, and you can see all the roller streaks-boo. And finally: I have noticed a bit of peeling. Any tips?
Hmm, our floor is super glossy and we love it (in fact we described the paint as “deliciously glossy” in the post) so the finish you got sounds just like ours. Unfortunately if that wasn’t what you were going for, you probably wanted to find a flat finish floor paint, but we love the durability and shine of the one we chose. And as for the streaks from the deglosser, we’re not sure what to do there. Maybe ask the pros at your local home improvement store? When it comes to the peeling, things like that are usually a clue about the prep work or the drying time, so if your concrete was totally clean and dry before you started we would guess that you might not have given it the full time to cure so it wasn’t at full strength and then got a bit weathered by foot traffic or moving furniture. Either that or the deglosser had something to do with it. We would ask the pros at your local home improvement store since that step wasn’t something we took on. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sure, but we’re certain that the best way to solve it would be to ask the local pros at a home improvement store near you. We totally understand your dilemma from your description, we just have never personally encountered the problem before. Good luck!
xo,
s
My fiance and I are inheriting his parents post-divorce house. As both of his parents have moved to different states, and his mom offered to let us live there for free since it’s already paid for.
The house is an awful combination of tons of late 80′s wood-paneling and old popcorn ceilings. (Shudder.) But the most interesting thing in the whole house is the pseudo-sunroom. First it’s on the top floor and big enough to make a carport under. And it’s walls are a white-washed plywood. The real kicker is the astroturf carpeting. o.o I’m a big fan of green but not astroturf with cigarette burns everywhere.
I’ll have to take a before picture later today when I head out that way. You’ll be horrified.
Hi! I painted my floor using your tutorial and am in love with the results (i moved into a place with navy blue concrete with silver stars spray painted on, no kidding. Major upgrade). So I wanted to say THANK YOU for your help and ask if you would recommend any particular cleaning product for oil-based painted floors?
Hey Ashley,
We love Mrs. Meyer’s All Purpose Cleaner (in the lemon verbena scent) watered down a ton to clean our floors (both our hardwoods and our painted concrete). You also can use a swiffer with those wet pads for a good result. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Can you provide a tutorial on “painting a vinyl laminate floor”? Last year my husband and I put in a square vinyl laminate tile floor in our bathroom. We absolutely hate it. Any suggestions for a cool cheap fix?
Hey Angie,
So sorry but we don’t recommend it! Vinyl is such a slippery and smooth surface that it doesn’t take paint well at all (and will crack and peel with foot traffic). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Thanks for the advise! You probably saved us alot blood, sweat, and tears!
As always – I love your website!
Your floor looks great! I got a sample of the same floor paint in the “Brownstone” color as you have, but a small sample of it did not turn out nearly as glossy as yours, which is actually what I was looking for (glossy). What exactly is the type paint you used for your floor? Also the floor I will be painting is currently covered with carpet…is there any type of preparation (etching) that is required? PS…great site! Thanks!
As long as your concrete floor isn’t sealed it doesn’t need any prep, just follow the steps listed above in this post. As for the exact paint we used, it’s also listed in the post above (color, brand, etc). The finish we picked was glossy (they also offered flat). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
So happy to have found your blog…and this entry especially. When I bought my house six years ago the previous owner had pulled up all the flooring (except in one bedroom/office) and stained the concrete floors. I really love the look and have enjoyed it. However, she stained the floor with actual wood stain (?!) and it was never sealed or anything from what I can tell and it has now worn off in certain areas…especially where my dog walks around. So here are my questions…I want to re-do it, but don’t think I should use the wood stain the previous owner left behind…so I have thought about putting concrete stain over it, but am fearful that it would require removal of what is already there, did you ever ask anyone about removing the lighter stain from your room before re-staining it? And then, when I saw this post I thought maybe I would follow your lead and just paint, but part of what I love about my floors is that they look sort of like burled wood or burnished leather, and paint would be so flat and one dimensional…do you miss that look in your room? What a quandary! LOL
Good question! And it’s one we’re not sure about I’m afraid, so perhaps asking a few pros at your local home improvement store (or reading the backs of the stain cans) will help you get to the bottom it.
And as for if we miss our old stained floor, we can’t say we do. We love the glossy and rich chocolate tone a lot (but it’s totally a personal preference thing so follow your heart). Good luck!
xo,
s
Thanks so much for the quick response! Upon reading your posts on this and some other info on the web, I’m beginning to think that the fact that this “stain” has worn off may mean that it didn’t really stain the floor at all, but is simply resting on the surface. Guess I will be pestering the people at the home improvement store…after possibly testing that left over wood stain in an inconspicuous corner as a stop gap!
We are doing this project this weekend! In the house we just bought, the carpet in the finished basement was full of urine stains and mold. We ripped out the carpet a few days ago, used a hand floor scrapper to scrap off all carpet glues, tomorrow will be cleaning the concrete floor, and Sunday painting the floor Brownstone. I CANNOT WAIT so see how it turns out, I know it will look amazing and I can’t wait to plan new decor around it once it’s dry. Will send pictures when it’s done. Thanks so much for the detailed tutorial!
Your blog just saved me from a complete mental breakdown! We just had some flooding in our basement and I’ve had to tear out all the carpet/linoleum left behind from the prior owner. Happily – they had glued nothing down (not sure why, but for once, I’m happy with their laziness).
Being a stay at home mom, we have NO money for a major do-over, especially flooring. I was considering staining…but saw how lovely your opague paint turned out and am so going that route to save time and money!
Hi,
This is a very informative blog well explained.
question. you’d mentioned in your DIY better homes and garden sunroom transformation – you’d ‘snagged’ the west elm daybed Pg 82, stage 2 photo.
I ‘d been eyeing that daybed for the last 2 yrs that is when I saw it for the first time ! but am still waiting for a lower price on that – online or store.
Did you buy it at their outlet or craigslist ..?
Please enlighten me !!
Hey Anu,
We actually got it as a wedding gift from a group of relatives who knew we were in love with it. To keep it budget friendly they just got us the frame and we got a hand me down mattress and covered it with a cheap fitted sheet from Target (instead of buying the mattress and mattress cover from West Elm). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Maybe you can use an electric hand sander with high grit paper to try to get closer to the walls and smooth things out? Of course asking your local home improvement center would probably yeild more ideas so that’s a good method as well. You should ask them about painting over your latex floor paint as we’re unsure (you probably have to sand it or strip it and then prime it with an oil-based primer to get the best adhesion. Good luck!
xo,
s