How to Paint Wood & Tile Floors

One of my most frequently asked questions is how to paint floors.  I am sharing how I paint floors, the products I use, and my review of painted wood and tile floors.

How to Paint Wood & Tile Floors

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Painting wood & tile floors

When we bought our farmhouse one of the first things I did was have a floor guy come because I wanted to have our floors refinished before moving all of our stuff in.  Unfortunately, he explained to us that it was not a good idea to re finish our floors at that time.  Some were just too thin to sand down.  The ones that could be refinished he recommended waiting until we fixed the crumbling walls.  This left me a bit frustrated and looking for a solution to make our home cozy in the meantime.

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Why we painted our wood and tile floors

After spending hours scrolling though Pinterest and Instagram, I came across several painted floors that I loved.  I did some research on how to paint floors and decided that it was the best solution for our home.  Most our wood floors had already been painted, so it also felt true to our home.  It began as a temporary solution until we were able to have them refinished.  However, after living with our painted floors for almost three years I don’t see myself changing them anytime soon.

Paint was also a great solution for making the various styles of floor more cohesive.  Our house had dark modern tile, slim Victorian style wood floors (these were the ones that were too thin to refinish), and colonial style wide plank wood floors.  Painting the various styles in one color of paint made the rooms flow much better.

Painted wood stairs

I started with our stairway.  You can see more of the before and after of that space HERE.  The paint completely transformed the space and has held up very well.  I did use a sealer on our stairs, which I do not recommend.  The sealer cracks and collects dirt.  I’ve found using primer and paint was the best approach.  I’ll share exactly what I use and how later in this post.

Painted wood floors

Painted wood floors have held up the best in our home using my method for how to paint floors.  After almost three years, the only spots that have chipped were spots I dropped a hammer or dragged heavy furniture.  Normal day-to-day activities have not caused any wear to our painted wood floors.

Painted tile floors

Our home had tile floors when we bought it that were very dark and did not match the style of our home.  Eventually, we plan to replace these floors.  As a budget friendly temporary solution I decided to paint them.  Our kitchen receives the most traffic in our home, and often times people wear their shoes in this room.  Our animals also run though this room a lot.  I estimated when I painted this floor that it would need a quick touch up coat about every six months.  So far, that has been about accurate.  Since I use the same color, I don’t need to cut in as precisely and the touch up coat (one coat of floor paint) does not take more than a couple hours.  I also painted the tile floor in our master bathroom and that low traffic room has held up much better.

How to paint wood & tile floors

After a lot of research, trial, and error, I believe I’ve found the best way to paint floors.  It is pretty simple, too!

Step 1: Clean your floors.  This might be the most important step.  I wash my floors extreamly well with warm water and dish soap.  I was them until the water in the bucket stays clear and I feel they are clean enough to eat off of them.  Don’t skip the first wash.  It might be tempting, but you don’t want to sand any grease or oil into your floors.

Step 2: Scuff the floors.  Use sand paper to ruff up the surface and give the paint more to grip to.

Step 3: Wash the floors, again.  The prep work is so important!

Step 4: Once the floor is completely dry you are ready to prime.  I use Zinsser 123 Plus primer tinted to the color I will be painting the floors.  Use 1-2 coats depending on your specific needs.  I use a regular brush to cut in and a roller for the rest of the floor.

Step 5: Once the primer is dry you can begin to paint.  I can not recommend Behr Porch and Patio Floor paint enough!  I use low luster and like to do two coats.  Again, I use a regular brush to cut in and a roller for the rest.

Try to avoid walking on the freshly painted floor for about 24 hours.  I wait at least three days before moving furniture back in.

Are painted floors hard to wash?

I’ve found my painted floors to clean very easily.  I just use dish soap, warm water, a tightly squeezed out rag, and elbow grease for deep cleanings.  For quick cleanings, this mop works awesome!  Some recommend using a gloss finish for easier cleaning; however, I have found the low luster finish to be simple to clean.  If there are ever tough spots or scuffs I use a magic eraser and they come right up.

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Thank you so much for stopping by the blog.  I hope you found this post helpful.  If you have any questions about our painted floors, leave them in the comments below.