Today, there is a growing trend for painting hardwood floors. Unfortunately there is another trend that correlates with this rise.
That second trend is a rise in meteoric mess-ups as DIY home improvers take on this task themselves.
Fortunately for the amateur wise enough to do a search on the internet first, these are fairly easy mistakes to avoid.
So without further ado, the number one failure people make when painting their hardwood floors? Use normal paint.
Normal paint is not made to take the daily barrage of wear and tear under foot. Damp feet, grit, high heels, friction… Before long the paint is worn back to the wood and looking terrible.
You need to use a “floor paint” that means something that forms a solid film on the surface much like a lacquer. In fact, that’s what it is, a pigmented lacquer.
If you are reading this you are probably thinking “well no duhh!”
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this mistake made, so it has to be said.
Unfortunately, these floor paints can be rather expensive, as they have the normal polyurethane base for a hard finish, plus the pigment to give it the color.
The great thing about painting hardwood floors is that an opaque finish can cover a myriad of problems. For example, the floor pictured left had a number of yellow stains and other imperfections. All were completely unnoticeable after painting the floor with floor paint.
I was using the Farrow & Ball floor paint at the request of the client. I was concerned about the fact that it seemed to have all the same texter as emulsion wall paint. However, it was very easy to apply with quick drying times.
While there are other floor paint manufacturers, Farrow & Ball give you an abundant choice of beautiful colors, as they are very well known for. Of course, it will set you back a pretty penny.
Luckily the process is largely the same as just a normal sanding and lacquering, but instead, you are using paint. Always be sure to check if your particular paint needs a primer, how many coats of solid paint it needs, how long the drying time is, whether or not to lightly sand between coats. Be sure to do things correctly.
On the other hand, there is painting hardwood floors without sanding back the old finish and starting again. In this case, I doubt you will need a coat of primer, but you will need to key the old surface thoroughly with a 120 grit to get the new paint to adhere to the old finish.
This can only really work on polyurethane finished floors, as the paint might not adhere to an oiled finish.
For floors that have an oil or hardwax oil finish, you could try putting on a few coats of colored hardwax oil, but I haven’t tested or seen that, so it’s just a suggestion at this point.
The other great part about painting hardwood floors is the fact that you can just recoat whenever you want and it is extremely forgiving. You can’t mess it up!
One last thought to keep in mind, is that the paint gets into every little crack and crevis in the floor. If you do decide any time after painting the floor, that you want to restore the natural beauty of the wood, it may always be littered with dots and lines of paint.
Personally, I think it’s a crime to paint any exotic wood or even hardwood for that matter. In fact, the only floor I think it’s ok to paint is pine floorboards. Well, that’s just my point of view anyway, the choice is yours!!
Hi. Is there a good way to prevent getting paint in the gaps when painting a pine wood floor? So to make it easy (easier) to restore when in time the paint has to be removed again?
There is no way to prevent it completely. But one thing you should do is work out of a bucket, not pore the paint on the floor. The other thing is to use a short pile roller and ring out the roller a bit after dipping so you aren’t putting too much down at any one time. Do thinner coats.
HI Ben, seems our previous owner refurbished only one room (in a pretty bad way as the lacquer is peeling off) but all the other rooms are just fine. Is it realistic to sand and lacquer just this one room and manage the interface (polishing etc) so one would not see too much difference between the two rooms? Any recommendation of how to approach / sand at these edges? CHeers
its possible for a pro, but unlikely when doing it DIY. Even so, over time floors get oxidative and UV damage, so if one floor has been done more recently, it will look much newer
I have an engineered oak hardwood floor (stained Gunstock with a reddish tint). I would like to take to a lighter shade without red. Over the years it has developed a couple of small humps in board due to moisture, I believe. Would this take sanding or do they have to be replaced?
sounds ok to sand but you might need to get a professional eye on it
HI Ben,
Just been watching a few of your videos I pulled back the awful and stained carpet in my lounge and hall and much to my surprise discovered the original parquet floor going all the way through , I was so chuffed . As I had thee years before pulled out the terrible 1970’s gas heater, including plastic logs and red light bulbs; only to discover te original fireplace from 1963, had never even been lit!! I have over thee years restored this and now have a beautiful original Victorian cast iron open fie, which is used most winters. Having the wooden floors is great as both my daughter and I are wheelchair users carpets really don’t work with wheelchairs lol!
I originally tackled the floor by myself about 5 years ago as a rush job, to get it looking nice for my friend’s Hen Night,,,,, I have regretted it ever since!!
At the time I was doing the whole floor with a hand sander, while I had a broken leg.I like my dark wood , but due to my closeness to the floor went way to dark and as it was done over weeks in patches it looked mo like a cabbage patch than a floor! :'(
it desperately needs redoing PROPERLY this time and I want it oiled, show the beauty of the wood shines through , I’m also going to take the carpet off the stairs in the hallway and the plasterboard underneath and open it right up. I had the banisters and rail replaced after years of white painted straight banisters, which were more paint than wood were replaced with Georgian turned banisters, but again i went over the top on the dark stain, so now that has to all come off……………………..Which finally leads me to my question for you…..
What oil finish do you use and is i put on like the lacquer? I had thought linseed oil, but did not think that would dry to a hard finish! Any suggestions would be great also any advice on the staircase? Most annoyingly, I will not be able to do the work myself, so will have to get someone in. At least being forearmed with how to do a good quality job. i’ll be able to keep on top of the work, and make sure it is done properly! ; ) Any advice will mos graciously be welcome!
Thanks for your attention and time and keep doing the videos, not all of us just watch the idiot wannabes; So of us are look for good clear instructive stuff, from the professionals !! : ))
Hello Sarah,
It depends what Oil it is you use, sometimes its buffed in and sometimes it’s applied similarly to lacquer. Personally, I would advise against using Oil as the wheels on the wheelchairs may cause permanent scuffing. You can get oil based primers that can be overcoated with lacquer. I know Pallmann do a primer like this, I think its called 325. As for the stairs, unfortunately, I really can’t advise! Good luck
I have wood floors that has carpeting put over it and when I pulled up the carpet the floors were painted. I think it’s wall paint because it scratches off. What would be the best way to get that type of paint off the floor’s? Also some of the wood boards that are against the wall are split due to the nails to keep the tack strip down. How would you fix those boards? Will sanding take out the little holes from the staples to keep the padding down? We’ve called some professionals and they wouldn’t even come for an estimate due to them being painted they said they don’t do work on painted floors. I would love to bring the floors back to life and I would like to know how you would tackle this project. Thank you for your time and advice.
the paint will sand off, you could replace the broken ones or fill the cracks and holes, difficult to say without seeing it
Can I sand a hardwood floor thats covered in paint? Is that the right way to get rid of the paint?
thats what I do! I hope its not a non-wood colour because if its, blue say, and its all between the gaps, that can be a bit of a nightmare
Ben,
I have a relatively thin (too scared to thoroughly sand) hardwood veneer that is “on its last legs” so to speak. I’d like to rough up the surface and paint it just to get me through to a time I can afford to replace with nice hardwood. That being said, I’ll probably be living with this for a few years. So, 1) can I do this on veneer? 2) is there a certain brand of paint you recommend (that I can obtain in the US)?
Thanks,
Nicole
Hi Ben,
I’ve got heavily painted (dark grey) old Victorian floorboards that I want to strip and restore with a satin varnish.
Is there such a thing as too much paint? I feel it will just get clogged up in the coarse grit and take far too many sheets to do the room (just under 8x3m). Is taking a floor sander to this still the best method?
Thanks
sometimes it sands off fine and sometimes it gunks up on the belts. Only 1 way to find out and thats to give it a go. Usually its fine, but even if its not, it just means the first sanding takes a little longer and maybe 1 or 2 more papers.
Is it possible to sand and re-varnish an engineered medium oak floor with a lighter varnish, giving the appearance of bleached oak with all the grain showing through
When you sand back your floor, it will be a lot lighter! If you used the lacquer we discussed on email, it will keep it that light. Colored lacquers can be a complete pain even for pro’s as I said. Staining floors lighter is even more of a pain.
What about painting maple engineered hardwood floors?
the surface of an engineered hardwood floor is exactly the same as a non-engineered hardwood floor. Engineered is becoming more and more prevalent these days as solid wood floors cause so many problems, but for most of the information on this website, it all applies fine to engineered wood floors
We would like a dark floor but feel it would be a shame to pull up the maple floors there. What is the best approach to achieve a dark brown floor?
maple is very hard to stain, so if you are going to, get a professional, you can also paint them