How to Paint a Vinyl Floor | DIY Painted Floors

I'm sooooo excited about today's DIY project, even though things didn't go exactly as planned.  

When Hubby and I gave our oak kitchen a spunky turquoise makeover - painting the cabinets turquoise, ripping down the tiny awkward cabinetry for more storage in the form of open shelving, and building solid white washed maple counters from scratch - we left the vinyl flooring untouched.  I often cropped it out of photos (like these), but you can spot it in a post about my case study planter: 

It was a cute enough pattern in a neutral, creamy hue with flecks of teal.  It looked okay but, frankly, because it extends into the adjacent entryway, shoe closet, laundry room and powder room, we were just too lazy to replace it!  It would have been one of those mushroom jobs, where you end up just gutting a room and repainting the entire house.  So we left the floors.  They were, however, a little grungy and dirt loved to settle in deep gauges the former owners had made.

After the turquoise kitchen makeover was complete, I scrubbed the floors on my hands and needs with a stiff bristled brush and caustic cleaner and eventually made them look shiny and new.  Fast forward exactly three days and the dirt and grime had settled in the deep scratches again.  A simple mopping did little.  Then I realized that although Szuka sheds very little, she brings in a lot of debris from the yard, so sweeping or mopping the light floors became a daily task.

I had seen tutorials about painting vinyl flooring (from Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body and View Along the Way), but neither of their laundry rooms seemed to as high traffic as my space.  I waffled between painting and doing peel and stick - until we finished the bathroom reno.  I  just loved how the matte charcoal grey tiles looked and decided I wanted to test out the same look in the kitchen and adjoining rooms.  Unable to find the exact peel and stick tile, I decided to take the plunge and try paint, figuring that if all else fails, I could still do peel and stick.  I had nothing to lose!

I decided to an another step to the pained vinyl floor tutorials I had seen online, though...

This was the plan: paint the vinyl floors a charcoal grey, then add a clear coat with fine flecks of black glitter.  I was hoping the floor would look less "painted" with the flecks of glitter.  I was also banking on the subtle sheen and speckles disguising crumbs and the like. 

Although the painted vinyl floor turned out so beautifully, I ran into a little trouble with the glitter, thanks to the clear coat not cooperating with the paint.  I'm still chatting with my local paint store to figure out if it was because the base coat was still off-gassing, or maybe because they weren't compatible to begin with.  There might still be a glitter top coat in my future but, for now, I really, really love how my dark grey painted vinyl floors turned out so I wanted to share!

If you've been eyeing up an ugly vinyl floor in your house, here's how we painted our vinyl - along with some tips to make painting a floor in a high traffic area (like a kitchen or entryway) a little easier.

Supplies:

• Stiff Bristle Brush
• Cleaner (check for compatibility with primer/paint; TSP, for example, is not recommended by Zinsser - a TSP substitute like Krud Kutter would be better)
• Sandpaper and Sanding Block (we used 120 - you can also use a circular sander)
• Zinsser 123 Primer, Tinted
• Porch and Floor Enamel (I used PPG's "Knight's Armor" - Behr's "Graphic Charcoal" is nearly identical)
• Good Quality Angled Brush
• Paint Tray + Liner
• Rollers
• Swiffer cloths

How to Prepare to Paint a Vinyl Floor

Like most DIY projects, the prep work is the most important.  This will sound silly, but I spent an entire day getting the kitchen ready before we even touched the floor.  I batch cooked a week's worth of meals and stockpiled easy to re-heat grub.  I washed a bunch of laundry, washed all of the dishes, emptied the dishwasher, grabbed some paper plates and the microwave from our basement and thought about how we'd live without access to the kitchen, laundry room, and front door. 

How to Prep a Vinyl Floor for Paint

Hubby and I thoroughly scrubbed the floors with a stiff bristle brush and TSP, which we realized after isn't recommended by Zinsser but we rinsed it well - I recommend a TSP substitue.  Then we scuff sanded, which didn't really take that long.  A circular sander (which we don't have) would make light work of this task.  Finally, we washed the floors once again and rinsed really, really well so no residue remained.  We moved the appliances out of the way.

How to Prime a Vinyl Floor for Paint

We waited for the floors to dry overnight and then applied a coat of Zinsser 123 primer the next morning, which I had the store tint a dark grey. 

We treated it much like a wall:  we both edged because it took longer and then one of us rolled the primer on.  I free-handed the edging because I knew if I taped, I'd surely miss places and leave a sliver of beige vinyl tile.   

Here's an important tip: I kept a swiffer cloth handy and quickly dry wiped each area before painting, just to catch any rogue fuzzies (I caught a lot!).  Any place where we primer or painted over a crumb (it happened a few times), when the crumb was finally knocked loose, we were left with a bear spot to touch up, so making sure the floor was spotless was essential to good adhesion and a nice looking paint job.

How to Paint a Vinyl Floor 

Once the primer had dried for 24 hours, we pushed the appliances back.  The primer and paint were really similar and I was really worried the appliances would scratch up the finish paint job.  After pushing everything back, we started applying the paint.

The Porch and Floor enamel we used was the same brand of  Porch and Floor enamel I used for the DIY painted particle board floor I tackled (I used a different brand, but the same kind of product, for the DIY painted concrete floor in the townhouse laundry room).  Concrete is SO much easier to paint, probably because it is porous and these products are designed for it.  With the tinted primer, though, painting the vinyl floor went smoothly.  We edged together and then one of us rolled again, being careful not to paint ourselves into a corner.  I used a tiny brush to get in between the wall and the side of the appliances - you cannot see back there at all, anyway.

One problem to watch out for: the floor enamel did not like being applied to drier areas, so we had to work quickly and keep a wet edge.

We applied two coats, waiting 24 hours in between coats.  We lit a fire on one damp evening so the house wasn't too humid.  24 hours after the second coat, it was fine to walk on, although we were careful to only wear socks and not drop anything sharp.  Szuka was expressly banned!

How to Mess up the Glitter Top Coat

After letting the second coat dry for 36 hours, we started with the glitter top coat.  I had bought a clear coat recommended by the paint store employees and I purchased a pound of glitter.  They were dubious about my painting a vinyl floor plan, so I knew I was taking a risk.

I poured a a third to one half of the bag into the clear coat (which I poured into a clean pail, first) and mixed really well.  I brushed it onto my paint stick to get a feel for how glittery it would be, and it looked perfect!  Just a hint of sparkly, not a full on glitter floor.  The clear coat was milky but was supposed to dry clear.

We got our supplies ready and started to apply the clear coat to the floor when we both noticed it was sort of seizing up.  We quickly washed it off and ran to the garage to do some testing.  Was it the glitter?  The vinyl?  The paint?  I applied the glitter top coat to various surfaces: painted trim scraps, a stained piece of wood, the stir stick with floor paint on it.  Every surface was fine (and SO pretty) except for the stir stick - the paint and clear coat were reacting.

The Results of my Painted Vinyl Floor DIY

We decided to forgo the glitter top coat for now, but once I hear back from the paint store I might still go ahead with it, but the matte look does really mimic the painted fireplace and the bathroom floor tile, so the cohesion and flow in the house is looking pretty darn awesome (time for an updated house tour!).

I'm also loving that the floors no longer sport streaks of perma-dirt:

Again, I didn't hate the before - the cream vinyl floor was nice but although it photographed well, in real life it looked pretty beat up.  Here's a look at the before again:

This is going to be a great way to experiment with dark grey floors in here and see if we like them in time, before committing to a major reno and thousands of dollars of tile work.  (A couple of my photos have some lighter spots in them - I think my camera lens needs a cleaning, because those do not exist in real life - the floors look evenly colored).   

How Does a Painted Vinyl Floor Hold Up?

So far, it holds up well!  It's been over a week and we have had absolutely no issues (knock on wood), but the primer takes a full seven days to harden - and the paint thirty - so I'm trying to keep Szuka and her claws away but she still sneaks in once a day but there are no scratches.

I really like how the design of the old floor sort of peeks through.  Walking on the floor feels weird, though, because it tricks my mind into thinking it's concrete because of the texture.  It's no longer as smooth as the vinyl but it's not rough, either - just sort of more matte, like the matte tile in the bathroom.  Importantly, it swiffers really well - no issue with dust getting stuck of anything - which is such a relief!  You wouldn't guess this is a painted floor.

My Tips for Painting a Vinyl Floor:

• Chat with the pros about what products to use - not all primers can withstand foot traffic, for example.
• Spend a few days making a list about what you'll need from the room(s) you're painting because it will be off limits while the paint dries.
• Read the can labels but don't defer to paint store staff - do your own research too!  I found a LOT of helpful stuff in some DIY forums.
• Don't skip the prep work: clean, sand and prime properly for maximum adhesion.
• Keep a dry swiffer cloth handy to wipe each spot before applying primer and paint because little dust bunnies and flecks of stuff prevent paint from adhering properly.
• Edge and roll just like you would a wall, making sure to keep a wet edge
• Keep dust, pets, and people out of the area to avoid any pesky dust bunnies or hairs getting stuck in the fresh paint

The painted vinyl certainly lends more contrast, making the turquoise cabinets pop, drawing more attention to our beautiful maple counters!  I'm actually working on a mini face lift for the powder room, so when that's done I'll show you the new painted flooring in all of the rooms - and give you another update on how well it has held up.

Cross your fingers for me!

DIY Painted Particle Board Floor (Mmmm, Teal)

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have caught a peek of a project that's been keeping me busy.  A local computer shop is moving from their current retail and tech space to a smaller spot in need of some TLC.  It's downtown, with excellent parking (a rare combination!), so things like missing baseboards and particle board floors were overlooked.

At first I was a little intimidated by the amount of work to do, especially because the budget is miniscule and I'm being paid in tacos (that's not a euphemism for cash).  But I'm always up for a DIY challenge!  The first step was to fill in the hundreds of wall holes with putty, and then sand and prime them in preparation for painting the walls a warm grey (PPG's Aria).  I wanted as light a colour as possible to make the space feel bright and clean, but I knew white would quickly become covered in grubby fingerprints.  Just painting the walls one neutral colour (and not painting around the furniture like the last tenants) improved the space. 

The former tenants had put down what looks like some kind of oriented strand board (or engineered wood particle board), which had become badly stained from water damage and general foot traffic.

Putting something cheap over the particle board, like a peel and stick tile or even click laminate, wasn't an option because it's not 100% level (it's an older building, which exacerbates the wonky installation).  I decided paint would be an easy and inexpensive fix.  A local paint shop suggested a simple primer + floor enamel combo because professional-grade epoxy finishes would crack given the uneven floor.  Plus, without a top coat, a floor enamel can easily be re-touched, and it's not very slippery during wet or snowy months.

I started by giving the floor a good clean: multiple sweepings and then a deep clean with a shop vac.  Next came the primer coat.  I used Kilz Max primer, which is now my favorite primer.

A large brush was used to apply primer along edge of the room (I didn't want to touch the freshly painted walls with my roller), and then the primer was rolled on.  A handle extender was very handy.  I started at one end and painted my way out of the room, making sure everything I needed (car keys!) was accessible at my exit point.  It was dry to the touch in 1/2 and hour and ready for re-coating in one hour, but I let it dry overnight.

The primer was fabulous: it covered nicely and, as promised, dried very quickly.  Not all primers are created equal - and not all are suitable for floors - but this one did an excellent job of concealing water damage and stains and provided a very good base for the floor enamel.  I had the primer tinted as dark a green as they could manage, which helped get the floor to a deep teal.  This process is very similar to what we did for our painted laundry room floor, except we skipped primer then. 



The next morning, I applied the paint in the same fashion: starting with the edges and then using a roller and working my way out of the room.  Like with painting walls, I painted "W"'s to ensure I got paint into the uneven surface.  I took my time and often checked to make sure there were no bare spots.  I worked slowly, with a very saturated roller to ensure full coverage.  The manufacturer's instructions indicated that the floor could be walked on in 24 hours but I let it dry for 48 hours.  The gentleman who helped me at the paint store informed me that paint doesn't actually cure until about the one month mark, but that a couple of days should be fine.

This photo is the most accurate representation of the colour

This is the porch and floor enamel I used:

The enamel had great coverage, but I think the primer did the heavy lifting.  So little of this paint soaked into the floor thanks to the excellent primer.  I needed about a quart or two less of paint than primer.  

The floor turned out lovely.  After I was done I quickly snapped some photos with my phone from outside, and the door wasn't open but a minute before a passerby complimented the colour choice.  With freshly painted walls and floor, the space looks much more attractive.

You can still see the seams a bit, but they are more pronounced in these photos than in real life, thanks to the texture of the particle board and the slight sheen of the paint.   Given the muted teal colour and texture, the floor has a vintage feel, like 1950s laminate counters. 

All of the photos above were taken with my camera phone, which captured the colour somewhat true to life - but a bit more vibrant and green.  My regular camera, on the other hand, refuses to capture teal or turquoise - no matter what I do - and so it photographed the floor more blue.  The truth lies somewhere in the middle.  Ultimately, the colour (PPG's "Time for Teal") is a pretty, silvery, muted teal - much like the colour of blue spruce.  I had a few criteria for choosing the colour: I wanted something cheery because there will be little colour elsewhere, but I also wanted something that would hide dirt.  I also needed to be a colour that wouldn't disguise rogue screws, and that would pair well with the espresso brown furniture that will be moving in.  Plus I like teal; teal is always the answer.

Unfortunately, when I went to help deliver some furniture yesterday (after the floor had been given two days to dry), we found it was still tacky in some places.  I think that 24 hours is quite an optimistic time frame, especially if the conditions aren't ideal (like too much humidity), so in the future I would wait longer - maybe even wait a week.  After the furniture is all in, I will give the space a good sweep and touch up the floors.  Luckily, this system lends itself to easy re-coating.

The shop owner is thrilled so far and, as the makeover continues, we are getting compliments from folks passing by and peering in the windows.  I'll keep posting updates on instagram (like this sneak peek of some of the furniture) as we inch toward a finished space.

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Basement Update: How to Paint a Concrete Laundry Room Floor Turquoise

Nothing like a looming MLS listing to light a suitably sized fire under our butts when it comes to projects.  We prioritized our to-do list and because the rest of the house has been updated over the years and looks quite spiffy, we tackled the dragged-on-for-eighteen-months basement makeover first.  People have built houses in the time it has taken to paint and tidy our basement!  Our house is to be listed as a partially finished basement because about one third of it is taken up by a walled off, unfinished storage room with a door, but a "partially finished basement" doesn't mean we can literally leave our projects partially finished (darn).  We started on the floor right away, knowing it would take a week to fully cure.

Here's how we painted our concrete laundry room floor a cheery shade of aqua!

The secret is in the right supplies:

We used Sherwin Williams Porch and Floor enamel in satin, which I bought un-tinted during a sweet 50% off sale.  After we narrowed down floor colours, I combed through my hoard of turquoise paint chips to find a shade that looked right in the window-less laundry room and Valspar's "Dive in"(CI 249) took the cake.  It's vibrant and not too green but not too blue - the perfect turquoise.  In the photos it looks pale, but in reality it's richer than even my turquoise chair makeover. 



How to apply porch and floor enamel: 

First we vacuumed and washed the poured concrete floor (the old carpet that was there wasn't glued down at all - whew).  We let the wet floors dry overnight.  Then we moved the washer and dryer to the middle of the room and painted behind them.  The enamel cured quickly, so we pushed them back and then did the rest.

A paintbrush was needed for the edges, but then a roller made for concrete floors made light work of the rest of the room.  Although we walked on it later that day, we planned to wait a full week to return the laundry hampers and other stuff to the room.  A few days later though, I noticed one coat wasn't enough (some patches of the original grey peeked through) so we swept it quickly and applied another coat.  We had to start the clock again and wait another full week, so it was a good thing we started as soon as we bought the lake house!

This was a smelly job but only took an hour or so to apply the first application and only twenty minutes for the second coat.  So far, it still looks perfect!  This isn't meant for garage floors (shame) but it works well for our purposes.  The gallon we bought was twice what we needed.

Handy Hubby was such a cutie during the painting process.  We painted the walls together but then he painted the floor while I worked on making the rest of the basement livable.  I tried to snag a few good photos of him, but he likes to remain as anonymous as possible.  He jumped out of most photos, or looked really, really pained.

The fruits of his labor are what you're here to see anyway!  With the walls freshly painted the same colour as the rest of the basement (including the stairwell), the new floors make a formerly grungy space look fresh and cheery. 

The walls, floor and light fixtures are all looking sharp but let's be honest: our washing machine and dryer are work horses, not show ponies, and the paintbrush-rinsing-sink (it serves no other purpose), water heater and mess of plumbing and wires really seem to pop out now.  I asked Hubs to paint the rusty legs of the old sink and that was a super quick fix that made it look less sad, but there's a bigger, better, beautiful solution my Mom and I cooked up . . .

UPDATE: See how we hid the unsightly washer, dryer and hot water tank with a pretty set of curtains made from old bedding by clicking here.  You can also see more of the basement here and here.

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