The Next Big Thing in Flooring? Painted Floors

If you’ve been to Europe, you’re probably thinking it’s about time painted floors made their way stateside. Although painted flooring was popular here in the 1700’s, it lost out to carpet and clear-coated wood flooring. However, painted floors have remained a decorating staple across the pond for centuries and with good reason. Painting your floors is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to give any room a major new look.

Prepping the Floors for Paint

You can paint almost any type of floor, including wood, concrete, and vinyl. Tile is a bit harder to paint, but it’s doable. Concrete and vinyl floors don’t need a lot of prep. You just need to sweep and vacuum until they are as clean as possible, and then mop or wipe them down to pick up any remaining dirt and residue. Make sure you give them ample time to dry to avoid trapping moisture when you paint. With wood floors, you essentially follow the same cleaning process, but you also want to lightly sand them to improve the paint’s ability to soak in and adhere to the wood.

Painting the Floors

The thing that can really make or break painting your floors is choosing the right kind of paint. There is paint specifically for concrete floors, but if you are painting wood, you should use an oil-based polyurethane paint. You also might want to consider using a primer first. For best results, apply multiple thin coats of paint. This will ensure smooth, even coverage. Ensure ample time to dry in-between coats, which is at least a day (maybe more if you paint when it’s rainy or humid).

Caring for Painted Floors

Taking care of painted floors is similar to caring for wood floors. You want to sweep, use a dust mop often, and use non-abrasive floor cleaners. You also have to take special care when moving furniture not to scratch the paint. Just like you would do for furniture that sits on wood floors, apply pads to the feet of all furniture in room with painted floors. Eventually, if you find your painted floor developing some small cracks, you can try using a little extra virgin olive oil for a spot treatment.

If painted floors aren’t for you, but you are ready to make some big changes to the flooring in your home, reach out to the Carrollton flooring experts at CMA Flooring in Carrollton, TX. Call (972) 418-6606 to request your free in-home consultation.