Help me paint my floor!

May 25, 2009 12:30 PM

Have you ever painted a floor?

I would really like to paint the 5'x12' masonite floor that I use for dance practice. Have you ever painted a similar surface? What kind of paint would you recommend? And what can you tell me about drying time?

Thanks!

posted by corey flood to home & garden (9 comments total)

I painted my bedroom floor when I was a teenager. The one thing I noticed was that, even using specialty floor paint, the paint peeled and scuffed and came off constantly. It was all over everything all the time. And that was just from normal scuffing when walking on it. I can't imagine the damage dancing on it would have caused.
posted by decathecting at 12:50 PM on May 25

I painted a garage floor (bare cement) with an expensive epoxy floor paint, but after about 6-7 months of normal use, it was scratched pretty much everywhere I walked, as well as under furniture and appliances that would sometimes be moved. I put two coats; waited about 12 hours between each coat. YPFMV.
posted by ddaavviidd at 1:01 PM on May 25

I've painted a few maso floors for theatrical use.

1. Make sure you start with a clean floor- not only dust-free, but also cleaning product-free. If you must mop with some kind of cleaning product, give it a good once-over with water afterwards.

2. Paint with flat latex or scenic acrylic paint (apply with a short-nap roller if you're just doing solid blocks of color) and let it to dry for about 4-5 hours, then seal with a high-traffic theatrical sealer like Rosco ColorCoat (comes in gloss and satin). Usually I've let it dry overnight (though the website says you should be fine after another 4 hours). Since this is for your studio- I'd go ahead and do 2 coats of sealer. If this is a really simple project (like if you just want to paint the floor black) Rosco actually makes a few colors that combine the top coat and base in one step.

This is probably the easiest way to do it- with minimal fumes and nothing that isn't water-soluble. The floor will scuff (not so much if you're doing barefoot modern dance, more if you're tapping obviously) but this is such an easy process, many theatres just repaint the floor once a year or so.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 1:13 PM on May 25 [1 favorite]

It shouldnt be any problem.

Clean the floor really well first. Let it dry really well if you use water.
Fill any cracks with a heavy generous amount of shellac. Let the shellac dry.

The use an oil based paint. And paint it on as thick as you can get it. Thicker the better.
posted by Flood at 1:25 PM on May 25

Is the masonite nailed down? I've seen problems with masonite used as flooring, when it's painted on only one side. Masonite absorbs humidity pretty readily, so leaving one side unpainted will cause the floor to warp and bulge up. You can count on it.

Highly recommending that you paint or seal both sides.

If you have great ventilation or can get out of there for a few days with the windows open, oil based paint will last longer. On structurally borderline materials like masonite, the oil paint soaks in and actually creates a stronger material.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:50 PM on May 25

I've painted a floor made of a mix of plywood and particle board. I used a base coat of Kilz primer, and a top coat of store brand (Behr?) floor paint from Home Depot. It held up OK for a year or so in a room with daily foot traffic. I didn't notice any peeling, just some wear in higher traffic areas. Some small chips of particle board came off taking the paint with it. Additional coats of floor paint have yielded the same results.

I've always been able to let things dry for at least 2 days. I wouldn't try for less than a day. Temperature and humidity will also affect the drying time, and more drying time is needed if you are going to set things on the painted area and leave them there v.s. just touching it.

Depending on what sort of dance and what sort of shoes you will be using you might be better off with a top coat of polyurethane or polyverathane. I don't know if these work over paint well.
posted by yohko at 2:13 PM on May 25

I used to paint for a living, plus I've painted many a floor in my own home. [BUT: never masonite.] Most recently, I used Benjamin Moore oil-based gloss floor paint. It went on incredibly smooth and dried down to semi-gloss. Unfortunately, it's expensive, smells like paint thinner, and takes a full day or more before you can really use the floor, other than walking on it in stocking feet. On the plus side, it's going to last.

The paint store owner, who's very knowledgeable, told me he uses Benjamin Moore water-based floor paint because it dries in four hours (though you'd still want to wait till the next day to dance on it).

In general, oil-based paint will give you a harder, more moisture-resistant finish, but acrylic floor paints are much better than they were even ten years ago.

My preferred floor painting method: use a 1/2" nap roller, which will probably leave some texture, some bubbles, some marks made by the edges of the roller. Paint a manageable section, then brush lightly with long strokes in one direction, using a wide brush; that smooths it out. Using a short-nap roller takes longer because the roller holds less paint, but will leave much less texture and bubbles. You'll still see some roller marks, but you can minimize those by rolling with less pressure.

Whatever paint you use, the gloss will settle down in 1-3 weeks. And less gloss means less-visible flaws.

With masonite, I would use a primer-sealer instead of just a primer. It has excellent adhesion, both to the floor surface and to the paint. Do yourself a huge favor and have the primer tinted toward the paint color, unless you're using a pale shade.

But now I'm very interested in Thin Lizzy's recommendation of Rocoe ColorCoat! I do tend to get a little too excited about paint.
posted by wryly at 3:03 PM on May 25

I painted over old, but well-adhered vinyl tiles in our cabin. I painted with latex porch floor paint and then sealed it with 2 coats of a water based polyurethane. Granted we are not there day in and day out, but after 5 years of heavy summer use, including tracking in sand + 2 big dogs, it's holding up remarkably well.
posted by sarajane at 12:35 PM on May 26

Thanks, everyone! You've given me lots to think about. Since it's a practice floor for Irish dancing, I suspect that my hardshoes will beat the holy hell out of a paint job, but I think I'll try one panel before committing to the whole floor. Thanks again!
posted by corey flood at 3:30 PM on May 26