To completely change the flooring in your home could cost in excess of $5,000 or far more depending on the size of the home and the type of flooring the you install. Ceramic tile floors are long lasting and they are durable but they can get outdated or dull if you’ve had them in your home for many years. There’s no need to change the entire floor or to spend thousands of dollars on rugs just to cover the plain or dull ceramic tile floor. Special paint can be used to completely change the look of ceramic floors in a very short period of time and for very little money.
If you can get creative, have some extra time and want to completely change the look of the ceramic tile floors in your home then painting the ceramic tile throughout the home is the fastest and most affordable option. Painting ceramic tile floors requires a special type of paint that is specifically formulated for ceramic tile but other than that, the entire project is similar to any other painting project– a few drop cloths, some painters tape and paint brushes and your on your way to newly painted ceramic tile floors that look spectacular.
Supplies
— Ceramic Tile Primer
— Ceramic Tile Paint
— Medium Grit Sandpaper
— Masking Tape
— Abrasive Cleanser and Scrub brush
— Paint Brush and paint roller
— Urethane Clear floor finish that is water-based
Step 1
Begin the painting project by prepping the ceramic tile floors for paint. This entails cleaning the floors to the absolute best of your ability. Remove all debris, mildew or any other grime that happens to be present on the ceramic tile floors. An abrasive cleanser and a scrub brush works best for this process. Make sure that the floors are as clean as possible to assure a good starting surface for the ceramic tile floor painting to begin.
Once you have sanded all of the tiles to be painted, use a broom to clean the dust and then use a damp mop or cloth to remove any remaining debris that resulted from sanding the ceramic floor tiles. It is imperative to make sure that the ceramic tile floor surface is clean before continuing with the painting project.
Step 3
Depending on the way that you want the paint to look on the floor tiles you need to use painter’s tape or masking tape to tape off areas of the floor that you do not wish to show any paint. Grout lines may be taped if you do not want the grout to be painted, tiles that you do not want to be painted should also be taped. Now is also the time that you can use the masking tape to layout a specific design on the tiles that will not have paint. This is really where the creativity comes in with the ceramic tile floor painting project. Step 4
Use masking tape to tape off the baseboards or trim along the floors so that paint does not spatter onto those surfaces. Some possible options for taping off the walls or baseboards include using a wide painter’s tape such as a two inch tape to do this or you may tape paper to create a thicker boarder that will be safe from paint. This process is simply to assure that paint stays only on the ceramic tiles and does not get onto the walls or baseboards around the room.
Use a ceramic tile paint primer on the entire surface to be painted. The primer will be either an oil based primer or a shellac based primer. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions when applying the paint primer to the ceramic tile floors. The primer should be left to dry for at least 4 hours before applying a second coat to the ceramic tile floors. Some paint primers will have longer drying times than others so always follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how long you should allow paint to dry between applications.
Step 6
Primer paint will often get small air pockets that will leave very minute bumps in the paint surface once dry. Using a fine grit sandpaper, sand the entire primed ceramic tile floor surface before continuing on with the ceramic tile floor painting project. After you have sanded the primed floor surface, use a broom to gently brush away and remaining dust that is left behind as a result of the sanding.
Step 7
Using a paintbrush, apply the ceramic tile floor paint beginning along the edges and the corners. After trimming out the entire room with the paint brush you can use a paint roller to apply paint to the rest of the floors in the room. More than one coat of ceramic tile floor paint can be applied in order to reach a desired tone just be sure to follow manufacturer’s instructions on drying times in between coats of paint.
Once the final coat of paint has been applied allow the paint to cure over night before finishing the ceramic tile floor paint project. Once the paint has cured, use a water based urethane to seal the ceramic tile floor paint in. This will assure that when you mop the floors or clean the tile the paint will not be affected. For a higher gloss shine, 2-3 coats of the floor finish can be applied but each coat must dry over night. Do not place items on the tile until the urethane has dried for at least 48 hours to assure a solid cure.
