painted wood floors?

[mouche]

has anyone ever done it?
i LOVE the look of painted floors. We have an old house and the floors are very worn in places and scratched. We're not ready to put the time/money investment in resanding them now so thought this would be great.
I like the white look but wondering if too much maintenance with a family of 4 (not that I expect them to stay pristine) and I have heard that it would be ok with a high sheen porch paint.
If anyone has tried, would love to know about it-thanks!







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[midnightsky1686]

I haven't done it, but I think white shows ALL scuffs. Really dark colors show all the dust/pet fur/etc. IMO even painting in cream, tan, camel, etc instead of white would make it less work.
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[Snow Ghost Seven]

i love the look of painted floors and wish i had thought of doing them when we redid our kitchen. i absolutely would have painted floors. a friend of mine painted hers black in her kitchen--she didn't put any protective anything on them because she thought they would look nice with natural wear...which they do. you can tell the 'hang out and talk corner' very easily.
they seem low maintenence, too.
what color were you thinking? white? gorgeous.
check this out: i might do this on my back porch
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[mouche]

thanks for that link Snow Ghost Seven, that stencilled floor is AMAZING! good luck if you do it on your porch....

I'd like to do them off white...I have a professional painter friend, think I'm gonna have to pick his brain!

[scaredsi11y]

The stairs in our entryway are painted burgundy. There are a few scuffs (the paint is about five years old) but for the most part they've held up nicely. People still compliment the color sometimes!

I have the can in the garage. If you're interested in the specific kind of paint, I can check. I believe it's a semi-gloss...?
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[Payslee]

I painted the floor in our bedroom - a dusty turquoise color - a year ago this month. I used indoor/outdoor porch and floor paint by Behr, in a semigloss. It has held up really nicely. There is a definite "walking track" that we use in our bedroom, and the wear hasn't shown in the paint yet. The floor does, however, hold on to pet hair and dust like it was holding on to a security blanket. I have to maintenance sweep pretty often if I want it to not be dusty. Part of me suspects that the dust clings to the floor so much because of the sheen of the paint? Or the brand? I dunno. Our house IS uncommonly dusty as it is, so this may just be a unique issue.
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[scaredsi11y]

I think the dust thing is par for the course. I have to sweep the stairs weekly, and I'm always surprised at how much dust accumulates there!
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[mouche]

mmm, the dust factor would drive me nuts...i guess it would show up less on off white though...

[Figwit]

i would think you'd need to sand and prime (straighten boards, fill in gaps, etc) the floor pretty well before painting.

i lived in a house with painted floors and it was extremely aggravating. always chipped, flakes would come up as i swept or mopped, etc. i highly doubt the people who painted it before me took care with sanding/priming the wood beforehand.

also, it would get gummy from ANY moisture + the dust/dirt.
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[midnightsky1686]

[nap]

The floors in our spare bedroom were painted when we bought our house. They were in horrible condition and I HATED them.


I can't figure out how to make my picture show up in my post.


We had the floors refinished before we moved in and I am so happy we don't have painted floors.

[clinkter]

I painted our dining room floor in our old house for the same reason. I used beige and light greenish blue in a diamond pattern. I wish I had a picture on the computer, but I don't.

I sanded, but didn't prime. I painted the whole floor the beige color first. I made a template and traced the diamond pattern on the floor with a pencil, then filled in the other color.

I didn't use any special paint, just what was found in the basement! i did put several coats of polyurethane over top, sanding lightly between each coat. It took a couple of days because of the drying/sanding/applying of the poly, but sooo worth it!!!

You had to walk through the room to get anywhere in the house, so it had heavy heavy traffic. After living there with it for 4 years, it held up great. My biggest problem was with dust, pet hair, etc. being stuck in the paint or poly, but you couldn't see it from standing.

Man, I loved that floor!

Similar to this style:
http://img4.myhomeideas.com/i/legacy/design/sl/02/04/SL02041228_1_y.jpg

[mouche]

clinkter, that floor sounds AWESOME!

[archermoon]

The upstairs floor of my loft is totally painted white. You definitely want to use a paint that is specially designed for floors. Regular paint will get weird when you get it wet.

Definitely go for a semi-gloss or glossy. Flat paint lacks the polymers that make it easy to clean. Plus, the reflection of light is quite nice on semi-gloss.
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[valagator]

The house I bought had the upstairs floors painted brown and it is chipping everywhere.. cannot afford to have them refinished... worried painting them something other than brown will show scuffs.. but the brown does too...

I really like the creme suggestion. Do yo u think creme floors with white trim would clash?
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