Our recent sunroom floor staining debacle led us away from semi-transparent floor finishes (which are fabulous for raw concrete but don’t work as well over previously stained concrete) and towards solid floor treatments that are yummy and glossy and opaque. So here’s how we got it done.
We quickly learned that oil-based porch and floor paint was the best candidate for the room (since latex based floor paints can’t bond to a previously stained concrete surface) and at Lowe’s we happily discovered Valspar’s High Performance Oil-Based Porch & Floor Paint in a perfect chocolate brown color called Brownstone (here’s an affiliate link to it over on Amazon if you can’t find it in stores).
We’d been longing for a rich brown tone to tie into the adjoining room’s hardwood flooring, and Brownstone was a match made in floor paint heaven. Since the stuff is “extremely durable and resists scuffing while retaining its high gloss appearance” it was the perfect solution for our high traffic sunroom. And not only is it great for concrete floors, it can also be used on wood floors and primed metal so it’s definitely something to keep in mind for any of the floors in your home that have seen better days.
So without further ado, we bring you the simple five step tutorial to painting your floor:
Step 1: Ensure that the floor is squeaky clean. This can be accomplished by thoroughly vacuuming and then going over your floor with a mildly soapy wet rag and waiting for the floor to dry completely before moving onto the next step. Additionally, if you’re painting a wood floor, any splintered or rough parts should be sanded or patched before moving on to the painting process.
Step 2: Edge the perimeter of the entire floor (about 4 inches or so) with a good quality brush that won’t leave any bristles behind. Oil based paint is deliciously glossy, which can makes things like errant paintbrush bristles stuck to the floor more obvious than a matte floor finish would.
Step 3: Use a paint roller with an extended pole attachment to coat the entire floor with one coat of paint. Roll in long even strokes and make a “w” pattern on the floor with the roller to eliminate any obvious paint globs from the side of the roller. Don’t forget to be smart about painting yourself out of the room as oil paint takes a looong time to dry before you can walk on it again.
Step 4: If you’re lucky, one coat of paint will do the trick. In our sunroom it would have except that we missed a couple of teeny slivers of the floor and wanted to go over the whole thing again for good measure and a uniform finish. You must wait at least a full 24 hours before applying a second coat, and even after 24 hours you may notice that your first coat isn’t completely dry (you may see subtle footprints as you walk across the floor) but you can proceed with your second coat since it’ll gloss over everything and leave it looking shiny and perfect again.
Step 5: Wait at least 6 full days to walk on your new floor. It may feel like torture, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. And after almost a week of avoiding the space, you’ll be super excited to move in all of your furniture and make yourself at home. It should be noted that oil-paint is especially toxic and super stiiinky, so keeping a ceiling fan going and the windows open for the full 6 days is a smart idea (which means implementing that plan before the second coat since you won’t have access to the room afterwards).
So there you have it, a simple five step process to fantastic new flooring. Here’s ours looking all glossy and fabulous (like melted chocolate, I tell ya). We love the rich, uniform tone and the luxe sheen, and we’ve both noticed that the room looks a whole lot more “finished” with the newly painted floor.
We also love how it ties in with the dark brown window sashes around the entire room, and makes our white furniture pop even more than it did against our old orangey-gold floor.
And perhaps the most exciting thing of all is how the newly painted sunroom floor so perfectly ties into our existing hardwood floor in the adjoining laundry nook and den. It’s an almost seamless transition which makes the sunroom seem a lot more cohesive (it no longer screams “add-on”) thanks to the uniform floor color and super luxe sheen.
We hope our fast and furious floor painting tutorial has been of help. And of course feel free to send us your floor painting before and afters (we eat that stuff for breakfast). Happy rolling!
PS: If you want to learn how to just stain your concrete floor, we have a full tutorial for using a semi-transparent stain.
PPS: You can also see how we later added a decorative stencil with paint to this floor to add even more interest!
Tina says
You guys have great taste! Thank you so much for posting this information. My Husband and I will be painting our living room floor and you’ve made us see that it wont be that difficult as well as share with us a floor paint product to use. Thank you!!!! (<:
Therese says
Hi.. I was searching the best floor paint (we have 100 year old wood floors). I painted the kitchen last summer and it was beautiful till we got two puppies this fall. Now it is ruined. Do you think this paint would be good for two medium-sized dogs .. wear and tear? Would you put polyurethane on it? Thank you so much for your time!
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, it could definitely work. I wouldn’t poly it since this product is made to be used without a top coat (it has hardeners and sealers built in to keep it as durable as possible). You might need touch ups in a couple of years, but hopefully it’ll work well.
xo
s
Therese says
Thank you for your quick response! I’ll let you know how it works out!!
Holly says
Hi,I just went on Valspar site to check out the color ( brownstone) and it looks a lot lighter on there site.Would you happen to know the color code?
Your floor looks great!
Thank you,Holly
YoungHouseLove says
I think you have to be in their Porch & Floor Paint section. So sorry we don’t know the color code.
xo
s
ann says
Hello. Just wondering how your concrete floor staining has held up over time. I am considering staining our basement floor (about 1000 sq ft of unfinished “virgin” concrete). Have you had any adhesion issues or other issues?
YoungHouseLove says
We moved out of that house but they held up well until we moved. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Flor says
Hi! So I really want to paint my hardwood floors because they are super old and ugly (I just got a new home and I am remodeling and painting and doing a bunch of changes and having lots of fun with it! Well, I found the valspar just like you did and I painted my hardwood floors (took a lot of work!) in the living room and DIDN’T prime it just like the Lowe’s guy told me I WOULDN’T need to do… then it started coming off right away! The Lowe’s guy told me I could walk on it after 24 hours and it started coming off right away… so I went to complain and then another guy told me I should prime it first and then paint…. so he refunded me my money and gave me the primer, the paint and a sander ALL FOR FREE! So getting all that free stuff was nice… not having my hard work pay off WASN’T NICE… but… I just finished priming my living room floors and tomorrow morning I will be painting it… do you really have to wait 6 entire weeks until you can walk on it????? that’s so long! I guess it makes sense why you guys didn’t need to prime it and it worked… because you were patient enough to wait 6 entire weeks! Please let me know what you think. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We didn’t wait 6 full weeks (wow that’s a long time!) we waited 6 full days. Hope it helps :)
xo
s
Flor says
oh ok I must have misread it! Yeah that helps out a lot! I’m excited to see how it will turn out once I get to walk on it! =) Thanks for the tips guys!
Patty Ansbro says
Wondering if you have a suggestion for following issue. I flowed the steps on the Valspar brochure: etching/cleaning concrete screened porch, two thin applications of semi-transparent concrete stain, and two thin costs of gloss sealer. Very happy with color (copper mine) and look. When I went to put furniture back the floor immediately started peeling in tiny spots taking up the stain. People at Lowes have no idea what happened. Don’t know what to do. A Valspar representative is supposed to call tomorrow. Any ideas. If I have to cover it with something else the oil-based paint may be a good idea. Would I need to do something to the floors as there is sealer on it? Any help appreciated.
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm it sounds like an adhesion issue which could be that the concrete was sealed and somehow didnt get fully etched for the right adhesion? I would see what the Valspar rep recommends. Good luck!
xo,
s
Cody says
What does the floor look like from a birds eye view? From the pictures, I think I see slight variations in the finish but I can’t really tell because of the reflection. Does the floor have a “painted” look like a wall or a stained look? I’m just wondering if a solid brown color would look good in my hallways.
YoungHouseLove says
It’s all solid, like melted chocolate (no variations in color, it’s all the same tone). Hope it helps!
xo
s
Ninna says
It looks absolutely fantastic. My own floor in the kitchen is very old. Full of scratches. Maybe I should try to do the same.
Audra Le says
I love your site, it’s been so encouraging to my husband and I (we just bought a new house that needs a lot of work). We’re looking to do something with our concrete floor and have been overwhelmed by blogs, reviews, video how-tos, and trips to lowe’s and home depot trying to figure out the best way to paint / stain / treat our new floor. How has the floor stood up over time? I think you completed your project in 2008? Has is chipped or peeled at all? Thanks so much for your time.
YoungHouseLove says
We sold that house after living there 4.5 years, but for the time we were there it looked awesome so I highly recommend it!
xo
s
Teja Munshi says
I absolutely love your blog and it inspires me to take on some BIG diy projects like this one.
I am planning to paint concrete floor (same color – dark brown) in my basement and was wondering will it make the basement more darker? As we do not have any natural light coming in.
Also I have some sticky glue on the floor (from previous carpet but only in few places) any idea on how to remove it? before we proceed with painting?
YoungHouseLove says
I think if you have a light jute rug to add over it you can make it feel lighter as well as with art and furnishings. As for the glue, I’d ask the paint pros at your local home improvement store to see what they have (maybe a stripping agent?) to get that up for you!
xo
s
Mark says
One of your comments was concerning accents. That is not to use an accent darker then the base color of semi-transparent. I am curious about this and I did see your example of your doing this hence the warning. However, I saw comments on another site where pro applicators doing a complicated applications of two or more accents colors. Initially they used a dark I think it was a blue but do not remember right now. They used a small sprayer for the accent application.
What I am trying to learn it why is their a difference in non-or recommended applications such as lighter base and applying or not a darker application. How come the difference in this experience??? I am going to applying a semi-clear latex based concrete stain on my patio. I am trying to experiment a bit but want to also learn through others experiences. So thanks for any response. Mark
YoungHouseLove says
I think if you use a sprayer and follow their directions to the letter it could be ok, ours just didn’t work with a roller or brush application because you saw the marks through it and it looked messy and smeared.
xo
s
james says
The valspar floor paints are great but a warning on the valspar interior wall paints they are a different formulation and have a much worse smell than the floor paints. One thing I did notice about the floor paints was the use of vanilla in them to cut down on the smell. Also drying times will vary in colors.. Earth tones dry quicker than reds blues or purples.. I strongly recommend Valspar floor paints…
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks James!
xo
s
Kim says
I painted my daughter’s nursery floor a deep chocolate color a year ago, using Dutch Boy floor paint (Latex) and it really is lovely. The floor was painted wood by the previous owners, and since it’s likely the original paint is lead (from the 1930s), painting over it was the easiest, safest option. There are a few places I need to touch up under her white rocking chair (some of the paint on the chair rockers rubbed off on the floor), but it really still looks great! I hope to paint our hallway and our bedroom the same color at some point, but moving everything out and vacating to do so is a bit of a challenge!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds really pretty Kim!
xo
s
Amita says
I love your blog! Just came across it through an old HGTV magazine.
I was wondering if painting the concrete floors in my bathroom and kitchen would be a good and long wearing idea? It certainly looks like a beautiful idea! Currently we have ugly vinyl over the concrete, and its got small rips in many places thanks to my big baby, the dog! Anyway, sorry for the silly question, but I figure you cant go wrong with oil/ enamel based lfloor paint .
YoungHouseLove says
I think it could work really well! Be sure to use good quality porch and floor paint and do the prep they recommend on the can :)
xo
s
Cheryl says
I want to do this to our floor so bad now that I see how beautiful your floors look! We have a “very lively” hound pup, and two cats….so just trying to figure out how to keep them off the floor for a week! :/ I know it sounds so silly but I’m seriously stumped about this, did you have this problem?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, can you block off the room for a while? We just closed the sliding doors and went in and out of the front for a while, but perhaps if you still need to go through you can block things off a with a series of boxes or even some sort of screen door or door off the hinges that leans (you can grab those at a secondhand place like the ReStore for cheap and then just redonate them when you’re done.
xo
s
Timber flooring northern beaches says
I would like to add some notes here:
Note:
During finishing and drying time, the floor surface must be free of dust and dirt. Avoid air currents that carry dust and dirt. Indoor temperatures and all sealers, paints and finishes should be approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit or higher during application. Allow adequate ventilation for proper drying. Maintain normal humidity conditions inside the facility to avoid blistering, flaking and abnormally long drying and cure times.
Wanda Gerber says
How is your floor holding up? Did it chip at all?
YoungHouseLove says
It held up awesomely until we moved. Very happy with it.
xo
s
Annie Craven says
The floors look amazing and it truly brings the whole room together. It’s a great transformation and so simple to do. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
Hello. I didn’t read through all the comments so, sorry if you’ve already answered this: about how much does it cost to do this?
We just had our basement finished and the floor is plain ole never been touched concrete. I would love to stain or paint the floor and put down large rugs.
My husband (so ready for his man cave) really wants carpet. He also wants to find another way to save some money on the basement. Our neighbor runs her own design business and she’s selling us the carpet at wholesale and has a person that can put it in for us.
I’m thinking staining or painting would be much cheaper. Am I right? We would need to cover around 800 square feet.
Thank you for any help on this.
YoungHouseLove says
I bet one or two gallons would do the trick, and they’re around $30 a gallon if I remember. You can price it out at the store (they have square footage on the can, too). Good luck!
xo
s
Kalen Flansburg says
How clean does it keep? I’ve worked with some flat latex paints in the past and you see every foot print and every speck of dust. How does the glossy oil base show dirt?
YoungHouseLove says
It kept clean pretty well being such a dark color (we carried a lot of dirt through that room, but dirt-colored paint hid it pretty nicely). We just wiped it down every week or two with a swiffer, and having door mats at each entry/exit point helped too!
xo
s
Mary says
If you are unable to open windows…would leaving the area alone for a longer duration help if there are ceiling fans?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, that should help!
xo
s