How to Paint Laminate

Laminate is a popular building material for flooring, cabinets, counter tops, dressers and other household items. This material typically has a glossy, smooth surface, which means a few extra preparatory steps are required for painting. If laminate surfaces are not prepared properly, paint will not adhere well and will eventually peel off. However, with proper preparation, which does not add much time to the job at all, the paint should last as long as if you'd painted solid wood.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Gloves
• Painter's mask
• Sandpaper
• Dust cloths
• Paintbrushes
• Primer for laminate
• Interior paint

1. Put on gloves to protect your hands. Use sandpaper to lightly sand the glossy surface. This is not done to sand the laminate smooth; rather, this is done to roughen up the surface so that primer will better stick to the laminate.

2. Wipe off the dust with a cloth. No residue from the sanding should remain before you prime or paint.

3. Ventilate the room (open windows and doors) and put on a painter's mask. Use a paintbrush to apply a thin coat of primer to the laminate piece. Allow this to dry and then lightly sand it again--this removes brush marks.

4. Wipe dust off the surface again, and apply another coat of the primer. Let it dry before continuing to the painting steps.

5. Paint a thin initial coat of paint. Let this dry completely. Paint at least one more coat for best results.

Tips & Warnings

• If the painted finish needs to be extra durable, apply a top coat sealer to the piece after the final coat of paint has dried. For large areas of laminate, you can use a paint roller, rather than a paint brush, to apply primer and paint. You can use either water-based paint or oil-based paint for this job. Water-based paint is, however, much easier to clean up. If you do use oil-based paint, you'll need to have a solvent on hand to clean paintbrushes and any accidental spills.
• Most primers give off strong fumes and are flammable. Don't use these without proper ventilation.

References

• About Prepping Laminate For Painting
• More about Painting Laminate