How to Paint a Wood Floor With Latex Paint

Cover surfaces adjacent to the wood floor with painter's tape.

While many homeowners choose to highlight the natural appearance of their wood floors by finishing them with stain and varnish, others opt to add color to flooring by coating it with paint. Before you tackle this particular do-it-yourself job, learn the proper ways to prepare the floor for its new finish, or peeling and chipping may result. Apply the latex paint in a particular manner, or you could accidentally trap yourself in a corner. Identify other potential pitfalls before they happen, or you could damage the floor.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Power sander
• 180-grit sandpaper
• Shop vacuum
• Tack cloths
• Professional painter's tape
• 5-gallon bucket
• Acrylic latex primer
• Shed-free roller cover
• Roller frame
• Roller extension pole
• Wooden stir stick
• 2- to 3-inch polyester paintbrush
• 2- to 3-inch oil paintbrush
• Latex paint
• Acrylic floor paint or 2-part epoxy paint
• Oil-based primer

1. Sand the floor, using a power sander, stocked with 180-grit sandpaper. Stop when the floor's finish appears dull.

2. Vacuum the wood floor. Eliminate unseen sawdust by wiping the floor with sticky tack cloths.

3. Protect surfaces adjacent to the wood floor by covering them with professional painter's tape.

4. Open two gallon cans of acrylic latex primer and stir the contents of each, using a wooden stir stick. Pour the primer into a five-gallon bucket. Coat the wood with primer, using a roller, stocked with a shed-free cover and equipped with an extension pole. Begin in one far corner and roll in a vertical motion, moving backward toward the room's exit. Wait three hours for the floor to dry.

5. Use a two- to three-inch polyester paintbrush to apply acrylic latex primer to any areas that proved inaccessible to the roller. Wait three hours for the floor to dry.

6. Wash the paintbrush and roller with water.

7. Coat the primed wood with latex paint. Apply the paint just as you did the acrylic latex primer. Wait three hours for the finished wood floor to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Although you can use latex paint on a wood floor, a 2-part epoxy or acrylic floor paint will prove far more durable.

• Use an oil-based primer on stained hardwood floors, applying with a two- or three-inch oil paint brush. Read the label before you purchase the primer to ensure that it is compatible with water-based acrylic paint.

• Do not sand against the floor wood grain, or splintering will result.

• Do not paint an unprimed wood floor, or the paint will flake.