How to paint floorboards?

[Busygoingblah]

I’ve got a room in my house where I’ve taken out the carpet and would like to paint the floorboards. I’m getting a whole range of suggestions of types of paint to use when I google and was wondering if anyone has any first hand tips from experience? Either of the type/ brand of paint to use or what prep I need to? I’m not looking for white paint so need some thing that comes in a few other colours if possible.

Make sure you finish at the doorway. A friend literally painted himself into the corner of his bedroom.

Noted. Though that would be one way to kill time in lockdown...

I've sanded bedroom, landing, hall, stairs and living room floor boards. I attempted to use a power sander and ended up doing it by hand. Probably not the best idea but that's what happened. Make sure you have all the nails, tacs and staples out first, if there are any. You could use a wallpaper scraper to clean off any underlay or old paint that's stuck.
I used a cork block and coarse paper followed by medium paper. Vacced and washed the boards afterwards with washing up liquid and water to get the dust off. Washed them until the sponge was wiping clean, think it was two goes. Left to dry. Did one bedroom, landing and stairs with a white diamond hard paint from Wilkos (they did other colours) took 2 or 3 coats to get the coverage I wanted.
The other bedroom, hall and living room I did for a friend was in a medium grey floor paint from B&Q.
Its time consuming depending on how smooth you want the finish. Its was hard on my knees, ended up using a cushion I think, and my hands which were fine after a few days. I'd do it again. Just give yourself plenty of time. Best to wear a mask for the dust. I used a wide brush so boards were painted in fewer strokes, masking tape on the skirting which was white when I did the grey floor. Anything else, feel free to ask.

Depends how lazy you are. I just did my crappily varnished bedroom with Dulux super grip primer (it covers ANYTHING, didn’t bother stripping back) then Ronseal Diamond Hard, which comes in a few colours. Needs several thin coats – it’s very watery so takes a while to build opacity, but you can recoat in 4 hours. Holding up well so far vs a rampaging toddler.

For the supremely lazy (me), I also recommend measuring out where your rugs are going to be and only painting the bits of floor that are going to show

Good tips thank you. I was expecting to be told I needed a floor sander, farrow and ball paint and maybe a spot of yacht varnish!

I did my landings and stairs (2 sets) using Farrow & Ball. I hate using their wall paint but the floor paint is going strong several years later and I'm really happy with it. (They changed the name from floor paint, I forget what it's called now). You do need to do an undercoat, and then two coats, so it's a bit of an undertaking, but they have a huge range of colours. I used a slightly greenish grey (I can look up which, if you're desperate to know) and it's brilliant. Hides everything. Dust, cat hair, everything. (I was an art student for many years so have an appreciation for grey floors, that's what we always had in the studio).

Prep-wise I did use a small belt sander, and a little hand sander. Watch out for any nasty gunk left behind if eg carpets or lino have previously been glued to the floor; it can be pretty hellish to remove.

@chestnutSquash

Make sure you finish at the doorway. A friend literally painted himself into the corner of his bedroom.

My aunt and uncle once carefully painted their way along the landing and down the stairs, having first brought down the outfits they planned to wear when they went out to an event that night... only to realise they'd forgotten to bring the tickets down, so they had to walk over it to get them!

@Busygoingblah

Good tips thank you. I was expecting to be told I needed a floor sander, farrow and ball paint and maybe a spot of yacht varnish!

I have painted several floors.

One is F&B Floor Paint. I think I did three coats, and no undercoat (didn't do any prep, as the floor had previously been painted). I re-do it every couple of years - it's white, so it needs re-doing.

I did the others in a rental property. I used Johnstone's Floor Paint in one, in a F&B colour-match colour in one, and some remaining F&B eggshell on another (small) floor, with diamond glaze on top. They also need re-painting every couple of years.

If I were starting from scratch in my own home, I think I would probably hire a sander and do it properly. I did hire a sander and a man to do my downstairs floors, because they were covered in old paint and general crap. Yacht varnish is good, but changes the colour a bit, so I used a trade varnish which was guaranteed not to change the colour of the wood.

Ooh, one more thought - it's definitely worth doing tester pots if at all possible. I got a load of testers of the sort of shades I thought I wanted, painted them on in blocks in various places, and immediately went back and got a load more (I forget whether I went darker or lighter, but I definitely realised I wanted something that was quite a different shade to what I initially anticipated).

I’ve painted lots of floors (and I used to work in a paint selling shop).
F&B floor paint is good, only comes in big tins, same with Little Green
If you are looking for White I use Dulux trade white (not brilliant white) eggshell.
Most eggshells will work as long as you use 2/3 coats.
I never use the floor paint you see in DIY shed, too shiny and rubbish colours.

Thanks, lots of really helpful tips here. I need to get sanding!

Don’t put varnish over paint. Varnish is only for when you want to leave it natural wood, or if you are round a light wash of colour where the timber is still visible.
Paint will give you a solid colour. I have painted over quite bad old floors without sanding first, it depends how perfect a finish you are looking for (I had really old boards and didn’t want them to look all new).
You will need 2 or even 3 coats and make sure you let it fully dry between coats.
I’ve found a small smooth roller makes the paint go further but you need a brush to get the edges between the boards.
An old cushion for you knees really helps. Have fun 😊

I've painted the floor of 2 bedrooms recently. I used Zinsser BIN for the undercoat - it smells awful but it was really good! Then Ronseal diamond hard on top.

Didn't actually bother sanding he second bedroom in the end as I couldn't face doing it again and it turned out fine! You might not need to sand if your boards aren't too rough to start with

Good luck!

If you don't change the floors, I tend to follow the advice of sanding all paint coats first. I did this at my parents' house. It turned out that some of the floorboards were already so rotten that part of the floor had to be replaced. Here is a simple calculator to make these calculations easier - concalculator.com/pool-calculator/ I myself like the Scandinavian-style floors - pure wood and lacquered. But it will take more time than ordinary painting, since the transparent varnish with protective properties needs to dry longer.