How to Paint Vinyl Floors | Cement Tile Look

This post is sponsored by Wagner. All opinions expressed are my own.

Yesterday I got to share my laundry room makeover with you! It always feels so good to complete a space, and is definitely my favorite part of the process. Today I'm going to share How to Paint Vinyl Floors! Yes, these floors are painted. I'll go ahead and tell you at the beginning that this is not a super quick project, but overall easier than tiling. Anyone can do this!! I am like the world's worst stenciler... not sure how you can be bad at stenciling, but I have figured out a way. Not only are we going to talk about how to paint vinyl floors, but we are going to talk about a new method of doing it today with a Wagner Paint Sprayer.

When I first decided I wanted to paint vinyl floors I knew I needed it to last. Sliding my washer and dryer back in was inevitable and durability was very important to me! In the past I have rolled and brushed paint on both doors and trim; I have also sprayed doors and trim with a paint sprayer. The surfaces that were sprayed have always outlasted the rolled and brushed surfaces. Given my past experiences I only assumed this would apply to the floor as well. There is something about spraying a surface that just gives it a perfectly even, well covered coat of paint.

Let's get started! But first I'd like to answer a few FAQ's I've already gotten about How to Paint Vinyl Floors! 

Will this last?
I've heard good reports from other people who have painted their floors. The paint I used is rated for outdoor porches, so I'm pretty optimistic, but promise to update everyone as time goes on!

Does it look like real tile? 
From a distance, YES! Honestly the pictures you will see on this post are going to reveal more flaws than you will ever notice when looking at it in the actual room. I've had a few people look at it in person and did think it was real. If you get down on your hands and knees and look at it, no it won't look real, it's going to look like a painted floor, but still a beautiful painted floor ; )

Does it scratch?
I'm sure it can if you try hard enough. Be sure and follow the manufacturer's instructions on allowing the paint to full CURE. There is a difference between cure time and dry time. Dry time means dry to the touch. Cure time means the paint is dried all the way through each layer. So far so good here though!

Would you do it again?
Yes! I certainly would. I would probably pick a less busy time because it is time consuming if you are going to stencil like I did. If you aren't going to stencil, or use an easier stencil, that would greatly reduce the work time!

Do you prefer spraying to rolling? 
I've never rolled a floor, but I can say I always prefer spraying to rolling in every aspect of painting (where appropriate), especially Home improvement projects like this. You get a more even coat with better coverage. I personally think it's going to last longer with this application method! The Wagner Studio Pro Paint Sprayer was perfect for this application!

Hope some of those answers help! Just remember, I'm no professional and this is my personal experience!

Supplies:

• Wagner Paint Sprayer
• Painter's Tape
• Orbital Sander
• Dust Mask
• Safety Glasses
• Primer
• (2) Behr's Porch and Patio Floor Paint Colors: "Space Black" & the Pure Ultra White (stock)
• Stencil
• Stencil Brushes
• Detail Paint Brushes

How to Paint Vinyl Floors to Look Like Cement Tile

Step 1:

Begin by Taping off and sanding your floor. I used painter's tape on my baseboards, and then you'll also notice as I progressed to the painting portion I taped a plastic drop cloth to the walls to protect my surfaces that I didn't want painted.

As far as sanding the floor is concerned, we aren't doing anything crazy. Using my orbital sander I sanded my floors using 180 grit sandpaper, and then again using 220 for a smooth finish. Be sure and use a dust mask and safety glasses for this step. The idea here is to rough up the surface so the paint will adhere as best as it possible can. This will assist in keeping your floor scratch free, so I highly suggest not skipping this step! Once you are done sanding be sure to clean the floor so there is no remaining dust.

Step 2:

Now that your floor is prepared it's time to cover your walls with plastic drop cloths as I mentioned before. We will be using a paint sprayer so make sure anything you don't want painted is covered! Following the directions that came with my paint sprayer I used the Wagner Studio Pro Paint Sprayer with the iSpray nozzle to apply two coats of primer.

The primer is going to be what helps your bond your paint to the floor, and it overall adheres better than paint, so make sure and use primer before painting. I applied two coast to make sure the primer got into all the little crevices of our textured vinyl flooring.

Again, my favorite thing about using a Wagner Paint Sprayer for painting this floor is the texture is showing through to make it look more like real tile. With a roller or brush you would see the brushstrokes in the end result. Let this fully dry according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

Step 3:

The next step is to apply your base coat of the flooring paint. I used my darker paint color "Space Black" for the base coat. I used the Wagner Studio Pro Sprayer again for this step, but I did switch to the Control Finish Nozzle. Per it's name, I could just control the spray pattern a little easier in such a tight space, but make sure you read the directions on this because it does require some thinning.

I did also apply two coats with the base coast to ensure an even finish. Here's how it looked after the 2nd coat. Notice how you can see the texture of the floor? Always make sure you let the paint dry completely per the manufacturer's instructions before moving on to the next step!

Step 4:

Now it's time to stencil the floor. Guys, I'm not super patient so I struggled a little here. I like fast results, but these slower results for this project are TOTALLY worth it in the end! I used a stencil I found on Etsy and ordered the size that fit on the "tile" size of my vinyl floors. Measure yours to make sure it will fit yours (there are different size options). The stencil was actually like 1/16" too big, so I had to fix the "grout" lines, but I'll talk about that more in a bit. Start on a full tile, and tape it down directly over the "tile" part of the vinyl. If you don't have texture to your vinyl than you can just start in a corner make sure you are level so it doesn't look like it's slanted when you are finished.

The picture above shows how awesome my stencil skills are, but I actually got the hang of it and got better as I progressed. I did end up having to go back and touch up quite a bit of my first few stenciled areas. But hey, practice makes perfect right. I do suggest using the stencil brushes in my supplies list.

*tip: When stenciling take the stencil brush and load it with paint, then off load it onto a paper towel or something similar and put the brush onto the surface completely perpendicular to what you are painting,  the brush should be straight up and down. Then swirl the brush in a circle, gently of course! Consider practicing on a different surface to avoid all the touch ups like I had to do ; ).

Step 5:

Continue stenciling the entire floor. I ordered two stencils so that I could move faster, because you can't stencil right next to another stenciled spot until it's dry. This way I could go every other one and alternate. It just helped with time! I stenciled everything except the perimeter around the wall. (And yes, I totally got paint on my wall...)

Step 6:

Stencil the perimeter. This was the hard part, and definitely the most time consuming for me. You could probably make this easier by ordering more stencils, but I'm cheap. Since it's the same stencil you just rotate to get the full image you can't cut the stencils down because you wouldn't be able to get all the different parts you need (unless you buy a bunch). What I did was line up the stencil and let it bend up the wall. You obviously can't paint like that so I traced it with a pencil and free handed the white paint! I did end up needing to do two coats of the free handed parts because it was much thinner than the other white paint.

Once I got to the very end, which were most in the corners, I did end up cutting down my stencils because I just couldn't get it to bend properly. Triple check the direction of the stencil before cutting!! Once you cut it, that's it!

Step 7:

Time for touch ups! As I mentioned previously, the stencil was every so slightly too big, so I had to correct a lot of the grout lines. You can see below in the picture what I mean. I just used a detailing paint brush to create the grout lines where they should have been. Notice the very right vertical grout line vs the others? You can also see how imperfectly I did this. Which is all the more reason to believe you really CAN do this! I totally thought this was going to look horrible the whole time, but when you stand back, you can't even tell!!

Step 8:

Let it dry! This paint takes a few days to fully dry to a place where you want to be walking on it and using it. But it takes 30 days to fully cure. I did slide my washer and dryer back in after I waited the few days, but I used a rug and was super careful! Just keep that in mind!

Step 9:

Do laundry, because let's face it, if you did your laundry room like I did you won't have done the laundry for some time now! I hope you enjoyed learning all about how to paint vinyl floors

And now enjoy your new floor! I will certainly be back with some updates on how the floor holds up over time.

How to Paint Vinyl Floors

Please let me know if you have any questions about how to paint vinyl floors in the comments and I'll do my best to help!

Have a beautiful day!!