Painted Wooden Floor Problem


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Old 07-24-18, 01:42 PM
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Painted Wooden Floor Problem

Hi All,

Thanks in advance for all your advice. In January, my wife and I moved in to our new apartment. My wife wanted to paint the existing wooden floors in the apartment, which are hard wooden floors that had some kind of glossy clear finish on it. I have painted the floors with Behr paint, but the floors have already started to chip quite badly. In summary, I took the following steps when I painted the floors.

1: Sanded the floors with a 150 grit paper
2: Primed the floors with a water/latex primer
3: Painted the floors with two coats of Behr Porch & Patio paint
4: At this point, my wife wasn’t happy with the result, as she wanted a higher gloss. I added a topcoat of Behr's Marquee Night Blooming Jasmine (YL-W10u) in semi-gloss, as this was the same paint we used on our trims and we liked it.

We were very pleased with the initial result, but as I mentioned the paint started to chip through all fours layers of paint really quickly. My first question to you guys is therefore: What did I do wrong?

My plan is to redo the floors in the following way with an oil- or alkyd-based paint as the research i've done so far indicated these paints are better for this purpose., and I was hoping to get your advice on the following plan:

1: Sand the floor or use a paint stripper. Though I would love to hear an option for this not being necessary, I think it will be ineviatble that I have to get the paint off since it is already peeling. Do you think I need to sand/strip it completely down, or is it enough to scruff up the floor?
2: Prime the floor with an oil-based primer
3: Paint the floor with ab alkyd paint or oil-based paint.

Any advice on this plan? I asked Behr customer service the same thing and they told me the following:

Our Marquee, Alkyd, and our Oil-Based Paint aren’t meant to be used on floors, as they won’t resist the foot traffic. Because of this, it would be best to remove all of the Marquee Paint. The Porch and Patio Floor Paint is okay to leave on, as this is designed for floors, but if it’s peeling, sand off any of the loose coating. Afterward, prime use our All-In-One Primer Sealer. For further instructions, I’ve attached a tip sheet which goes into details on how to resolve the problem.
My problem with Behr's advice is that i used the Porch and Patio floor paint last time, and it has come off already. What is your advice? Also, what do you think about Behr's response about their oil and alkyd paints not being up to this task? Aren't those paints supposed to be the toughest?

I also have a couple of separate questions:

1: Do you recommend alkyd paint or the oil-based paint for this project?
2: I've read on some websites that I should not use an acrylic paint. However, the Behr floor and patio paints are acrylic? What is your opinion?
4: Do you recommend adding a polyurethane top coat for extra protection?

Any help and advice on any of questions is extremely helpful! Thank you very much for your advice!
 
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Old 07-24-18, 03:36 PM
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Welcome to the forums!

Your paint peeled because you used the wrong primer! Oil base enamels dry to a harder/tougher film than latex paints do. It needs to be a floor paint as it would be formulated for the traffic a floor sees. Behr doesn't have the greatest reputation although I can say too much as I've never used but a stray gallon here and there.

Since the floor needs to have all the latex paint sanded off, why not sand a little further and stain [or not] and poly the floors. IMO it will look better and won't show wear as quick as paint does.
 
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Old 07-25-18, 07:00 AM
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Hi Marksr,

Thanks for your response! But why did I use the wrong primer? I originally used a latex primer (Killz if I remember correctly), and it was my understanding that Behr floor paints are latex-based as well?
 
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Old 07-25-18, 08:25 AM
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To insure adhesion to poly you need to use a solvent based primer. While some latex primers do better than others, Kilz2 is not a very good primer. I never use it but it has been reported that kilz2 has adhesion issues.
 
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Old 07-25-18, 01:57 PM
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This is all just so wrong.
DId you talk this over before doing it with who your renting it from?
Painted floors floor in traffic areas do not hold up.
It should have been sanded and at least two coats of oil based poly, not painted!
Never use poly over paint!
 
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Old 07-25-18, 02:29 PM
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Hi Joecaption,

Thanks for your reply. No worries about problems with my landlord, since we bought the place.

We wanted the floors white, so how could we do that with an oil based poly? It's my understanding that oil-based polys are usually clear?
 
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Old 07-25-18, 05:03 PM
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It's your house now, but no way would I want a painted floor and for sure not a white one.
It will show every speck of dirt.
Something like this is water proof, easy to install, not going to ever need touch painting, and not show all the dirt.
https://www.armstrongflooring.com/re...inyl-tile.html
 
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Old 07-26-18, 03:24 AM
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We wanted the floors white, so how could we do that with an oil based poly? It's my understanding that oil-based polys are usually clear?
Most polys are clear but oil base poly will amber whatever it's applied over [give white paint an amber cast] Waterbased polys don't normally yellow but also don't dry as hard as oil poly. Same thing with white enamel - it will yellow as it ages. There are polyurethane based paints but again - white will yellow over time.
I agree with Joe - I wouldn't want white paint on floors!! Besides being hard to keep clean white will highlight any cracks/joints in the flooring. It's probably been 40 yrs since I've painted floors throughout a house.
 
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Old 07-26-18, 06:18 AM
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Ha guys, as much as I love your advice about interior decorating, if I needed help on that I would have signed up for an interior designer forum (but in case you are interested, we decided to go for white floors since the apartment does not have a whole lot of natural light, and the white floors make the place look a lot brighter).

Anyhow, my parents-in-law have had white painted wooden floors for over 15 years, and they still look great, so I know there is a durable long lasting method; I just don't know how.... Unfortunately we are not in touch with the contractor who did the floors, so can't ask him.
 
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Old 07-26-18, 06:24 AM
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Oil base is more durable than latex, waterborne comes in a close second. Latex is the poorest preforming enamel. Whatever coating you pick it needs to be a floor enamel [it's formulated different than wall or trim enamel] Removing the current latex and applying a solvent based primer should eliminate peeling. Most any type of paint can be applied over oil base primer.
 
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Old 07-27-18, 07:05 AM
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Thank you Marksr! I appreciate your advice!
 
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Old 07-27-18, 11:53 AM
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Just following up on this and would love to hear your thoughts.

I went by my local hardware store today and discussed my idea with buddy there. Initially, he recommended a benjamin moore floor paint, but when I mentioned that those are latex-based too and I preferred an oil-based one, he told me that Benjamin Moore (and many others) discontinued their oil/alkyd-based floor paints. When I asked him if there is anything else he recommends that was oil/alkyd-based, he recommended their Super Spec urethane alkyd paint. He basically said that companies like Benjamin Moore ask them to push for the latex patio/floor paints, but that in reality the Super Spec is much better, even though its not a specific patio/floor paint.

What do you guys think? His story makes sense to me, since its a urethane alkyd paint. Yes, it will smell up my apartment for a couple of days, but I can live with that.
 
 

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