Here is everything you need to know about painting tile surfaces in your home.
In quite a few cases, you can paint tile.
However, repainting is not a one-size-fits-all solution to all your remodeling needs, and it’s often more of a temporary fix than anything else.
Painting tiles can transform the appearance of any room, but there are some important factors to consider before you start, especially the tile surface and material.
For example, tiles with glossy finishes, which are famously some of the easiest surfaces to clean, resist moisture by design. This can make it extremely difficult to get paint to stick and dry properly, so you’ll most likely have to clean, sand, and prime them if you want the new paint job to look good and last.
As an added caveat, painting tiles can be a bad idea in certain high-traffic parts of your home. If the tiles will be in heavy-use areas of the home or somewhere that is prone to high levels of moisture, repainting them might not be the best choice. Still, if done properly and with care, painting tiles can be an easy way to give your home an extra flair.
There are plenty of different types of tiles, and not all of them work well with new paint. In some cases, it might just take a bit of extra prep work, and in others, you should simply avoid painting them altogether. Here is what you need to know before you start.
Ceramic tile is one of the most common types of tile and is easily the best candidate for repainting projects because of its smooth, uniform surface.
However, before you can paint ceramic tile, you will need to do some prep work. This type of tile tile almost always has some sort of glaze top layer, so to paint it, you’ll need to gently sand off that glaze layer to allow the paint to properly adhere to the tile.
Porcelain tile is another one of the most common types of tile, with the main difference between it and ceramic being that it is denser and less porous. Though this does make porcelain tile a bit harder to paint, with proper preparation, it is a lot better at handling daily wear and tear than ceramic. All you need to do is sand off the top glossy layer, apply a bonding primer, and use a high-quality paint, and you’ll be able to repaint your porcelain tiles any way you want to.
Though porcelain and ceramic tiles are easy enough to paint, there are other common types of tile that you really shouldn’t even try. Natural stone tiles like marble, slate, and granite simply don’t allow paint to stick well, so if you have these types of tiles, you’re much better off refinishing or replacing them entirely. This is even more true for more textured types of stone tiles or stone tiles with cracks, as the paint will have an even harder time sticking to the uneven surfaces.
Another thing that you’ll need to consider when thinking about painting tiles is where you plan to put them.
Different parts of the home receive varying amounts of wear and tear and exposure to moisture, both of which have a huge impact on the longevity of repainted tiles, so if you plan on repainting your tiles, here is all you need to know about which rooms this work best for, and which rooms you should avoid.
Bathrooms are one of the most popular spaces where homeowners try to repaint tiles, but they can also be some of the hardest.
Tiles in bathrooms, especially in bathtubs and showers, are exposed to heavy moisture, big temperature changes, and frequent cleaning, all of which shorten the lifespan of repainted tiles. Though you certainly can repaint tiles in these areas of the home, achieving sufficient ventilation and properly sealing the tiles is essential, and you should really only view this as a temporary solution.
Floor tiles are another one of the most common tiles that homeowners want to paint, but they are some of the most challenging. Tile flooring has to be able to deal with heavy foot traffic, the movement of furniture, dirt, spills, and more, and this simply isn’t good for the paint covering them.
Regardless of whether you decide you want to paint your floor tiles, you’ll need to make sure that you prepare the surface and seal them properly if you want them to last.
Backsplash tile is one of the easiest to paint because backsplashes generally have to deal with much less wear and tear than tiles in other parts of the home. Surface preparation and proper sealing are no less important here, but if you are looking for an easy project that can transform the look and feel of your kitchen overnight, there’s really no better option than repainting your old backsplash tile.
Though ceiling tiles are much more common in basements and commercial spaces, that doesn’t mean you can’t paint them. In fact, ceiling tiles are usually made of much more porous materials that accept paint infinitely better than most other conventional types of tile.
They also experience almost no daily wear and tear, so as long as you prime them, there’s really nothing stopping your repainted ceiling tiles from lasting for years or even decades into the future.
Before you decide whether or not you want to paint the tile in your home, it’s a good idea to weigh the pros and cons to see if it’s really actually worth it. On the plus side, painting tile is a very budget-friendly, easy, and quick way to make a small renovation that has a huge effect on the overall look and feel of your home.
However, quick and easy don’t mean instant and without any effort. You will need to remove the tiles from wherever they currently are, and you’ll need to spend time sanding and priming them before you paint, so you should consider whether you’re really up to this task.
On the cons side of things, if you do decide that you are ready to take on a new DIY project, you should temper your expectations. Though repainting tiles is generally low effort and cheap, it isn’t a long-term solution. Repainted tiles are particularly prone to wear and tear, and moisture exposure, and tiles that are in especially heavy-use areas of the home will wear down quickly.
Overall, if you want a simple and inexpensive way to temporarily add some extra flair to your home, then repainting tiles may be a good option for you. However, if you truly want to transform and add value to your home in the long run, it’s better to look for more suitable home renovation options elsewhere.
Are you looking for the high-quality tile flooring products you need to bring your new dream floors to life? Give us a call at 610-385-3833, or contact us on our website.
Our friendly team of local flooring experts is always here to answer your questions, and we’ll happily guide you through all the best tile flooring solutions for your next project. We even offer free samples, so you can get a hands-on look at all your favorites before you make your final decision.
Don’t let your old floors bring the rest of your home down. Contact My Dad’s Flooring America and start your next flooring project today.
