Paint your way our of rooms.

I have finally managed to get the first coat of paint on the floor. Already, the rooms is beginning to look a bit more “done”. There’s still no skirting board, but that has to wait until the floor is finished and the paint totally dried.

In the end, I decided to use some paint stripper to take off the really thick layers at the end of the boards. It did delay me, but I’m glad I did it, as it will give the paint a better finish.

To paint the floor with one coat, it took about 4 hours in total; with lots of stops to stretch out and give my knees a rest.

You MUST have knee pads or kneeling mats for this task.

Most of the articles I've read about painting a floor advised that you should paint with the grain of the wood, going along one floorboard at a time, and completing one coat over the whole floor in one go. Floor paint is unlike emulsion paint, which is water based and thinner, and two layers will blend easily. Most floor paints are oil based (you can find some that are water based), and therefore thicker and has a much longer drying time. An oil based paint in generally better for a wooden surface, and is harder wearing. However, being thicker, it will show joins more.

The other thing to remember is to always paint your way out of the room. I painted along the boards up to 4 boards away from the wall , so I had enough space to move as I painted towards the door.

The progress of the floor.

I love swirling paint.

Almost half way done.

Working along one board.

Paint your way out.

Oouuuuuuutttttt.

So here is the floor now.

The floor still needs two more coats. I won’t have time to do another till Sunday morning, and hopefully do the final coat on Monday afternoon. The paint needs at least 24 hours in between coats to dry, so it will depend what time I finish on Sunday as to when I can get started on Monday.

Once the floor it done; skirting! Colour! The room looks like a room again!

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!