No Slip, No Kidding! Painted Vinyl Basement Floor

There was almost no bigger argument in our home than when it came to what to do with our vinyl basement floor that was in really, REALLY bad shape.  I want to thank, My Repurposed Life for her tutorial on a painted vinyl floor, because that is what it took to convince Ken, that this could actually be done successfully.  

Painted vinyl floor in our basement

Now, our basement floor was not only in bad shape, but add to that the fact that there were two layers of vinyl on the floor, or maybe I should say 1 and 3/4 layers of vinyl of the floor because the previous owners didn’t lay the second layer of vinyl down on the entire basement floor.  They left part of the floor as is with the old flooring (which had loose tiles that had to be replaced.)

Ken was convinced we should pull up all the tile and start from scratch.  Looking at this floor, who wouldn’t agree, right?

But I showed him the cost savings between buying all new flooring, even at the cheapest of price vs. painting the floor: approximately $150 vs $600 for 1200 sq ft of floor.  That was the first chink in his armor, and then he found the tutorial from My Repurposed Life online, by doing his own search and finally conceded.

I consider this painted vinyl floor my BEST salvage project to date!  Compared to the ceiling painting project, painting this floor took a lot less preparation and time to complete.

In the laundry area, we did rip up some of the old, old tile, and laid down new pieces, along with a small cement repair on the basement drain.  Note:  we used replacement tiles that were the same thickness, so that they would be as close to the same level as the original, older tile.

Products we used and steps we took to paint the vinyl floor

Like the ceiling, we painted 1/2 the basement floor at a time.

We scrubbed the floors down with a product called: Krud Kutter.

We primed the floors with tintable: Behr Multi-Surface Primer Sealer.

We painted the floors with: Glidden Porch and Floor Paint which had Behr Premium No Skid Additive mixed in at the store.

The floor primer was tinted to match the wall color.

The floor paint color is called: Copper Penny.

After the floors were cleaned, I used a thick paint brush to edge our the floor with the primer.

There were a lot of nooks and crannies where the floor meets the wall, so I really went to town filling in those nooks and crannies with the paint.  (In my mind’s eye, they were gaping holes into the unknown, but that’s beside the point, see scary basement, here.)

Next, I used a paint roller with the extension pole and rolled on the primer.  This part was easy.  I did two coats, letting each coat dry.

Once the primer was dry to specifications, I edged our the floor with the floor paint and then I rolled the paint on in the same fashion as the primer.  I did 2-3 coats of paint and that was it!

If possible let paint cure over several days before moving furniture back on.  We didn’t do this, so we got a few scratches right off.  We touched those up and the floor has been holding up ever since.

The no-skid additive makes the floor very unslippery, for sure, but I have found that it also absorbs some of the ware of the foot traffic.  As a matter of fact, we have no foot traffic marks to speak of, at all.

Ken was concerned that it would be a trip hazzard where the two layers of vinyl tile came together, but that hasn’t been the case.  The primer and paint have worked like a sealer on the whole floor and this area is no exception.  The progression from one to the other is almost unnoticeable now from a “walking across the floor” stand point.

 Two layers of vinyl tile – BEFORE

 Two layers of vinyl tile – AFTER painting (photo taken from opposite angle)

Laundry area after the missing tile was replaced and the floor was primed.

Laundry area after the floor was painted and new drain pipe was added.

Laundry area after painting,

Before – during cleaning the 2nd half of the basement.

You can see on the left side of photo that part of the floor has already been painted.

During – this was after the 2nd half of the floor had been primed.

After first coat of paint was applied to the same area of floor in the basement.

We did 2 thick coats and once the paint fully dried, it was completely opaque.

Painting this vinyl basement floor was the very best option for us, considering that we are planning to move and possibly rest this home.  It has made our basement so much more cozy, and I can really relax down in this basement knowing our cost was only several cans of primer and paint.

Raise your hand if you believe that paint can solve almost any DIY problem?  ~ Amy

You can also see:

Painted ceiling

Textured walls

Painted stairs

Coffee sack hanging art

Coffee sack cabinet

Linking up at:

Snickerdoodle Sunday