Paint for Wood Floor

[Joe Penn]

I’m moving soon and I will have a shop with wooden floor, which I intend to paint.

I want to keep the dust down and I want something to help make cleanup easy, or as easy as possible. I was thinking about using porch and floor enamel. Is that a good choice or is there a better one?



Thanks

 

[robo hippy]

There are a number of water based floor finishes. I prefer clear coat myself. They probably still need to dry for a day or 3 before you move stuff around on them. Not sure I would want paint since most of them are not nearly as hard as some of the water based finishes.

robo hippy

 

[Chris Edwards]

The upstairs floor of my external garage was unfinished.

It is about 30' x 30'. I used a Sherman Williams Porch and Floor Enamel Latex paint on the entire floor plus the stair case steps going up to the second floor.

I roller'd it on and it was super easy to apply. I applied two coats. I did this about 3 years ago.

I figured the stairs would be the heavy traffic wear area with me trudging up and down, what seems like a thousand times, but there is no evidence of any wear on the steps or the floor above.

I've dragged things around on the floor and again, minimal marks (if any) and no signs of wear.

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/porch-floor-enamel

 

[Richard Coers]

A shiny painted floor can be slippery with wet shoes. Have plans for a rug or something.

 

[John Torchick]

A friend had vinyl planking put down recently in the upstairs living area. This was a choice over carpet, laminate or hardwood. Wife says it looks good and easy to clean. I have a concrete floor and just leave it as is.

 

[stu senator]

A shiny painted floor can be slippery with wet shoes.

You could add something like this to the paint to provide a non slip surface.

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/duckback-antiskid-additive

stu

 

[Joe Penn]

I used a Sherman Williams Porch and Floor Enamel Latex paint on the entire floor plus the stair case steps going up to the second floor.



https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/porch-floor-enamel

That's the paint I was looking at. Nice to know it holds up well.

 

[Kent Jaffrey]

Are you sure you want to paint a wood shop floor? I have a shop with a plywood floor 20 years old that works fine and looks worn, but it doesn’t get slippery when wet or need repainting when chipped or scratched. It isn’t pretty, but a painted floor wood be just as ugly. If it’s ever going to be something other than a shop it will need to be upgraded anyway...

 

[Joe Penn]

Are you sure you want to paint a wood shop floor? I have a shop with a plywood floor 20 years old that works fine and looks worn, but it doesn’t get slippery when wet or need repainting when chipped or scratched. It isn’t pretty, but a painted floor wood be just as ugly. If it’s ever going to be something other than a shop it will need to be upgraded anyway...

I don't intend to paint for aesthetics and I'm not concerned about the looks. It seems like painting the floor would help with dust cleanup.

 

[Bob Sheppard]

Some porch & deck enamels have non-slip already mixed in. I know Benjamin Moore has one. Its called Insl-x Sure Step. I'm planning on using their floor paint when I install a plywood floor in my shop.

 

[Robert D Evans]

I'd be afraid that the non-stick additive would add a lot of texture to the floor and make it harder to sweep.

 

[John Torchick]

Sweep? I do to get the big pieces but the Shop Vac works wonders.

 

[stu senator]

<I'd be afraid that the non-stick additive would add a lot of texture to the floor and make it harder to sweep.>

It may make the sweeping easier but you need that with a cast on your foot because you slipped.

When we had the bathroom redone we picked a large tile that had a rougher texture. We wanted that tile on the shower floor. The GC said it would be slippery and recommended smaller tile with lots of grout lines. We then purchased one large tile of our selection and tried it in the shower. We now have 2" square tiles cut from the large tile on the shower floor.

Stu

 

[Bob Sheppard]

I'd be afraid that the non-stick additive would add a lot of texture to the floor and make it harder to sweep.

The porch paint isn't sticky; it's more like its got some very fine grit in it to give the finish a little bit of texture, to stop any slipping.

 

[JeffSmith]

built my shop just over 4 years ago - wood floors (1-1/4 plywood over doubled joists). The plan was to lay pine planking over, but other things got in the way, so it remains the plywood still. Its great - sweeps easily, shop vac gets all the dust. Best of all I use it to assemble larger pieces and have drawn reference lines with pencil that have really come in handy. I could still put in the pine planking, but find the original floor works well for me...

 

[Doug Freeman]

I do think its a good idea to seal a wood or concrete shop floor to prevent absorption of spilled liquids. I put a concrete stain on mine 20 years ago with “sharkskin” or other name texture/grit additive. I only put 1/2 the recommended amount and it was still pretty aggressive, enough to wear out out a foam type mop quickly. The grit really helps if the floor is wet or with fine wood dust, but the grit does tend to hold on to fine dirt/dust a bit. The stain prevents absorption of most liquids but hi solvent stuff like gasoline or dna will dissolve it. I let those spills evaporate and the finish is fine.

 

[JeffSmith]

Doug - I'm very slowly finishing my flooring - every time I make a mess it just seems to add to the overall patina. Besides, its mostly a wood shop so what I spill most often is either finish or solvent for the finish. Works out great as long as I can vary the location of the spills. About the only thing I rush to clean up is glue (or anything that forms a raised crusty area; need it to stay reasonably flat for assembly.