Painting Tiles
Good afternoon, hope all is well, I also have an issue with no longer receiving notifications on replies. I have an old bathroom that has a tiled floor and ceiling, along with walls tiled bottom to top. Basically the whole room is tile. My wife is not crazy about the color but to retile this entire bathroom or to rip everything out and start over would be a nightmare. There are also a few tiles a need to repair and a few cracks in the floor. Is it possible to paint tile? Or will paint be a nightmare and simply peel off? I see people on YouTube painting all their tile but just wondering how long it will last. Touch ups no big deal but constant peeling no thanks. This is not just painting the shower tile this is the whole room. Thanks in advance for any advice.
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
Painted tile is a temporary solution how temporary depends on how well you prep the surface, the quality of paint you select and how gently you treat the surfaces.
We had a bath tub painted by a pro with the best of everything and could get about 5 years of daily use.
Walta
You'll need a good primer. I would go to a real paint store (not the orange or blue store), and tell them what you're trying to do, and ask them to recommend a good primer for that application. You basically need a primer that will reliably bond to glass, since that's basically what the glaze on tile is. You'll need to clean all that tile with a solvent first, hopefully a mild one like isopropyl alcohol will be sufficient. You need to get off ALL the old oil/grease/soap scum BEFORE you prime. If you don't do that, no primer is going to stick. You could TRY abrading the surface of the tile by sanding it, but I'm not sure that would actually help much, and you'd want to be careful about the resulting silica dust you'd make while sanding.
After you do all the prep work, and prime with the CORRECT primer for the application, you can paint. It'll probably look great at first, but as Walta mentioned, I wouldn't count on it to last as long as you'd expect paint to last on a surface like drywall. It will likely be much more prone to scratching too, due to the very hard substrate you're painting over.
Bill
Deleted
Sounds like it won’t last long. Might be worth starting over with something else, at least on the wall anyway. Do they sell thin vinyl that could go over tile? Looking for something inexpensive.
I painted a clawfoot about 10 years ago and still holding up well with daily use (4 coats of epoxy paint).
Key is proper prep and to etch the surface to remove the shine and paint will adhere. There are acid pastes out there specifically for this purpose. If you want nice finish the paint needs to be sprayed, two part paint generally work better. Something on a wall will see little wear so you don't need too many coats.
I would not do this for a floor though, best bet there is to pull it up and re-tile. You can tile over old tile if you have the height, same thing as above, etch the surface and the thin set will adhere especially over smaller tiles.
A cautionary note for anyone considering two part epoxy spray paints: YOU MUST use the CORRECT FULL RESPIRATOR for these paints. If you do not, you risk permanently sealing off portions of your lungs. That means needing to be on supplemental oxygen for the rest of your life, or worse. These are very different coatings from the usual "paint" builders are used to. The two part stuff is more commonly used for automotive applications, things like that, done in paint booths with all the proper PPE for the people working with the stuff.
Don't skimp on safety gear if you use two part epoxy spray paint.
Bill
2 part epoxy is not automotive paint
two part isocyanate paint is automotive paint
I am certain epoxy is not good to breathe, but I know isocyanates are probably worse, and not just for your lungs
That wasn't really my point. You're thinking "chemical toxicity", basically a poison, something that can get into your blood stream and hurt you. The two part spray epoxies (and urethanes), when inhaled, can coat the interior of your lungs and set there. You end up basically coating part of your lungs with a plastic resin, which prevents the lung tissue from functioning. It's not a chemical toxicity issue, it's more like trying to breathe through a plastic bag.
The point is to be careful. These coatings, while very durable, can hurt you in different ways from the "regular" paints most are familiar with, and the "I can deal with the stink for a little while" can be MUCH WORSE for your health. It's not like getting loopy from the fumes. It's permanent with the two part stuff.
Also, I'm not trying to scare anyone or be a safety nut. It's perfectly safe to use these coatings if you're careful, but you CAN NOT treat them the same way as regular paint and think you're safe.
Bill
So I watched this diy video, she basically cleaned the tile, put primer, and used a 2 part system for floor tile on the floors and wall. She claims it held on with a 8 month follow up video. I’m wondering if I could just use this 2 part system. I’m not sure what it’s made of, looks like a water based epoxy. I think they make something like this for garage floors. I put video too. Looks too easy to be true. I probably need a more elaborate system as stated above. Thanks for all the advice, yes where protective gear. I have def breathed in too much crap over the years, this stuff is strong nothing to play around with.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L6LHFX9/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B08L6LHFX9&linkCode=as2&tag=diywithtuba21-20&linkId=4d7aec9a9e7030a4b86e2c2b55640088
https://youtu.be/SsF2VMXIJRA?si=2JaLqTTYqivry3Z-
Hire. It. Out.
There are companies that specialize in this and some of them seem to do it decently enough. I suspect that's because they know how to actually get to a well prepped surface more quickly than others.
Find a reputable company, understand if the true life expectancy of the product is in line with what you need, and proceed.