Floor Paint – Oil Based

Oil Based Paints for Floors

Do you need to use a special paint for your floors? Not really. Special porch and deck paints have been around for years. These have a tougher finish coat and resist scuffing to a degree, but they often come in very limited colors - battleship gray being one! To get unlimited color choices, all you need to do is buy a high gloss regular indoor oil based paint and cover it with a top grade clear urethane. The urethane protects the paint finish.

Be careful when you go to the paint stores. Often the sales clerk will ask you what you are doing with the paint. When you tell them you will be using it on the floor, most will freak out. They will tell you, "No! You can't use this paint for that purpose." Ignore this advice. Why? Because painting floors is such an uncommon event that most sales clerks do not have the experience to deal with it. If you run into this situation, you can have some fun. Ask the sales clerk if they have attended or have watched a basketball game on TV. Mention to them the painted lines and logos on the hardwood floors. Ask them how in the world those things work. The sales clerk will probably ponder this and make an excuse or say it is some sort of special paint. The truth of the matter is that it is not a special paint. I know because I have talked with the paint companies and the painters who paint the basketball courts!

Remember to let the paints dry according to the instructions on the can. If you don't the paint might not harden sufficiently. Adding urethane over paint that is not completely dry stops the paint drying process. The urethane basically shrink wraps the paint and doesn't allow the volatile chemicals to off gas. It will be a big mess. Try to let the paint dry for at least 48 hours if possible before you re-coat it with the first layer of urethane.

• Devoe
  Primer: Velour Enamel Undercoat
  Top Coat: Mirrorlac 7001

• Dutch Boy
  Primer: Oil Primer
  Top Coat: Oil Base High Gloss
• Fuller O'Brien
  Primer: Sand & Coat
  Top Coat: Versaflex or FOB 630

• Olympic
  Primer: Primer 6 - 6
  Top Coat: 6 - 282

• Sherwin Williams
  Primer: Anchor bond
  Top Coat: # 200 Gloss Oil

*Product names were current on the date this Bulletin was written. Manufacturers may have changed product names since then.

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