Can you Paint your Ceramic Tile?

You can only do so much to dress up a room with outdated tile in reference to the color and texture. You remember the 70's when colors like Harvest Gold and Avocado Green were being mass produced on every surface for the home and now your so desperate remove these colors you're ready to tear the tile off the walls. Before you get involved in a project that's going to create lots of mess not to mention the expense let's talk about the option of painting the tile.

First, paint does not like to stick to tile but don't let that discourage you, all that means is you're going to do a bang up job in surface preparation. You need to get rid of the slippery surface by starting out with a commercial tile cleaner, a mild abrasive pad and some elbow grease. This will begin to break down the glossy surface as well as any build up from the past years.

The next step is to get a bit more aggressive with the tile surface by sanding it with a 120 grit sandpaper. You can experiment with the grit but it would go easier if you had a Palm sander, if not just do it by hand until your arms feel like they're going to fall off then you'll know you did a good job. Do not skip this step, the better the sanding the better your paint job will bond to the tile. You do not want your paint to peel and if you sacrifice prep work it will fail.

Now that your tile surface is prepped for a nice paint bond you must do one more thing before applying the Primer and that is clean with a cloth and mineral spirits. Think of preparing a car to paint, you need to be as dust free as possible or the paint will only adhere to the dust. Don't drive yourself in to the loony bin about this just do the best you can.

It's time for Primer, it's best to use all oil base paints for adhesion. I know the clean up is a bear but let's do this job once the right way. Cut the corners in with a brush and roll the field in with a tight nap roller, Remember you are glazing the surface you are not slopping paint on walls. You are going to apply two coats of primer allowing each coat to thoroughly dry.

One step I would like you to add after priming is to take a fine grit sandpaper like 220 or higher and lightly sand the surface to knock off the dust burrs. Then clean it up because you're ready for paint.

The only thing you need to know when applying the paint is to apply a few thin coats to build a good bond, WE DO NOT WANT PEELING. Thin tight coats will serve you much better for durability especially in humid conditions like a bathroom. Keep a bottle of thinner by you for clean up, drink plenty of fluids and down lots of carbs for energy you're going to need it.

There may be another answer for you if you want to bypass the labor and that is to hire an expert that knows how to coat surfaces with apoxy paint. They are experienced with resurfacing appliances, bath fixtures and tile. They use a very durable paint mixture and spray it on while you sit in front of the TV, I actually endorse this method.

I hope this helps, please feel free to post a comment

PS. watch for my upcoming EBook, The Chronicles of Bathman