Anyone have success painting tile?
We just picked up a new flip home, built in 1960. Everything is going well in this one, but I want to do something in the bathrooms, but feel somewhat limited. Home was built in 1960, but is in great shape. Bathrooms need serious love though. Walls are tiled halfway up with tile, and floor is done in that old-school mosaic 1" tile. From experience I know that tile is in a thick grout bed. I would really like to do these bathrooms (one is coral and turquoise, and the other is pink and grey) without tearing out the tile on the walls and floor. The floor is less of an issue, can cover that as it sits. However, I have heard differing opinions on painting tile on the wall. Anyone have any experience doing it successfully? I have heard from a couple sources that a TSP bath, paint the grout, then a primer on the tile topped with an oil based paint is the ticket. However, before diving into it, I wanted to see what others have had success (or failures) with.
Please advise, would like to get this right and avoid the headache of ripping it out.
Oil? Latex? Acrylic?
Tile is ceramic, for what that is worth. Paint would be something neutral, if not white altogether.
Much thanks, you guys are awesome.
It’s possible, and I’ve seen it done a handful of times, but I’ve never seen it turn out really good. It always looks kinda junky, similar to when you see painted switch plates and outlet covers...
Hi friend,
To ensure you get proper adhesion and a professional finish I encourage you to deglaze the tile. You can find tile etching liquid at a paint store and if you don't mind spending some cash I believe you can pick up an HVLP sprayer at Harbor Freight for about $75 Then just mask and spray. This may seem like a lot but you'll end up with a professional finish.
#3 Investor Mindset Contributor
- Handyman
- Pittsburgh, PA
Hey, Derriel. Can you give us some photos? I am not a fan of painting tile. Over the long haul, it's always going to look nasty. If you're not spending most of your money and time working on the bathrooms and the kitchen of a flip, you're leaving a big chunk of change in almost any house.
Hi Jim (and everyone else!)
I hope this works, it’s an Imgur album with a few pics of the bathrooms. Thanks for all the suggestions, keep them coming!
#3 Investor Mindset Contributor
- Handyman
- Pittsburgh, PA
Perfect.
So we're talking a half-bath downstairs, maybe 5x6 with a commode and a wall-mounted sink, and a small full bath upstairs, looks like 5 x 8,9 upstairs, right? Same recessed steel medicine cabinet in both?
Yes, I am on mobile and don’t have my notebook with me, but those are approximate measurements. It is a single story home, both bathrooms share a wall containing the plumbing.
#3 Investor Mindset Contributor
- Handyman
- Pittsburgh, PA
That makes more sense. It used to take a heck of a lot of bread to lower a subfloor upstairs for tile. But it already took a lot of bread to put in that much tile in both bathrooms like that back in 1960.
I'd demo both bathrooms and redo much of them without changing the layouts. You can get a lot of mileage out of remodeling those two spaces, but you can't change the layouts without doing serious surgery on the thickset mortar bed under the tile on that floor, you can't move walls without also finding a way to deal with the floors and that wetwall chock full of plumbing, so you're stuck with two small bathrooms. Your best return money-wise is to jazz up the existing layouts as much as possible.
While the floors have held up impressively, I'd still get down there, tap out the mosaic tile piece by piece, skimcoat with thinset, RedGard, and then tile over the membrane with thinset again. These floors tend to get wet unevenly and dry out unevenly, and as they dry, the mortar bed cracks, usually at the worst possible time and in the worst place. Once you coat the beds with RedGard and modern tile with maybe the good urethane premixed grout, that problem goes away.
You're going to need to add outlets in both bathrooms, probably next to the light switches -- there are none, as far as I can see (I can see only one switch). The lighting is poor, although in the big bathroom someone obviously made an effort to improve that. I would tear out the ceiling and put in cans with LED trim, although there are cheaper and easier ways. You've got more than enough height in those bathrooms to drop the ceilings down a bit and put up lights in some other way.
If you just try to paint over the tile, even if you succeed, it's not going to solve these other issues.
I know it's more money than attempting to paint the walls, but on any flip, money spent well in a bathroom is money that comes back to you.
Leave the floors if they are solid. How about covering the wall tiles with a bead board wainscoting? Would look far better than painted tile and likely easier and cheaper.
@Derriel Cribbs It doesn't cost much to tear the tile off and mud what's left behind, or take it off with the wall and drywall. I started painting tile once but didn't like the look at all.
@Derriel Cribbs - see my post from a 1-2 years ago.. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522/topics/37...
In this rehab post I specifically run into your same situation. What I did was demo and remove the floor tile and old mortar (up to 2" thick total). I then leveled the whole floor with plywood. Then installed new tile (with cement board, etc.. the right way). Then I hired a professional tile sprayer (look on Angie's List) and for $850 he sprayed all the wall tile bright white. It wasn't a perfect job, but it did come out really nice for a rental. And I've checked on it and thankfully have not had any issues in the past 18 months.
What's important after the painting is done on the tile is the maintenance. NO bleach products. And your tile refinisher will give you a specific list of "safe to use" cleaners for the area.
In the end, I think the bathroom was under $2K completely redone and total time it took was only a few days (vs a week plus with full demo and rebuild of a new bathroom).
If you're doing a rental... I say do a new tile floor and paint the rest.
You can refinish the tile. It's not exactly paint, but a tile refinisher will etch it and refinish it. I've done it in white. Similar to reglazing a tub.
Depending on your market and rents, you could leave it. It will last forever. I assume you are renting.
When I said it will last forever I meant the existing tile, not the refinished tile. I meant that you could just leave the existing tile even though it's dated , depending on your market. I just sold a house with the same floor and maroon tile. It's looked decent cleaned up.
#3 Investor Mindset Contributor
- Handyman
- Pittsburgh, PA
You demo the old mortar bed, you're still left with thinned joists. How much plywood did you use?
I've heard of people using this method before. I haven't personally used it, but after my husband rehabbed our primary home's tile bathroom, I would totally consider it for our spare bathroom. It was A LOT of work and what a mess! You may want to Google some pictures of the Miracle Method to see some before and afters. I actually like @Scott Weaner suggestion of beadboard if it's going to be a rental.
Jim K. - the subfloor wasn’t looking good so we also reinforced some joists (laminated) then did 3/4” T&G, glue and screwed. Then cement board on top glued & screwed. Then mortar and floor tile. Haven’t had an issue since (plus the floor is now level)
As a side thought though I supposed we could have kept the floor and gone over it with Lux Vinyl Plank (LVP) flooring. That may be an alternate flooring option although in my last project, the floor still would’ve been severely slanted.
If it’s a semi-level floor definitely the easy/fast option is using waterproof (NOT just water resistant.. make sure it's a guaranteed waterproof product) LVP over the existing tile floor
#3 Investor Mindset Contributor
- Handyman
- Pittsburgh, PA
@Mike B. On the app. This makes much more sense. Thanks!
Sorry, I just reread and realized it's a flip. If it was me I would reglazing the tile if it's in good condition. It looks nice if you get a good company to do it. I had 2 tubs reglazed recently and company did a poor job and the other one was beautiful.