We are prepping a SFH for a long term hold rental. It's a 1940s bungalow in a blue collar neighborhood.
Walls are painted a very light gray. Trim is bright white.
The floors are currently painted dark brown. They are peeling badly. They were not prepped and painted properly by the previous owner and they look awful. We have begun stripping the current paint which is a very easy process, thank goodness. But, we want to repaint correctly.
We need advice on prepping the bare surface so the paint will adhere and not just peel away like we are seeing with the current finish. Also, what color will work with the light gray walls and white trim?
Wait a minute, are the floors solid hardwood flooring? Because you can sand them and refinish them, you can cover them with laminate or LVP -- painting them again isn't your only option and probably not your best one.
Wait a minute, are the floors solid hardwood flooring? Because you can sand them and refinish them, you can cover them with laminate or LVP -- painting them again isn't your only option and probably not your best one.
@Angela Smith It kind of depends upon what you end up with after stripping the old paint. If the floor had been waxed then nothing will stick without removing the wax, I believe. If you want to paint the floor there is “floor” paint, usually floor and porch paint and you follow the instructions on the can for prep. If your floor looks kind of good you could use a colored polyurethane...one of those one step products. everyone likes the look of stained wood floors. If painting, I would decide if my gray walls leaned green or blue and go with a darkish green/gray or blue gray...with a strong green or blue undertone. Gray can be dreary. Or color match Benjamin moore revere pewter or a few shades darker...the perfect greige but it will look more brown next to gray walls. But I have only painted a porch, so my ideas are not tried and true.
The darker the color the more dust and dirt it will show. Like @Marian Smith Revere Pewter is a good color. Its a little on the brown/warm gray side. I have this on my rental walls. If you are stripping the floors and sand down to bare wood then I would stain them. Add 3 coats of poly over the top. I prefer satin finish over high gloss, personal choice. There are floor prepping directions on the website link below.
When I did my floors I went with Early American 230 I believe. Base trim, doors, window trim in original stain from 1935.
Agree with others that it depends on what you find underneath. I would rent a floor sander from home depot and try to get down to original wood. If it's in decent shape I'd poly it an move on. If it looks terrible, or if you just really want to paint, I'd go to SW or PPG and ask for their best paint to use on the floor. I painted and stenciled the bathroom floor in my carriage house because there was no salvaging the hardwoods. I can't remember the product, but it was from PPG. I painted them Black Fox, which is very dark. Yes, you can see dusty footprints, but my stencil is a white floral, which helps hide everything. Here is a blog where they painted stripes on the floor, and it is cute: https://addisonswonderland.com/how-to-paint-hardwood-floors/ . And when I did my bathroom floor I used this as a guide: .https://www.younghouselove.com/operation-stencil-the-subfloor/ . You could also look into whitewashing maybe?