Can Laminate Floors be Painted? [How to Stain Laminate]

If you have an old laminate floor with scratches, wear and tear, and dropping off visual appearance, maybe it is time for painting and staining to update it. An old floor becomes tough to clean and ugly if neglected. Painting may be a great option for you right now. But how do you paint a laminate flooring without damaging it even further?

You can paint laminate flooring when it becomes old and dull. To refinish it, paint it with a gel stain or latex paint for a smooth finish. A high-quality sander and a primer will also make a newly painted laminate floor look updated. You may need to sand down the glossy finish just before priming the stain.

How to Paint Laminate Floors

Sanding, staining, and painting are the easiest, affordable, and instant ways to refinish and shine your old-dull-looking laminate floor. With proper preparation and the right paint, you can paint your floor to give it a new and clean look again.

During preparation, sand until the finish is very dull before priming.  It’s a pretty good idea to choose a small spot on your floor to test, before painting the entire floor. 

Once you settle on the right paint or stain, you need to follow the right procedure to refinish the floor and make sure it comes out looking great.

Here’s are steps on how to stain or paint an old laminate floor:

1. Clean the floor

Clean your floor to remove any debris stuck on it. Ensure your floor is clean and free from dirt before beginning to sand. A soft broom or a good dust mop will do.

2.  Sand your floor 

Sand your floor to smoothen it out and de-shine the floor until the whole floor looks scuffed. Stopping sanding as soon as the whole floor looks scuffed. This helps to prevent laminate board damage.

3. Clean the floor of any debris

Clean the floor after sanding to remove debris. A good scrub with heavy-duty cleaner would help remove all dust created. Dust Mop and use a damp towel to wipe your floor and allow it to dry completely.

4. Cover off-strips with painters tape and paper

Use painter’s tape and papers to cover all areas that might get paint and are not intended for polishing. This helps to prevent accidental painting or staining.

You can get painter’s tape from the local hardware, or reuse old newspapers or sheets to protect the areas from accidental staining.

5. Repair

Repair your old laminate by filling in the cracks, holes, and nails areas. Filling these areas smoothens the floor to apply primer.

If your laminate floor has some scratch marks, you may use a sealer such as the CalFlor FL49111CF Mix2Match FloorFix Wood and Laminate Repair Kit to get rid of the scratch marks of the flooring.

6. Prime your floor 

Apply the oil-based primer on your floor. Ensure you get fine smooth even coat ready for paint. Start painting from far ends as you avoid excess primer dripping off the brush.

Allow it to dry completely before proceeding to the next step. Keep the area free from dust  to completely cure and harden

7. Apply your floor paint  

Apply the floor paint, make sure you do the first and second coat to achieve a well-painted durable covering.

Floor paint will better stand up the foot traffic, as well as wear and tear. Allow each coat o dry first before applying the next coat.

8. Apply sealant

You may opt to apply porch paint with sealant or just apply sealant on top to finish the painted floor. It will make your floor paint last longer as well as protect the floor surface from cracking and other wear and tears.

Remember the topcoat is a key element in creating a durable painted floor for your house.

9. Return the furniture and fittings

After the floor paint completely dries. You may take your furniture and fittings back to the room and begin enjoying your painted floor.

Can you paint Pergo laminate floors?

You should never paint or try to refinish Pergo floors. The flooring manufacturer recommends that you should not stain, wax, polish, sand, or use any sort of abrasives on their floors. Steam cleaning Pergo laminate is also not recommended.

Refinishing Pergo’s laminate and wood floors on your own can easily void your warranty or even damage the quality of the floor completely.

The Do’s

• Choose your floor paint carefully. The paint quality plays an important role in determining how durable the painting coat will be.
• Decide either to use a paintbrush or roller or even both.
• Ensure the primer dries before applying the final coat or painting.

The Don’ts

• When preparing the floor to avoid over sanding it may leave holes on laminate.
• Dipping the brush fully into the paint.
• Staining unwanted areas.
• Painting areas with cracks and debris or when the floor is dirty.

How to Prepare the Floor for Staining

Before you get down to the actual refinishing job that will restore the shine on your old laminate floor again, it is important to do a little prep job. Here’s what you need to do first:

1. Clean the laminate floor to remove any stains and debris. you may consider using trisodium phosphate mixture.
2. Sand your laminate floor using a 150 Grit sandpaper.
3. Covering unwanted areas to prevent accidental painting or staining.
4. Prepare your primer as you repair the cracks
5. Proceed to paint and applying polyurethane sealant

Painting Using a Hand Brush

1. Choose appropriate floor paint: Purchase the paint with the qualities that you need for your floor. You may speak to paint experts or your paint seller. consider using gloss or semi-gloss for they are easy to clean.
2. Stir the paint well: Use a wooden paddle to stir your paint until its even and all liquid are combined.
3. Dip a third (1/3) of your paintbrush into the paint: Place only 1/3 of paintbrush bristles into the paint.
4. Paint the floor corners: Paintbrush is good to paint the floor corners and other areas hard to paint with a roller.

Staining Laminate Using a Roller

1. Choose the right floor paint: Ensure you buy appropriate floor paint that meets your desires. Color is important here. You can explore from white to cream, to a woodsy hue.

2. Get a paint tray and roller: Pour your paint into the tray, fill it for about 1 inch. or 2.5 cm.

3. Cover your roller with paint: Place the roller into the paint to sit flat in the tray. roll it back and forth until cover with paint. Tap on the handle side to remove any dripping paint from it.

4. Paint the laminate floor: Start painting while maintaining consistent pressure as you move the roller to and fro. Apply the second coat or even the third as you would like.

5. Leave the paint to dry: Give the floor time to dry and decide when to apply the sealant.