How to paint a wooden floor in the country: recommendations for the selection of paints and varnishes
To protect and decorate a newly made wooden floor, or to restore a battered old flooring, it is worth spending time and understanding the variety of paints and varnishes available on the market.
In this article, we will consider how to paint a wooden floor in a country house in order to preserve its natural beauty and ensure durability. To begin with, we will clarify what constitutes a floor made of wood, and what are the requirements for its coating.
The content of the article
Features of wood flooring
The floor from a wooden board in the room of a country house is a traditional, most common covering.
The following properties are inherent in it:
- Environmental friendliness. Wood is a natural material, harmless to humans, it helps in creating a pleasant microclimate.
- Long service life. With well-conducted materials for the protection of wood, the design will last for many years.
- Availability. This material is ̶ the most common, and has an acceptable cost.
- The wooden structure is easily made by yourself.
- The natural wood floor has a beautiful appearance. Different types of wood differ in shades and texture of the material, and can be easily fit into any interior.
- The wooden floor is subject to external factors such as humidity and temperature, it is combustible. In this regard, the coating needs a protective treatment.
To select a finishing material, you should decide on the following points:
- What coating needs to be painted: new or used.
- Attention should be paid to the type of wood, as different types of wood require a different level of protection. Also individual is the consumption of paint for processing.
- The purpose of the room, and under what conditions a wooden floor will be used (the intensity of mechanical stress, climatic factors).
- Conditions for applying the finishing composition: what time will be allotted for drying, whether it will be possible not to operate the premises in order to wait for the weathering of the paint, etc.
- If the old floor needs decoration, it is necessary to determine what composition was previously applied to it. The new coverage should be compatible with the previous one.
- Requirements for the service life of the paintwork.
- What I want to get from the treated coating: a floor with preservation of the wood texture or covered with an opaque composition.
Types of coatings for wood
Compositions for treating wood floors can be transparent or colored. The first category includes various varnishes and impregnations. To tint the surface, coloring pigments can be added to them.
If paints and varnishes do not have antiseptics in their composition, it is necessary to treat the surface with them before painting. Also, a primer and putty layer can be preliminarily applied to the wooden floor.
The standard scheme for processing a wooden floor is as follows: protective impregnation (with antiseptics, flame retardants and anti-pest beetles) + primer (it may also include protective agents) + decorative coating.Consider the characteristics of various coatings for a wooden floor and the features of their application.
This video will help you choose interior paintwork for wood.
Protective impregnation
Such compounds are used when they want to protect a tree. The tree is highly susceptible to climatic factors (humidity, temperature, ultraviolet radiation), fire, and is also susceptible to damage by insects.
For protection, a mass of products are issued that protect the wood from each hazard individually, and complex compounds (see photo).
-
- Fire Retardant
-
- Composition against insects
-
- Wood preservative
Primers
The primer coating gives the wood additional protective properties, increases its service life and helps to simplify the process of applying the decorative composition.
Depending on the components, primers are divided into several types: acrylic, alkyd, oil (bright representative of ̶ drying oil), shellach, epoxy, polyurethane. With a shell primer, it is good to process wet wood and resin exit points. The last two types are not used too often.
-
- Acrylic primer
-
- Alkyd soil
-
- Oil primer
-
- Shellac soil
The type of primer is selected depending on the type of decorative coating and the conditions under which work is carried out.
Lucky
Varnishes perfectly protect the wooden surface from damage, moisture, light, fungus and insects. They retain the beauty of wood texture. They can be glossy, matte and semi-gloss.
Polyurethane varnishes
The varnish is waterproof and wear resistant.
Epoxy varnishes
Epoxy varnish ̶ universal, quick-drying coating.
Acrylic Varnishes
Such varnishes are odorless and durable. However, they have good water resistance.
Alkyd varnishes
Strong, moisture resistant and durable coating.
Yacht varnish
It belongs to the coating with the highest strength. It perfectly withstands moisture, other environmental influences, is resistant to aggressive environments, and is elastic.
Butter
Using oil for processing a wooden floor, you can both preserve the natural shade of wood and give it the desired color. An oil impregnated floor becomes more wear resistant and durable. It becomes antistatic. However, the performance of the oil is worse than that of varnish.
The disadvantage is the need for periodic (every 2-3 years) processing. Also, oil is not recommended for use in rooms with high humidity and temperature extremes. It is not recommended to place metal objects on such a floor, as spots may form.
Most often, exotic wood is coated with oil. You can also use wax as a topcoat.
Wax
The waxed floor looks excellent and protects the wood from moisture. However, it is not endowed with mechanical strength.
Paints
Consider several types of paints-leaders in the paintwork market. This information may be useful to those who are puzzled by the question of how to paint the floor in the country.
Important! Buy better products from reputable manufacturers. Despite the higher price, the quality of the paint will allow the use of fewer layers.
Oil
This paint was previously very popular until it was replaced by more advanced formulations (see Types of oil paints) The basis of the paint is oil drying oils.
Properties of oil paint:
- Low price.
- Good temperature resistance.
- Paint is not subject to wear.
- The oil coating has a deep, saturated color.
- Over time, the coating may become cracked.
- Long drying period.
- Poor durability.
Perchlorovinyl
This coating is mainly used for outdoor applications. Occasionally, you can find its use for finishing the floor indoors.Before painting, the wooden surface should be primed.
Perchlorovinyl paints are well tolerated by the environment, have a sufficient selection of shades and a budget price. The paint forms a hard, waterproof coating that tolerates the effects of aggressive substances. Drying time does not exceed 2 hours at room temperature.
However, the poisonous smell, as well as the tendency to crack, serve as an obstacle to their active use indoors.
Polyurethane
The paint is applied in several layers. The surface may not be primed before application. The compositions can be one-and two-component, with gloss or matte (see Distinctive properties of polyurethane paints).
Characteristics of polyurethane compounds:
- Excellent temperature resistance.
- It copes well with water and aggressive environments.
- It can be used in places with increased mechanical stress.
- Not subject to fading.
- Paint emphasizes the structure of the tree.
- The composition has excellent hygiene. It can be used in children's and medical institutions. The smell of solvent completely disappears at the end of the drying time.
- The paint dries quickly.
- The service life of the coating reaches 25-30 years.
- The price of paint is quite high.
Alkyd
Alkyd paint It is made on the basis of alkyd varnishes, a solvent (they usually use white spirit), fillers, and dyes. To improve its protective properties, antiseptic and flame retardant additives are used.
Alkyd paints have the following properties:
- They dry quickly (several hours).
- Well tolerate mechanical stress.
- They have moisture and heat resistance.
- Suitable for spray application.
- At the same time, they are not too elastic, which can lead to cracking.
- The service life of the paint does not exceed 5 years.
- The composition has a pungent odor.
- The choice of shades of paint is wide enough.
Acrylic
This paint, consisting of resins, water and pigments, is one of the most popular due to its characteristics (see Types of acrylic paints) To increase the service life, the surface should be pre-treated with a primer.
What is the difference between acrylic compositions:
- They are easy to apply.
- Well protect the surface from moisture.
- The paint has elasticity.
- Acrylic paint has a good vapor permeability.
- Service life may exceed 10 years.
- The paint is resistant to temperature extremes, wear, sunlight.
- It takes about 3 days to dry one layer of such paint. It is necessary to apply at least 2 layers (cheap acrylic compositions need a three-layer treatment).
- Safety. Acrylic paints do not contain organic solvents. It does not have an unpleasant odor, in this regard, it can cover the floor in the children's room.
- Wide enough color palette.
- Painting can be carried out using a spray gun (which significantly reduces the time for application and material consumption), as well as with a roller and brush.
Epoxy paints
These two-component paints are rarely used for flooring.
Epoxy paints have high wear resistance, elasticity and moisture and chemical resistance.
Rubber paints
This fairly new coating is endowed with high strength, resistance to sunlight, moisture, temperature, elasticity, economy (see Rubber paint on wood) Its service life reaches 10 years.
When applied, it fills all cracks, including cracks between the boards. Accordingly, many of the charms of the wooden base, including the attractive appearance and warmth of wood, successfully hide under the rubber paint. To the touch, it will resemble soft rubber.
Such coverage can be used in gazebos, on the terrace or veranda. There is another way to decorate a wooden floor ̶ using stain treatment.
Stain
Carrying out tinting of wood with the help of stains, allows you to give the tree the necessary shade. After such processing, even the most ordinary flooring from cheap pine will look expensive and exotic.
Stains are easy to apply, deeply absorb and dry quickly. However, the floor treated with this material needs additional protection against moisture and wear. Therefore, after such an impregnation, varnish should be applied to the wooden floor (preferably 2 layers).
Depending on the composition of the stain there are: alcohol, oil, water, acrylic, wax, nitromoril. Available in liquid and powder form.
-
- Acrylic stain
-
- Alcohol stain
-
- Water stain
-
- Oil stain
-
- Nitromorilka
-
- Powder Stain
Technology for coating wood floors
Consider using a primer and paint:
- The floor is freed from furniture and interior items. It is best to leave the windows open during surface preparation. As soon as the staining process begins, the windows should be closed.
- The surface is vacuum cleaned.
- To remove bumps and old coatings, use sandpaper or a grinder.
- The resulting garbage is cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.
- If chips or cracks are found, they are repaired with wood putty.
- The wood is once again peeled and litter removed. To better remove dust, it is recommended that you walk along it with a slightly damp cloth.
- A protective coating is applied to the wood.
- The floor is primed as required by the packaging instructions.
Important! the primer must be compatible with the paint.
- After the primer has dried, you can apply the paint. To do this, it is better to use a roller on the handle. The composition is mixed, poured into a tray, where the roller is impregnated with it.
- The floor is stained. After drying of the first layer, the second is applied.
After the floor dries, you can admire the result.
We hope, after reading this article, we will get an answer to the question, what is the best paint on the wooden floor in the country.
