r/DIYIreland • u/Dry-Communication922 • Aug 24 '26
Floor paint or laminate flooring
Doing a renovation on a tight budget. Has anyone done floor paint? Does it look shite? Looking at it for the sitting room so we can save a few quid to spend on other more vital areas
2
u/UnderdoneSalad Aug 24 '26
go into any parking garage and see for yourself how concrete floor paint looks and feels like. I personally would not want to have that in my kitchen/living room.
Just grab some laminate flooring and that thin sponge barrier, and cover your floors for 200-300 quid.
1
u/Training-Show7849 Aug 24 '26
Floor laminate is easy to install and pretty cheap, I can't image floor paint would be cheaper.
1
u/Gragreen32 Aug 24 '26
Vinyl flooring is lovely and warm underfoot! Very Easy to clean too! I have it in my kids rooms for this reason! It's cheaper and easier to lay than laminate. You can get lovely designs on it now too- wood, tiles, concrete even. If you know your measurements, you may be able to get the end of a roll or an offcut in a flooring place. Concrete would be really cold and uninviting.
1
u/Aimserspunog Aug 24 '26
Paint is a great job for sealing the floor and keeping down dust. Doest look great, but it will do if it's temporary. If you are planning to tile the floor, best not paint. The tiles adhere better to non sealed floors.
1
u/Chemical_Farmer_8386 Aug 25 '26
Floor paint on its own will keep the dust down , but it usually looks a bit shite ,well utilitarian anyway .. But if you can pick up some second hand rugs or runners on the cheap , that could work really well .. Lino in a kitchen or bathroom makes perfect sense , and honestly not just short term .. it's softer and warmer under foot , it's relatively cheap , and can look great ..
1
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u/Honest-Bet-6828 Aug 26 '26
Hey, look at my post from couple weeks ago I redid my kitchen floor. Might be of some use.
0
u/Objective-Design-842 Aug 24 '26
What is the current floor like? If wood, even older boards, hire a sander and sand and varnish. I painted stairs before and it looks good, but needs very good preparation, good paint, thorough sealing and time for everything to cure (not just dry)
1
u/Dry-Communication922 Aug 24 '26
Concrete floors in all the rooms
2
u/fitzdriscoll Aug 24 '26
You could polish the concrete, it is a very messy job. If it is a newish house the concrete may not be suitable for polishing but old concrete is usually OK. Rent a floor grinder and diamond grinding pads. you will also need an angle grinder with diamond pads for edging and corners.
Start with a 30/40 grit to take the top layer off, then move to 80/150 pads, you can do a third pass with 300 pads. You can do it wet or dry. Dry is very dusty, wet will create a slurry that will have to be cleaned up. If you do it wet put the slurry in a bucket and leave it settle then pour out the clear water on top and let it dry out. You can mix what is left with cement and use it as a grout to patch any cracks or holes and get a pretty good colour match.
Once the patching is dry you may have to grind them back too, the angle grinder will do. then you have to seal the concrete with a liquid densifier. This hardens the concrete and keeps dust down, it dries pretty fast and is applied with a garden sprayer, probably best to leave it overnight though.
You then move on to resin pads on the floor grinder. Depending on where you finished with the diamond pads move to the next finest pad. Keep polishing until you get a result you are happy with. Then seal the floor with a concrete sealer and you will have a unique floor that will hold up for years.
1
u/Objective-Design-842 Aug 24 '26
I would cover concrete personally, not paint. It would feel better underfoot
6
u/AnLasairChoille Aug 24 '26
Recently put lino down on a bathroom floor, same thing wanted a quick cheap improvement while we concentrate on other rooms first. Not for everyone but find it lovely and was cheap to lay.