Why you should use tilepaint

Tiles are often used in a room’s decoration especially for its walls and floors. However, most people tend to avoid them as they perceive them as permanent décor and limited in its remodeling options.
However, remodeling does not have to be a tedious and time consuming job as one can make use of tile paint to bring out different looks in their tiles. Though it is a simple task, it is often dependant on nature of tiles as they may be damaged thus requiring replacement or cleaning before they can be painted.

An individual does not need to have any experience in house painting to use tile paint. However, they need to ensure that they are free from wax so that one can have durable painting on their tiles.

This is because wax will prevent it from sticking to the tiles and this will make it flake easily reducing its durability.  An individual also needs to ensure that their tiles are completely dry and that they use a smooth brush so as to have a smooth paint finishing on their tiles.

An individual needs to decide whether they will use oil based or water based paints for their tiles. Though oils based paints were common and mostly preferred, water based paints are gaining popularity as they are more durable and are also easy to clean.

Though painting of tiles is a good remodeling option, it should not be done for surfaces that are in contact with water for a long time as this will affect the paint’s quality and it will not last for a long time. For application of tile paint, an individual can either use spraying or rolling depending on their preference.

This provides an inexpensive method of remodeling as one can easily change their tile’s color from time to time.

Recently i found myself saddled with the task of decorating a bathroom in my own abode.. Being the ‘second’ bathroom, it was rarely used, but it was certainly overdue a bit of TLC: the main issue being the mildew on the tiles.  Now I initially didn’t tackle the room because I (like many of you probably) didn’t really know what to do to spruce up a tiled room short of ripping all the tiles out and starting over.  With a bit of ‘gentle encouragement’ from the wife though I set about researching all the possibilities and it was then that i discovered tilepaint.

If you have a tiled bathroom and you want to change the decor without spending an arm and a leg, tilepaint can be a good option. Now, there are pros and cons to using tile paint and really it all comes down to budget and time you want to spend on decoration.

Firstly tilepaint is not really supposed to be a permanent solution, it will probably last 3-5 years though if good quality paint is used and the tiles are prepped properly prior to painting. If you want a fit and forget solution, you might want to think about re-tiling. However this can cost several thousand dollars and if you are doing the work yourself can be a major undertaking. For our purposes though, tilepaint seemed like a perfect solution.

Preparation

Now, a lot of brands of tilepaint say you just need to make sure the tiles are clean and dry before painting but i went a bit further and after cleaning them thoroughly with sugar soap, i took some 120 grit wet and dry paper and sanded the surface of the tiles. I made sure i was keeping the paper wet all this time so as to avoid excessive dust.

Note: you might want to be careful with this step if your tiles are very old or cracked.

Priming

The next step is to prime the tiles before the tilepaint is applied. Again, some manufacturers may claim you don’t need primer. I say use it! It’s not a big deal to do an extra coat or two and it might just make the top coat last longer. I used Ronseal primer, but any tilepaint specific primer should do the trick. Make sure the primer is fully dry before you start the topcoat. (normally about 4-6 hours)

Painting

So, you’ve prepped the tiles, painted them with a suitable waterproof primer which is fully dry? Then it’s time to start painting.. This step is not rocket science, just use a medium size gloss roller and try to get an even coat across all the tiles. I find it’s much like painting doors etc with gloss. Just watch out for drips and don’t brush excessively and it should dry smooth.

The drying time of tilepaint is pretty fast. About four hours and it should be fully dry.

So, with a bit of luck you should have a bathroom with a fresh coat of your chosen colour and hopefully it looks pretty good. I was personally surprised by the results, you really can’t tell it’s paint unless you examine it very closely. Only time will tell how it’s going to last but it looks good just now.

Other considerations

There are some things i would say in retrospect:

1: Clean VERY thoroughly!   You really do need them immaculate, particularly if you don’t plan to sand first (though i strongly recommend you do)

2: Make sure you are well ventilated i know this is not always possible in a bathroom, if not i would suggest buying a respirator. May sound a bit extreme but if you’re sensitive to paint fumes like i am the paint will send your head spinning!

3: Use a roller not a brush. I was all set to use a brush as per the instructions on the tin but the guy in the shop recommended a roller and i’m glad he did. I doubt it would have looked as smooth with a brush.