Best paint for painting floors

In our previous farmhouse, we had cork floors, which I loved! Cork is amazing. However, I was always striving to have a brighter home. I had been debating painting my floors for months and had been testing different paints on some extra cork planks I had. Then one day, while I was painting shiplap, my cat helped make the decision easier.

Why I painted my floors

I was using an oil-based primer, and my cat knocked over the tray of primer, and it went everywhere! My hubby was home, and we worked quickly to get the extra splatters of paint off of the nearby concrete-looking linoleum (because I didn’t want to paint that), but there was no time to get it off of the cork as well. Friends think I knocked the paint off myself, but I promise it was the cat, haha! Seriously promise.

After trying numerous paints, here is what I found to be the best and what I used to paint the floors in our new A-frame cabin!

Best paint for painting floors

Okay, so if you want the quick answer, here is it: C2 Cabinet and Trim Paint with Added Hardner. I will go into more detail about the other types of paint I tried but trust me, if you want the best paint for the job, this is it!

I get my C2 paint from Walls Alive in Calgary, Alberta. They ship paint to my new home in Revelstoke, British Columbia because there are not a lot of C2 retailers around! The people at Walls Alive are amazing and will be happy to assist you in shipping out the paint as well. They add a hardner to the Cabinet and Trim paint, making the paint so durable and easy to clean.

Why is C2 paint the best floor paint?

1. C2 paint goes on like butter! Once you paint with it, you will never paint with anything else.
2. It dries so quickly! After applying, you can walk on your floors in about 30 minutes. But try and give it a few hours.
3. The paint feels so good underfoot. It just feels amazing to walk on.
4. It’s durable. The paint has a built-in top coat which makes it very durable. I have 3 boys and 3 pets so I can say we are putting the paint to the test!
5. Touch up’s are so easy! Every floor is going to get dings and scratches. The beauty of painted floors is that you can easily fix these marks if you want. Unlike other paints I tried, when you do touch up’s with the C2 paint, you can’t tell that it’s a patch. The colour blends perfectly after about a day of drying.

Should you prime before painting your floors?

YES! I believe it is always a good idea to prime first. There are so many different types of floors so you may need to do some experimenting with your own floors to see what primer works best. If you are painting really smooth floors, you may need to sand first or apply a primer with a bit of grit in it. This is my favourite primer. It is oil-based, so it has an odour, and it is not easy to clean off anything.

I have painted cork floors, linoleum, and raw 1″x4″ pine planks. My favourite primer is the Oil-based primer from Zinsser. It smells bad, but it dries quickly, and it has great adherence to smooth surfaces. I like to apply 2 coats of primer before the C2 cabinet and trim paint.

Other paints I have tried for painting floors

The first paint I tried was Benjamine Moore Patio Paint. Oh man, I put on so many coats, and I could hardly get it to cover the brown cork floors. After five coats, I was getting so frustrated.

Next, I tried a solid stain from Benjamine Moore. I love the flat finish of a solid stain. At first, the floors looked amazing. However, they were hard to clean and when I went to do touch-up’s and the colour never matched up. In our main large common area, I was painting the floor in sections, and I ended up having to repaint everything because the colour changed almost instantly once we started walking on them.

I do not like having to use a top coat on the floors. Especially if you are trying to paint your floors white. Top coats usually turn the paint into a yellow tinge. Plus, that is just added work.

Best Paint for Painted Patio Pavers

There really isn’t much I’m not willing to paint! I even painted the red patio pavers. I wanted a white-washed brick look. But they don’t make bricks meant for patios in Alberta, so patio pavers were the better option. Out here, I added a bit of water to a solid white stain. I brushed and rolled the paint on, leaving some of the red exposed. The patio pavers absorb the paint so well. I have pressure-washed the patio so many times. Sometimes some paint comes off (mostly on the grout lines), but it never just flakes off. Every couple of years, I give it a quick fresh touch-up, and it looks amazing! Plus, I use any random white colour, and it’s just continued to add depth and a vintage vibe to the patio.

Should you paint your floors?

Of course! I have never regretted painting my floors. I love how they feel, their appearance, and how easy it is to freshen them up and look like you have brand-new floors. For the Aframe cabin, I painted the floors Architectural White from C2. It is a beautiful neutral white.

I really appreciate your comments. Let me know if you like the look of painted floors, or if you have any paint questions, leave them below.