How to remove paint from wooden floors?

[mitch66]

I have old painted wooden floor in 70 yr old house. It's green underneath the brown paint . How do I remove the paint and should I repaint over the wood floors or sand it. Floorboards are not quite even.

 

 

[EricL]

Hello @mitch66 

Thanks for sharing your question about painting your wooden floors. Looking at your second photo I can see that you have a bit of cupping occurring on the flooring panels. I believe that this can still be overcome with a floor sander. If you are planning on repainting your flooring, I suggest hiring out a floor sander to remove the paint and flatten your floors profile.

If you have access to the bottom of your flooring area, I suggest putting in builder's plastic to prevent condensation from rising into your timber flooring. This will prevent your flooring panels from cupping even further.

After you've sanded your floor it's just a matter of choosing a sealer that you prefer. If you wish to see some floor sealing samples, I suggest visiting the paint department of your local store and having a look at the sample board for stain and varnish. Once you've chosen a colour, I propose testing a small area so that you can see what the finish will be like. If you are happy with it, you can then commit to painting the entire floor.

Here is a link to our best advice: How do you rejuvenate timber floors?

Here are some handy step-by-step guides:

• How to sand timber floors
   
• How to seal timber floors
   
• Tips for using a floor sander.

Here are some handy discussions you'll find useful:

• 5 ways to revamp your floors
   
• Floor sanding and staining renovation by @Marj2Homer 
   
• Which paint to use on timber floor? by @JoeAzza 
   
• How to match the stain on my timber floors? by @RenoPause 
   
• Carpet removal and timber floor painting by @dkmahajan 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[JoeAzza]

Hi @mitch66  I have just painted another bedroom, my house is over 90 years old, the floorboards are all cupped and gapped, I used a 150mm sander with 80 grit sand paper and lightly sanded the existing painted floor then gave the floor a vacuum and a wash with sugar soap, I gave it two coats of paint, looks good, I used low sheen black paint. Haymes exterior premium extra dark tint . I have painted another bedroom with is paint before, so far still looks good, not sure how it would go on high traffic areas

 

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