We have an old bathroom, which is in good shape…except that it is tiled in white tiles, with a godawful pink trim. Since the walls are in good shape, I would just like to paint the trim strip tiles-a nice shade of green.
Can I do this? Are there epoxy paints that will grip the old tile and NOT peel off?
Thanks!
Apparently you can, but I have not done it myself.
There is a good overview here
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
Our house also had an old bathroom but in our case ALL the tile was pink. Or at least it used to be because the previous owner decided to paint over it in white and it looked well and truly awful. It was hideous. So much so that I ripped all the tile out and replaced it. I probably would have done that with the original pink color anyway.
When I was in Home Depot I did notice that there was special paint for tile. Maybe the previous owners just did a really bad job of painting the tile, which doesn’t surprise me since every room looked like a child painted it, and I don’t know what was used to paint that tile so just a word of warning that you want to try it on a small area first to make sure you like the results.
This might get more responses in “The Barn House” forum.
I had this done professionally once. It involved preparing the surface, masking off the area and applying the epoxy by spraying it on. It lasted less than 5 years (it peeled off in several areas). Since I did not do it myself I can’t comment on the process. It looked quite good in the beginning. The areas that peeled off were right under the window. Everywhere else still looked good 10 years later. I suspect that DIY results are not as good.
In my experience, no. I have done a lot of remodels, and the few times we’ve had this done it lasted 3 or 4 years. Even when it was professionally done.
My bathroom has painted tile, done with regular bathroom paint. I don’t recommend it! I have no idea what colour the tiles originally were (I suspect white), but they were painted a god-awful shade of lavender when we moved in, and there was evidence of a much more hideous (if that’s possible) radioactive blue underneath. We painted it pale grey, since we are just renting, and it looks ok from a distance, but terrible up close. And since the bathroom is tiny, you’re up close more often than not. Tile just isn’t meant to be painted!
Tile paint can work in dry, zero traffic applications. The finish is never going to be as smooth as a glazed tile but it can look okay on rough tiles, especially if they are not going to be subject to close inspection. Ive seen it done effectively to a tile backsplash in a kitchen; your eyes are rarely closer than several feet in such a case.
In a shower where there is constant water and temperature changes; anywhere there is foot traffic, or where your nose is right up to the subject (shower again) it just is not going to work.
I painted bathroom tiles once, using paint supposedly made just for that. I thought it looked okay, but it was a tiny bathroom, so there wasn’t a vast expanse of wall. Tile is, of course, glazed and shiny, and when painted is duller, and you could sort of see the brush strokes. But really, it didn’t look that bad.
My cousin painted his fireplace surround tiles with spray black high-heat engine paint. It was glossy, and stayed looking good for at least 4 years, when he moved out.
I’ve used nice International brand tile paint, with the correct primer, and I have to agree with the experiences of others - it works OK for a couple of years and then peels, particularly in those areas that get wettest. The dry areas are lasting well. It’s OK as a tactic to delay retiling for a bit, but otherwise not recommended. If you do go for it, a grout pen is your friend here.
I’ve had better experiences with kosher bathroom/kitchen paint (though on plaster, not tiles), it handles daily shower blasts quite nicely.
The Barn House gets about one post a week, for the entire forum. DIY stuff tends to migrate here.
A previous owner painted the shower tiles in the bathroom in my basement. It’s not bad, but not optimal - when I have the money and time, we’ll be replacing the entire thing. (It’s an ivory paint over 1" speckled brown tiles; not bad, but not my thing. I’d probably prefer the tiles, myself, but I’m lazy and don’t want to scrub off all that paint.)
I’m not sure how long it’s been there (well, over 8 years at least), and it is starting to peel, as others have noted. We hardly use that shower; undoubtedly it would peel worse if we used it frequently.