Painting a Plywood Floor

I am enclosing my 1200 square foot pole barn and plan to use the space for my wood shop. I covered the concrete floor with a vapor barrier and

3/4 T&G plywood, intending to paint the floor.

I partitioned off about 300 square feet for storage. Needing the space rather badly, I painted that room, including the floor, and installed lighting as soon as I could. I've painted the walls and ceiling in the rest of the building, but I decided to put off painting the floor until all of the electrical work was done (I'm installing a new service, and all of the interior wiring is surface mounted in conduit). That work is almost complete.

It has now been about three months since I painted the storage room. I used top of the line Sherwin Williams latex products, including a flat floor paint. I applied the floor paint as directed, in two coats, using a roller. I'm disappointed with the floor, and now that the time to paint the rest of the floor is near, I'm wondering what to do.

The floor in the storage room looks okay, but it is still tacky. The "grab" is very noticeable on items left on the floor for more than a few minutes, particularly plastic feet (like those on my step ladder). Things with plastic or rubber feet or wheels left in place for a substantial amount of time (a week or more) do tend to leave a mark. It does not look like the paint is lifting. I know that latex paints can take a long time to fully cure, but three months seems rather long.

Suffice it to say, I am not very enthusiastic about putting my wood working machinery on a tacky floor.

My primary objective in painting the floor is to make it easier to keep clean. The bare plywood near the entrance is already starting to look dirty, and its not going to be easy to clean it, short of sanding.

A friend suggested an epoxy paint, like that sold for concrete garage and basement floors. But that stuff is really expensive, as are the two-part urethane products used on high traffic wood floors (like gymnasiums). If I wanted to spend that much money, I'd go for a hardwood floor or maybe one of the interlocking plastic tile systems. But I don't.

Quite some time ago I refinished a red oak strip floor with a water based polyurethane. I don't remember having any issues with that finish drying - I'm pretty sure I'd remember if it took more than a few days to dry tack-free. So I am considering putting down the S-W floor paint, and covering it with a coat or two of water based polyurethane. Does that seem like a reasonable plan? If not, what are the alternatives?

I have not yet consulted the folks at the S-W store, but I will before making a final decision.

Reply to
Art Greenberg
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On 2/29/2012 2:16 PM, Art Greenberg wrote: ...

I'd wonder if this area was heated and about the temperature while it was drying after application and the surface temperature when applied.

I'd call S-W first thing (actually, I'd have called them about 2 months & 3 weeks ago if it hadn't dried) and get their input.

For new area I'd probably paint but use an oil-based instead of latex simply because I'd expect it to be both harder and have a slicker/smoother surface for the cleaning purposes and to stand up better to stuff like spilled stains, etc., than the latex.

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Reply to
dpb

First Talk to Sherwin Williams and find out what went wrong. Epoxy might work, but understand that epoxy is a very hard finish. Depending on the flex you have and the type of epoxy you choose, they should match. Not all epoxy is meant for major flex. So choose something that matches your needs. The paint stores do know which is going to work.

I would still hit up Sherw> I am enclosing my 1200 square foot pole barn and plan to use the space

Reply to
tiredofspam

Sounds like it will be a nice shop. Our workshop (much smaller) has plywood floors. We left them bare. I think as it is used it will wear smoother making it easier to clean - but then I am not bothered - call it "rustic".

Latex breathes better than oil. Oil will block more vapor exchange and possibly cause bubbling on the paint if a lot of vapor is trying to seep through from the other side - while latex will let it through easier.

3 months isn't to long to really cure. It is suggested to leave lacquer finishes about 3 months before finishing them to make sure all the curing/shrinking is finished.
Reply to
Michael Joel

From painting my concrete basement floor with latex floor paint it takes at least a month to fully cure, the stuff is really thick. Try running a box fan or two on the painted area, leave it blow for a few days on low to at least cure the surface. After a month mop it with a mild detergent and hot water. That seems to seal the surface and prevent things sticking to it.

After painting, use a box fan on low to help dry and don't walk on it for 24 hours. For a week or so, no hard shoes and no bare feet, sox or sneakers only. Hard shoes scuff it and bare feet litterally stick and pull the paint up.

The only benefit I can see using latex floor paint is no fumes, otherwise it doesn't compare in any way to oil based. It certainly doesn't wear any where near as well and takes longer to fully cure. I doubt you will like it in a shop, something harder would work much better.

Also, once water base is put down you are stuck with it forever, you can't put oil over top latex.

John

Reply to
John

Maybe not too helpful. I painted my concrete basement floor with latex paint. Lucite Satin wall paint. Cheap at Menards. It dried just fine in a day or two. Something is wrong at your place.

Reply to
russellseaton1

Skip the latex and use polyurethane "porch & floor" paint. Home Depot carries it, surely Lowes too; not much color choice - white & greys - various sheens, about $25/gallon.

My shop got gloss white 16 years ago, still pretty good but could use re-painting (mostly because of glue and other assorted stuff dripping on it.

Personallly, I would have skipped the ply and painted the concrete as ply - pine/fir rotary cut ply - is impossible to paint without the grain showing through. Maybe a climate thing though, I'm in Florida.

To fix the sticky latex you have, the water poly will work. Use more than one coat though. IMO, latex is good for sheet rock, exterior walls and trim, not much else.

Reply to
dadiOH

Thanks for the suggestion. Grey is fine, that's what the SW floor paint is.

I'm in Florida, near Gainesville. We extended the barn floor with a new pour, so we had a mix of old and new concrete. I didn't want to hassle with etching the new part to prep for paint. I think plywood will be more comfortable under foot, and I'm not all that concerned with the grain showing through. The part of the floor that is painted looks fine, its just the tackiness that bothers me.

I'll compare the cost of a couple of overcoats to the poly floor paint and see which will work best for me.

Reply to
Art Greenberg

Thanks. Sort of a dream shop for me. Before moving here, my shop was in the basement. Now I'll have more room, both horizontally and vertically.

I hope water vapor isn't an issue. I have 6 mil plastic and 30 pound felt paper under the plywood, there shouldn't be much of anything getting through that, except maybe around the tapcons I used to hold the plywood down.

Ugh. Not exactly great for a floor that I am hoping to put to use before summer arrives.

Thanks for your input!

Reply to
Art Greenberg

In Florida. Temperature outside at the time we painted was in the 70s, and inside the building never got much below that. I'm more inclined to think humidity would be a larger issue, especially since the building is pretty tight. We did run a fan and kept the windows open, but that did not seem to help.

I'm not going to bother to try to fix what is down, its a storage area and I'm hopeful the paint will eventually loose its tackiness.

I am much more concerned with what to do for the as yet unpainted floor. I will ask S-W before I attempt to apply that same paint, or any other S-W product.

That's a possibility, too. I'm not fond of cleaning the tools after applying oil based paints, but I think I can afford to throw away a couple of rollers.

Reply to
Art Greenberg

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