I want to paint my living room floor, which is mostly wood. But it is uneven and has some flaws. I know that I can use "Floor Leveler" to level the floor, but I believe that's just if you plan to cover the floor with something else (carpet, tile, etc.). In other words, I don't think it's suitable for use under paint. I suspect that it would crack and crumble under furniture and feet.
Is there something else I can use to level the floor that will hold up under pressure?
Thanks in advance.
Sander
-- dadiOH _____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
-> Suzie-Q wrote:
-> > I want to paint my living room floor, which is mostly wood.
-> > But it is uneven and has some flaws. I know that I can use
-> > "Floor Leveler" to level the floor, but I believe that's just
-> > if you plan to cover the floor with something else (carpet,
-> > tile, etc.). In other words, I don't think it's suitable for
-> > use under paint. I suspect that it would crack and crumble
-> > under furniture and feet.
-> >
-> > Is there something else I can use to level the floor that will
-> > hold up under pressure?
->
-> Sander
Okay, that will level the floor, but it won't fix the flaws (seams, holes, etc.) And it's extremely messy.
I'd be more concerned about paint holding up. The first time you drag a couch on it, you're going to have a nice ugly gouge in the paint that you can never really fix properly once the paint is dry. Why do you want to paint it anyway? I can't imagine that looking better on a living room floor than clear finish no matter how messed up the wood might be.
Anyway if that's really what you want to do, you're best bet would probably be to slap some 1 inch plywood on top of the whole thing first and paint that instead.
Overlay (masonite?)
-- dadiOH _____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
What do you mean by "mostly" wood? Is this a plank floor? or sheets of plywood? How un-level is it? Are we talking about waves, or just low spots? What kind of holes are you talking about, and where are they? Popped out knots? Holes where steam-pipes used to be? Bullet holes?
If it's a plywood floor, it's probably the subfloor, and needs to be covered with something more substantial than paint. If it's planks, you sand it if it's REALLY rough, live with any low spots, and plug holes by cutting them rectangular, nailing and gluing a plank to the underside, and gluing another chunk of wood in the hole.
--Goedjn
Take some advice from someone who has been through this already... Take the time to sand, fill and repair the wood floor. There is nothing more gratifying than restoring a hardwood floor to its original beauty. I just did this in my house and, though it was a lot of work, it was worth every minute. There is a guide for refinishing hardwood and just about anything else you could need regarding wood flooring at
-> What do you mean by "mostly" wood?
The house was remodeled and a wall between the living room and dining room/kitchen was removed. The living room side of the floor was hardwood. The dining room/kitchen was plywood subfloor with linoleum/vinyl.
It had been covered with carpet so you couldn't see the "seam" where the floors met. I ripped up the carpet and now have to find some inexpensive way to make it look good. I don't want carpet because (1) it's expensive (B) I have allergies and (3) I have 5 dogs and 4 cats.
It also had dozens of tiny holes where stapels and nails were used to hold down the padding and carpet/tack strips.
I thought that covering over what's there and painting would be the cheapest and easiest way to make it look good.
Ok, painted plywood only looks good in comparison to unpainted plywood. I'd put sheet-flooring (vinyl, linolium, whatever) over that section with a metal edge-peice just over the transition. The hardwood floor should be sanded, big holes patched, small holes filled, and tiny (staple/tack) holes ignored, and then polyurethaned. It's only because of what I'm used to, but plank floor look OK painted to me, and narrow-strip hardwood under paint looks like someone doesn't know what the hell they're doing.
--Goedn
Get rid of the cats and dogs. Will help allergies :o) Painting plywood will not look decent long, if at all. Soft wood, will dent and splinter easily. If you must, use a wood filler on the holes, then sand. Prime and paint with quality alkyd semi-gloss, two coats. Gloss paint will allow defects to show more. Sponging on another color might help hide the defects, and add a touch of creativity. Could also make a floor cloth of of canvas, turn and glue hem, paint with any wild design your heart desires, put on two coats of clear coat. It is probably the earliest form of what became linoleum.
An alternative might be outdoor carpet; tack it down, pull it up and take it outside to hose it off if the pets mess on it. Would probably get you through until you move, can afford better, or the animals dwindle :o)
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