Project: replace vct (p) tile floor with a cement board/thinset/epoxy painted flooring
system, instead of linolium.
My thought on it: – remove old floor. a. the ply. sub floor.
b. the original diagonal subfloor
-replace subfloor. a. double 3/4″ decking
-laydown a layer of 1/4″ cement board
-skim coat/level out the floor
-cover floor with an epoxy based paint
Q’s: has anyone done anything of this nature?
is it a good idea/feasible?
whats a good cement product to use to accomplish both leveling and some thickness?
should I (if poss.) just epoxy paint the plywood?
any other coments or concerns are very welcome and appriciated.
tucker
Replies
Ok, I need some help here.
You plan to smooth on a layer of thinset, let it dry, then cover it with epoxy paint? Where did you see that?
Pull up the vct. If it is older than about 1980 it, or the mastic, might contain asbestos. Modern vct is 12" squares. The old vat was frequently 8 or 9" squares. And old vat is usually brittle.
You probably also want to remove the old plywood, then install new A-face plywood that would provide a nice surface to paint. I have recently seen some stuff in HD and Lowes that is like 9-ply from Chile that looks very nice, and it's reasonable priced.
Check wiuth a good paint store for garage floor paint. or you could use most any enamel, then apply 2 or more clear coats for protection.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
so do you think the painting of plywood would end up better than the concrete route?
at least thats what I think I was getting from your post.
I don't mean to be blunt or anything but it all you want to end up with is an epoxy painted floor, why do you want to remove everything that's there and do all that work? Painted floor will always look like a painted floor. With few exceptions, doesn't matter much what's under that paint.
If you're doing all that work, why not go with a porcelain floor tile. It's a bar -- need something easy to clean, no?
If you do go with tile, put thinset under the cement board.
Seeking perfection in an imperfect world is a fool's errand. Making something look perfect is a whole 'nother story . . . .
But with tile you get grout joints. Maybe they have a custom logo they want painted on the floor. And think about the old painted wood floors ... the joints show, and after a while the paint wears a lottile, adding a lot to the ambiance.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
>>" think about the old painted wood floors ... the joints show, and after a while the paint wears a lottile, adding a lot to the ambiance."
I'm with you on the painted wood floors. I've seen some that I didn't think looked terrible. That's why I said "with few exceptions." In general, tough, a painted floor looks like a painted floor. Rip up the subfloor layers and put down cement backer over ply to paint it?. You couldn't pay me enough to put my name on that.
For the grout -- seal it. Good sealer works wonders. If it was a bar, I'd go with a dark grout and seal it.
Seeking perfection in an imperfect world is a fool's errand. Making something look perfect is a whole 'nother story . . . .
Edited 3/5/2006 11:03 pm ET by philarenewal
You couldn't pay me enough to put my name on that.
Agree 101%. Sounds like something from a tv show.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I like the way you think.
Seeking perfection in an imperfect world is a fool's errand. Making something look perfect is a whole 'nother story . . . .
my only reasoning on the cement board over the wood was a naive understanding that I needed to have a "cement" substrate to put epoxy based paint on. oh and the reason for all the ripping up is that the subfloor is badly damages by years of an overflowing sink habit of a bad barmaid. so the subfloor has to come up. so I change my question. can I epoxy paint a plywood floor.?
can I epoxy paint a plywood floor.?
Now yer gettin somewhere. Sure. But like I said earlier, you don't really need epoxy if you use clear coats to seal and protect. And ... go to a real paint store, like Sherwin Williams, and ask about high performance paint for wood.
But, based on your latest comment, after you rip up the old vct and ply, be prepared to find water damaged sub-flooring.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
thanks I knew this place could give me some good answers.
thnakfully I can see the underside of the floor from the basement. the strange thing is that the bartenders complain about the floor being spongy and yet from the underside the original sub floor. syp? whatever it is it's painted. you can't see water damage from the underside which has lead me to believe that alot of water has collected the the layer of plywood and rotted to sponge grade wonder wood.so now I guess it's off to ben moore and his merry elves.
I own a bar and if you want something that looks good and wears well how about a layer of ac plywood and go over it with west system epoxy(clear gloss finish). You"ll proably have to refinish once a year(a quick rough up with a disc floor sander)
Oh . . . let me guess . . . this is behind the bar. Now I get it. You want to seal the floor so it doesn't happen again but you don't care what it looks like, no? I'm not a floor painter type guy (guess you can tell) so I can't give you a solid answer to the ques.
I still wouldn't paint that floor, even if customers can't see it. If you want a durable, water resistant, go with tile. If you're already willing to go with proper ply layers, thinset, backer, thinset -- just add tile on top. Tile doesn't really cost that much.
Seeking perfection in an imperfect world is a fool's errand. Making something look perfect is a whole 'nother story . . . .
thanks for the input, it has been very helpful for the deduction process.
the tile is a great idea, however having been a bartender there are two things about a bar back area with tile first it is hard on the knees and second there are no second chances with ####dropped anything be it a glass or god forbid a jw blue label bottle that's 25 years old.
might get the owener to go for it with some of those knee saver holey rubber matts.
more thoughts are appreciated.
You want a highly water resistant floor that is comfortable to stand on for 8 hours and kind to dropped glass objects, right? Try doing a Google search for "rubber flooring" and see what they have. It will stay waterproof a lot longer than a painted floor will.If the painted floor is still what you want, I would suggest tearing out whatever is bad, then floating a thin modified mortar bed over 2.5# diamond lath rather than using cement board. It will eliminate the seams, which will look ugly and be the first to wear through and leak. It would be no more labor than properly installing, then skimcoating a CBU floor. The lath and mud method can also be sloped to a drain if you go that route, but would no longer be "thin."A thin modified mortar bed over framing is very resilient to walk on, durable, and continuous. Hope this helps.Billedited to add: A mortar bed will also allow you to level out irregularities at the same time. The self-levelling cementitious underlayment is expensive, but saves lots of time/labor if you want a level floor (you still need the diamond lath). It is also softer to walk on than regular mortar. -Bill
Edited 3/6/2006 12:24 pm by BillBrennen
If you have a Grainger store nearby go by and look in their catalog at Red Devils line of severe environment water-borne epoxy paints. They use it on wooden tanks in chemical plants, price not too bad either.( Iuse some of it on the outdrives on my saltwater boat and the stuff holds up for yoars. Jim
could he lay down a subfloor and a re-inforced poured concrete floor? build in a drain? I suppose it depends on the beef beneath.
"oh and the reason for all the ripping up is that the subfloor is badly damages by years of an overflowing sink habit of a bad barmaid. so the subfloor has to come up"
"whats a good cement product to use to accomplish both leveling and some thickness"
If this is behind the bar, you don't wan't it level, you want it to slope to the new floor drain.
"Oh, this is the worst-looking hat I ever saw. What, when you buy a hat like this I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh? Oh, it looks good on you though."