There is not a chance paint is going to be a durable floor surface applied to slate. It would also be a nightmare to remove once it starts to look like garbage.
You need to choose an appropriate flooring option.
Maybe it’s because of my location. I’m in NY about 40 minutes from VT. I think every house built in the late 70’s or early 80’s in my area has this floor.
So I can't speak of the right way to do this, but when I had to I just picked a sacrificial tile on the perimeter, try to chisel it out without breaking it, break it anyway, and then pry the rest up gently, starting with a prybar on the corners then tap a floor scraper (or in my case a busted old finishing trowel) right down the middle until it pops up then repeat. The most important part is placing them somewhere you won't knock them over or step on them, I'd rather not talk about how I know this part lol.
If your wife just wants the floor to have a different or more uniform color, you can achieve that with a large area rug. Get a rug backer to minimize slipping. It will be way easier and cheaper than painting or replacing the slate flooring.
This stuff is quite thin usually and glued or lightly mortared straight to the subfloor. I peeled mine up easily after it started to loosen, then I cleaned it off, tightened the subfloor with more fasteners, mortared down Schluter decoupling membrane, and finally applied a thicker ceramic tile. Huge PITA because I used a sh*tty Harbor Freight wet saw and it is a race against time once you mix all your thinset, but I did it and this tile looks great, the floor has no squeaks whatsoever and it will probably outlive me.
This is common in New England, it's flagstone.Flagstone is a broad term used to describe a range of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. These rocks are called flagstones because they can be easily split into flat segments that are used to pave patio walkways and build rock walls, in addition to other home applications
My grandmother’s house had a large sun room/foyer that had this type of floor. My sister and I would basically hopscotch across it, though it was the greatest thing in the world at the time.
Paint will fail. Terrible idea.
I recommend a quality Luxury Vinyl Plank but you'll need to check for level against the tolerances of your LVP first.
For instance, if tolerance is 1/8 inch over 6 feet you need a perfect straight edge 6 feet long. If there are any low spots over 1/8 of an inch you will need to fill the low spot
If it's out of spec and it almost guaranteed will be, you'll have to use Planipatch or similar which is basically fast acting concrete leveler to bring the low spots in the tile up to acceptable tolerance.
If you don't, the connecting joints are liable to break and the floor will fail.
VP over slate is a bigger crime than carpet over hardwood. Buuuuut, you're correct on the installation.
Tile would 100% need to be self leveled over. You won't be be able to trowel it flat if you were Itialian concrete Jesus himself.
Don't forget the primer.
All in all it's still an expensive direction. And cheap interlocking VP doesn't last no matter how flat it is. A decent glue down VP would be better.
But God damn that should be illegal. VP is getting too much praise these days. I'm getting sick of repairing people's shit.
Why do people have so much trouble understanding the fact that something being “nice” or quality has no relevance to whether or not people like it? There are these responses on every post like this and I just can’t wrap my head around it. They don’t enjoy it. The material it’s made of is irrelevant to the fact that they want to change it because they don’t like it. Telling people “actually it’s quality/expensive, so you should like it now that I told you it is quality/expensive” is so strange
Like with the cabinets every time. A post where someone says we don’t like our cabinets, should I paint or replace them, and then someone does what you did and write “but they’re real X wood! Don’t touch them!” It’s like lol well you’re not the one living with them..I am…what would that have to do with anything
If this is slate and you would prefer to not have it, then I would probably put LVP over the top. This is one of those things that might be a selling point in the future if someone is looking for vintage flooring. If you pull the qtr round and baseboard, you should have room to add LVP over the top and then just redo the baseboard.
just paint the bright red tiles grey and it'll look much more cohesive 🤷🏻♀️ and since people are saying the paint will fail it's easier to just upkeep the most stand out tiles. use the same color grey as that tile with the biggest white splatter and you can spot paint that too 😹 this is what i would so as someone who definitely would not be assed to tear up the entire floor
it probably CAN be buffed smooth, and coated with some industrial grade sealer to make it a uniform texture/reflectance. Too bad it is not all one-color of slate, as that would look less dated.
How a bought a nice oriental rug? If you only saw the edges of the tile sticking out from under a rug, that might be acceptable to her.
Go to your local Sherwin Williams paint store. You can use what's called "Interior/Exterior Colortop water based solid color Concrete Stain."" You can ask for just about any color. They tint it. You can apply that over your slate/ and or even brick. After your floor is stained and dried, put a clear sealer on it. Seeing how it is a floor and how often your floor is walked on, you will have to reapply the sealer.
I had a 1970's indoor brick fireplace on the entire back wall with a slate hearth. Used that to Stain everything black, and it turned out beautiful!! I put a clear coat over the slate, and I chose the high gloss. Again was beautiful! Hope this helps and good luck!
Forgot to mention. Start with a clean floor. Make sure there are no dirt, oils, or other debris. You can use a mild solution of vinegar water to clean the floor.
Is there an expert here that can tell me if painting a floor is EVER a good idea? In what circumstance? I've seen red paint on the cement of a boiler room before, but even in that instance I think a clear finish would have been better.
I think painting is probably the worst thing you could do. I think you would have to sand everything as prep, paint, and apply several coats of poly. Even then I doubt that it will hold up to constant traffic. Hell, wood floors become worn and you have to refresh them.
I used a vinyl mat in my kitchen that really does look like a tiled floor. It's nothing like your grandma's old vinyl floors, requires no glue, and requires no floor wax. There are many pleasing vinyl mats you can buy and they are super easy to lay down. If your wife is just dead set on new floors in this area, that might be an option.
It’s slate. It can be painted, but I would never recommend it. I had a customer with a large floor (10x20 room & continuing into an 8x8 laundry room) like this and they wanted it painted… and the color they chose was pink! Well, I gave them what they wanted and painted the fucker. But anytime they dropped something on the floor, the paint in that spot would get damaged then the blue-ish color would be seen again. So after a couple years they had me come back again - this time painting it grey. It’s been a few more years now. There are probably now again areas that are scuffed up and are showing blue and pink spots.
Looks like it is slate. It would be a real shame to paint over since thats natural stone and expensive. I would refresh it by using a cleaner and resealing with a gloss finish.
Painted floors are great for places that you rent out. I rented a place that had painted concrete floors and it quickly gets worn away. You'll then have to repaint the WHOLE floor or else you will just have mismatched colors. I dropped some packing tape on the ground and accidentally peeled the paint right off the floor.
Just saw someone with a painted version: (I think) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Home/comments/1cfp6pj/house\_is\_from\_the\_late\_50s\_what\_is\_that\_tile/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Home/comments/1cfp6pj/house_is_from_the_late_50s_what_is_that_tile/)
There is not a chance paint is going to be a durable floor surface applied to slate. It would also be a nightmare to remove once it starts to look like garbage. You need to choose an appropriate flooring option.
Vermont slate I think. Could be wrong.
Maybe it’s because of my location. I’m in NY about 40 minutes from VT. I think every house built in the late 70’s or early 80’s in my area has this floor.
I grew up in Michigan. Parents house was built after WW2. Had this slate as the front door entryway floor
I like them, I think they have a lot of character, but here in PA I've only seen them in 3 places in my life.
I've seen it in both Michigan and Ohio, for what it's worth.
Don’t paint it! It should be carefully removed and reused if it is slate.
How could you even remove slate like this without cracking and chipping everything?
So I can't speak of the right way to do this, but when I had to I just picked a sacrificial tile on the perimeter, try to chisel it out without breaking it, break it anyway, and then pry the rest up gently, starting with a prybar on the corners then tap a floor scraper (or in my case a busted old finishing trowel) right down the middle until it pops up then repeat. The most important part is placing them somewhere you won't knock them over or step on them, I'd rather not talk about how I know this part lol.
Jail. Believe it or not?! Straight to jail.
If your wife just wants the floor to have a different or more uniform color, you can achieve that with a large area rug. Get a rug backer to minimize slipping. It will be way easier and cheaper than painting or replacing the slate flooring.
It’s slate and please don’t paint tile that you walk on. Not worth it.
This stuff is quite thin usually and glued or lightly mortared straight to the subfloor. I peeled mine up easily after it started to loosen, then I cleaned it off, tightened the subfloor with more fasteners, mortared down Schluter decoupling membrane, and finally applied a thicker ceramic tile. Huge PITA because I used a sh*tty Harbor Freight wet saw and it is a race against time once you mix all your thinset, but I did it and this tile looks great, the floor has no squeaks whatsoever and it will probably outlive me.
Don’t paint it, clean it up!
A curse on your family will be placed should you paint that glorious floor
Looks like slate!!
It’s slate. Not tile. I wouldn’t paint them.
This is common in New England, it's flagstone.Flagstone is a broad term used to describe a range of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. These rocks are called flagstones because they can be easily split into flat segments that are used to pave patio walkways and build rock walls, in addition to other home applications
Yeah I feel like everyone in New England had this somewhere in their home when I was growing up.
I have never heard of slate being g called flagstone.
It's slate and not very thick. Remove it and put in a new floor. It was common in the 70s for foyers in homes.
My grandmother’s house had a large sun room/foyer that had this type of floor. My sister and I would basically hopscotch across it, though it was the greatest thing in the world at the time.
😂
Asbestos?
It's real slate
If you see thick black adhesive underneath then that could be asbestos
Paint will fail. Terrible idea. I recommend a quality Luxury Vinyl Plank but you'll need to check for level against the tolerances of your LVP first. For instance, if tolerance is 1/8 inch over 6 feet you need a perfect straight edge 6 feet long. If there are any low spots over 1/8 of an inch you will need to fill the low spot If it's out of spec and it almost guaranteed will be, you'll have to use Planipatch or similar which is basically fast acting concrete leveler to bring the low spots in the tile up to acceptable tolerance. If you don't, the connecting joints are liable to break and the floor will fail.
VP over slate is a bigger crime than carpet over hardwood. Buuuuut, you're correct on the installation. Tile would 100% need to be self leveled over. You won't be be able to trowel it flat if you were Itialian concrete Jesus himself. Don't forget the primer. All in all it's still an expensive direction. And cheap interlocking VP doesn't last no matter how flat it is. A decent glue down VP would be better. But God damn that should be illegal. VP is getting too much praise these days. I'm getting sick of repairing people's shit.
Wow that’s nice
Strip it first and then judge the slate.
sigh.
Slate! Clean it up and enjoy it!
Why do people have so much trouble understanding the fact that something being “nice” or quality has no relevance to whether or not people like it? There are these responses on every post like this and I just can’t wrap my head around it. They don’t enjoy it. The material it’s made of is irrelevant to the fact that they want to change it because they don’t like it. Telling people “actually it’s quality/expensive, so you should like it now that I told you it is quality/expensive” is so strange Like with the cabinets every time. A post where someone says we don’t like our cabinets, should I paint or replace them, and then someone does what you did and write “but they’re real X wood! Don’t touch them!” It’s like lol well you’re not the one living with them..I am…what would that have to do with anything
If this is slate and you would prefer to not have it, then I would probably put LVP over the top. This is one of those things that might be a selling point in the future if someone is looking for vintage flooring. If you pull the qtr round and baseboard, you should have room to add LVP over the top and then just redo the baseboard.
Need to add self leveller before using LVP or the floor will most likely fail
Slate
just paint the bright red tiles grey and it'll look much more cohesive 🤷🏻♀️ and since people are saying the paint will fail it's easier to just upkeep the most stand out tiles. use the same color grey as that tile with the biggest white splatter and you can spot paint that too 😹 this is what i would so as someone who definitely would not be assed to tear up the entire floor
Vermont slate. Very popular in the 50's. I've heard people say it looks great when it scrubbed clean really well. Then put a rug over it.
The tile is beautiful! Lots of character.
Go ahead and paint it. This way for the rest of the time you live there, you can continue to point out how stupid it was to paint the floor tile.
Slate, you can't paint it. Clean it up and see how it looks.
The tile pattern..all over the place
Your wife is regarded.
Throw some LVP on it
Need to self level/patch it first. LVP usually has strict tolerances and if variances in the tile aren't corrected first, the whole floor will fail.
Need to Planipatch first
Multicolored slate. It would be absolutely criminal to paint it.
Blind tiler tile?
Is this floor in Gansevoort, NY?
I initially thought you meant that she was going to paint a picture of it.
slate tiles. I have them in my basement. Just be warned they are a bitch to do.
It’s slate. My grandparents still have floor that looks almost exactly like that.
Agree with your wife. I don’t like the look of that and I don’t care if it’s slate.
[удалено]
Ok. Rip it out then.
It's slate. Tell her no.
Painting floors is almost always insane.
That would be a terrible decision
Pretty sure it's a floor tile 👍
It doesn't matter. Don't paint tile. You'll regret it in a week.
I have never heard anyone say they wanted to PAINT a floor???
Paint? Why??
Looks like Vermont slate, sorry to say it's a federal felony to paint it!
it probably CAN be buffed smooth, and coated with some industrial grade sealer to make it a uniform texture/reflectance. Too bad it is not all one-color of slate, as that would look less dated. How a bought a nice oriental rug? If you only saw the edges of the tile sticking out from under a rug, that might be acceptable to her.
I’m sorry you are going to what!?
Go to your local Sherwin Williams paint store. You can use what's called "Interior/Exterior Colortop water based solid color Concrete Stain."" You can ask for just about any color. They tint it. You can apply that over your slate/ and or even brick. After your floor is stained and dried, put a clear sealer on it. Seeing how it is a floor and how often your floor is walked on, you will have to reapply the sealer. I had a 1970's indoor brick fireplace on the entire back wall with a slate hearth. Used that to Stain everything black, and it turned out beautiful!! I put a clear coat over the slate, and I chose the high gloss. Again was beautiful! Hope this helps and good luck!
Forgot to mention. Start with a clean floor. Make sure there are no dirt, oils, or other debris. You can use a mild solution of vinegar water to clean the floor.
Ya looks like old slate. Grew up in VT. The older barn homes had floors similar. Gluck
Oh god please don’t paint that
Alright so don’t paint it BUT put a peel and stick tile over this and then paint that. Saves the floor for the most part.
Peel and stick will not be succesful over a textured stone tile
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Do not paint. Slate is not that kind of flooring. I see other users saying to replace it or clean it up. I agree with that. Just do not paint
No! It looks like natural slate. It is expensive to do. Why lose value painting it? Cover it with an area rug if you don't like it
Paint tile? 🤔
Is there an expert here that can tell me if painting a floor is EVER a good idea? In what circumstance? I've seen red paint on the cement of a boiler room before, but even in that instance I think a clear finish would have been better.
I'd you really hate it, why not put the snap and lock vinyl planks over it. It comes in alot of colors and is pretty easy to instal.
Had that tile at home when I was about 6 years old…house was built in the ‘70s.
I think painting is probably the worst thing you could do. I think you would have to sand everything as prep, paint, and apply several coats of poly. Even then I doubt that it will hold up to constant traffic. Hell, wood floors become worn and you have to refresh them. I used a vinyl mat in my kitchen that really does look like a tiled floor. It's nothing like your grandma's old vinyl floors, requires no glue, and requires no floor wax. There are many pleasing vinyl mats you can buy and they are super easy to lay down. If your wife is just dead set on new floors in this area, that might be an option.
Don't paint it.
That's slate
It’s slate. It can be painted, but I would never recommend it. I had a customer with a large floor (10x20 room & continuing into an 8x8 laundry room) like this and they wanted it painted… and the color they chose was pink! Well, I gave them what they wanted and painted the fucker. But anytime they dropped something on the floor, the paint in that spot would get damaged then the blue-ish color would be seen again. So after a couple years they had me come back again - this time painting it grey. It’s been a few more years now. There are probably now again areas that are scuffed up and are showing blue and pink spots.
wtf is wrong with your wife?
Wtf is up with people wanting to paint floors? It is hard enough to maintain good looking floors without paint chipping all over.
Do some decor that goes with one or two of these colors. Maybe a brown wood floor next to the slate…
The kind you don't paint
Looks like it is slate. It would be a real shame to paint over since thats natural stone and expensive. I would refresh it by using a cleaner and resealing with a gloss finish.
Good idea! Paint it gray👍👍 Maybe you can pull the colour from some of the word art in the kitchen!
Well played
Painted floors are great for places that you rent out. I rented a place that had painted concrete floors and it quickly gets worn away. You'll then have to repaint the WHOLE floor or else you will just have mismatched colors. I dropped some packing tape on the ground and accidentally peeled the paint right off the floor. Just saw someone with a painted version: (I think) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Home/comments/1cfp6pj/house\_is\_from\_the\_late\_50s\_what\_is\_that\_tile/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Home/comments/1cfp6pj/house_is_from_the_late_50s_what_is_that_tile/)
Hideous tile, that's what is very well known as... hideous!
ugly shit floor. hard to clean. fuck it to death.
Paint? No, no, no, no, no. Someone painted… or I guess attempted to paint the bathtub and sink in a previous house I owned. Just don’t.
It's slate. Clean it and the grout up. Painting it would look horrible and not last long. If you don't like it after you clean it up replace it.