Painting subflooring/plywood as a temporary floor

by

Q: I just bought a house with wall to wall carpet that must go. There is plywood subflooring underneath and I can’t afford to install hardwoods any time soon. Can I stain the subflooring? How about painting subflooring?

A: You can stain almost anything if you want to. If you are going to be living on the plywood for a while, you could always paint it and maybe do a stencil around the border. How fancy can one make plywood?

Is it OK to paint the plywood for now?

Similar Q: We are planning on reinstalling linoleum in our kitchen, but can’t afford to do so at this time. For now, we would like to replace the current plywood due to water damage, then paint the floor. Is it OK to paint the plywood for now, then later do the floor? Also, should we use 3/4″ plywood?

A: If the subfloor is solid, you don’t need more than 1/4″ poplar to install linoleum. Before you paint it, however, I would check the adhesive that will be used for the linoleum and make sure it will adhere to the paint.

Can I put hardwood down over painted plywood?

Q imported from our old site, Face Lift Floors:  We are planning on installing solid hardwood in the kitchen and dining room of our 7-year-old home (purchased by us 6 months ago), but won’t be able to afford it for a year or so. I understand that we have to install solid hardwood over 3/4″ plywood. I’d like to go ahead and install the plywood now (before I paint our ugly kitchen cabinets). I’d paint the plywood floor. But can I then put hardwood down over the painted plywood?

A: You already have at least a 3/4 subfloor installed of some sort. If this subfloor is chipboard, then you will need to install some real wood plywood over top, screwed to the joists. 3/8 plywood should be fine for this. Painting the subfloor will have no effect on installing solid hardwood over top. As long as you are using a nail down product, rather than glue down, it is OK to paint the subfloor.

Original / moved link https://faceliftfloors.com/q-and-a/paintedply.php

Related Questions

  • Would it harm the floor if we place a piano (on plywood) onto the newly stained and refinished floor?

    Q: We plan to have newly stained and refinished red oak hardwood installed in our kitchen. Would it harm the floor if we place a piano (on plywood) onto the newly stained and refinished floor? It needs to be moved to work on the living room.. any suggestions? A: No,…

  • Shimmying up a sloping floor to level

    I have a sloping floor, from both edges to center is 11/2 inches, it seems to be around the chimney, but from the basement the rafters seem tight and not sloping. I was thinking of putting 4 adjustable jacks around the chimney and jacking the floor up slowly so not…

  • Damaged parquet floor

    I want to replace some damaged parquet floor (four square feet) in our living room using undamaged flooring from a closet. Is this possible and what process would you suggest?

  • Refinishing plywood stairs

    I pulled up my carpet on the steps in my split foyer, and I found what looks like plywood. I tried to sand, stain and poly it but I cannot get a smooth finish all over. What can I do to fix this? Also, I would like to take the…

  • Dull laminate floor

    How do I get my laminated wood floor to look like new? After moving in, and Christmas with the grandkids, we have scruff marks all over the floor. The laminated floor has become dull.

  • Even out subfloor for floating floor

    Q: In removing vinyl tile from a subfloor, some of the plywood layer came up with the tiles. There are still spots with a lot of glue on them in which the tiles came up fine. I checked and saw that this is only a 3/8" thick piece of plywood,…

1 thought on “Painting subflooring/plywood as a temporary floor”

  1. Follow up Q: Do you have any book recommendations where I might get some ideas regarding painting? If I did paint…should I put polyurethane over it?

    A: I would go to a local paint store. You might also find out something at http://www.woodfloorsonline.com. I don’t think I would apply polyurethane over the paint.

Comments are closed.