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How to paint a wooden floor

A wooden floor — boards, parquet, stairs — is painted with Decorative Floor Satin: thorough cleaning, sanding, one coat of Multi-Surface Primer, then two to three thin coats with a short-pile roller, each after 3 to 4 hours; walk on it in socks after 24 hours, put the furniture back after three days, the rugs after two to four weeks. It is not suitable for concrete or tiles. A pale floor enlarges, a dark floor anchors, a checkerboard or a border draws.

Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team

Pine floorboards painted a very pale satin grey-blue in a bedroom with warm white walls, a linen bed, raking window light on the boards — Mews Blue No.98 in Decorative Floor Satin: the boards become a perspective

Understanding

What a floor asks of its paint

A floor is the most ill-treated surface in a house: shoes, chairs dragged, dogs' claws, the mop. A floor paint is therefore not a thicker wall paint: it is a finish built for traffic. Mylands Decorative Floor Satin is mid-sheen, water-based, low in VOCs, in every colour on the card; it is made for interior wooden parquet, floorboards and stairs, over primer.

Two limits to know before starting. It is not suitable for concrete, tiles or laminate floors. And it needs time: three days of work, two of them drying between coats and before walking, then two to four weeks of curing during which the floor is treated gently. A floor painted at the start of the holidays is ready for the return.

The method

Painting a floor in seven steps

01

Empty, nail, fill

Empty room, skirting masked with tape. Punch down any nail that stands proud, re-screw creaking boards, fill holes and splits with wood filler — not the gaps between the boards of an old floor, which must be able to move. Let the filler dry.
02

Clean thoroughly, with nothing greasy

A waxed or oiled floor must be stripped of its wax (wax remover, then rinse): nothing holds on wax. A varnished or already-painted floor is washed with mild detergent. No silicone cleaner or "shine" product: they leave a film that makes paint bead. Complete drying, overnight.
03

Sand

Sound varnished or painted floor: sand with 120 to dull it, then 180. Bare or badly worn floor: hired floor sander, 80 then 120, along the boards. Vacuum, then wipe the whole surface with a damp cloth, twice; sanding dust is a painted floor's number-one enemy.
04

Prime

One coat of Multi-Surface Primer with the roller, over the whole floor — on resinous wood (pine, fir), knots sealed with knotting solution first, or they will yellow. The primer evens absorption and avoids dull patches. Recoatable after 3 to 4 hours; then a rub-down with 180, vacuum, cloth.
05

First coat, backing towards the door

Cut in the edges with the brush, then the short-pile roller on its pole, along the boards, in one-metre bands, in a thin coat and backing towards the door: you never go back over wet paint and never get trapped in a corner. Ventilate, but no draught over the wet floor.
06

Second and third coats

After 3 to 4 hours, second coat, same movement. On a floor with traffic — hall, corridor, stairs — a thin third coat the next day makes all the difference to its life. Two thin coats always beat one thick one, which stays soft and marks.
07

Let it cure: 24 h, 3 days, 3 weeks

In socks after 24 hours; furniture back after three days, with felt pads; rugs, dragged chairs and the mop after two to four weeks, the time of full curing. Meanwhile no sheeting or cardboard laid on it: they trap moisture and mark.

Close-up of a short-pile roller on a pole laying a pale grey-blue coat on floorboards, half the floor still in white primer, backing towards a door — Step 5: along the boards, in bands, backing towards the door

The ideas

Five ways to paint a floor

A painted floor need not be plain. Five ideas, with the colours to go with them, and a pointer to The sixth wall, our page on coloured floors.

Plain and pale: the room breathes

A very pale grey-blue on the boards, skirting in the same shade, warm white walls: the floor throws light back and the boards draw a perspective. Technique no. 6 of Make a room look larger.

Floor · Mews Blue No.98 Walls · Whitehall No.9

Plain and dark: the floor anchors

A deep green or a brown-black on floorboards, stone walls: the floor becomes a base and the furniture stands out. In a hall, a study, a dining room.

Floor · Pleasure Gardens Green No.214 Walls · Cadogan Stone No.59

The checkerboard

Two shades in 40 to 50 cm squares, marked with a chalk line and masked with tape, set on the diagonal to widen: the hall or kitchen of old houses. The light colour first, everywhere; the dark one after, every other square.

Squares · Blackout No.41 Squares · Greenwich Time No.8

The painted rug

A rectangle of colour in the centre of the room, edge marked with tape, plain floor around it: a rug that does not slip and washes. Two shades of one family to stay calm.

Rug · Egyptian Grey No.154 Floor · Limestone No.55

The border

A pale floor with a 15 to 20 cm band in a deep shade along the skirting: the room is framed, like a parquet with a frieze.

Floor · Sleet No.91 Border · Maritime No.236

The staircase

Treads and risers in a single shade, or risers in one colour and treads in another. Paint every other tread, let it dry 24 hours, then the rest: the stairs stay usable.

Risers · Boathouse No.33 Treads · St Clement No.11

Reference

Quantities and timings

For	Quantity (two coats)	Time before
12 m² bedroom	1 L primer, 2 L Floor Satin (≈ 12 m²/L per coat)	Socks 24 h · furniture 3 days · rugs 2 to 4 weeks
6 m² corridor, three coats	0.5 L primer, 1.5 L finish	Light traffic 24 h · full use 2 to 4 weeks
14-tread staircase	0.5 L primer, 1 L finish	Every other tread, 24 h between the two sets
10 m² checkerboard	1 L primer, 1 L of each shade	Tape removed as soon as the second coat is on, still damp

Coverage is indicative, on primed wood; a very dry old floor drinks more. The calculator refines it. Drying times lengthen in a cold or damp room.

To avoid

What makes a floor that flakes

Painting over wax or a silicone cleaner. Nothing holds; the paint comes away in sheets under the chairs.
Skipping the primer. The wood drinks unevenly: dull patches, a fragile coat.
Walking too soon, rugs back too soon. The film is dry, not hard; the rug sticks and tears.
One thick coat. It stays soft for weeks and keeps the print of chair legs.
Using it on concrete or tiles. Not its surface; those floors need other products.

The finished bedroom: pale grey-blue satin floorboards, skirting in the same shade, warm white walls, linen bed, a wool rug rolled up in a corner, waiting — Three days later, the furniture; three weeks later, the rug

Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

Can a lacquered parquet be painted?

Yes: wash, sand with 120 then 180 to dull the lacquer completely, Multi-Surface Primer, two to three coats. If the lacquer flakes in places, sand further to the wood on those areas.

And a laminate floor, concrete, tiles?

No, not with Decorative Floor Satin: it is formulated for wood. Those surfaces need specific products, outside our range.

Which finish for a bathroom floor?

Decorative Floor Satin suits a well-ventilated bathroom's floorboards, over primer, in three coats; wipe up standing water. A wet-room floor, no.

How do I look after a painted floor?

Vacuum, damp mop with mild detergent after curing, felt pads under the furniture, never an abrasive or silicone cleaner. A scratch is repaired locally: light sand, one thin coat, an invisible join in a Mylands shade, tinted to order.

How long does it last?

A bedroom, ten years; a hall or stairs, three to five before a refresher coat, which needs only a wash and a light sand, no primer.