Anyone tried painting ceramic wall tiles?

North-East_Quine

I see people on the TV home improvement programmes painting over kitchen tiles to give them a new lease of life. Does anyone know if this is successful or not? Does the paint scratch or chip easily once it's on?

If this is not successful, then is there an easy way to remove tiles without having to re-plaster the wall?

philc_2

I have done this using the Krylon tile paint which supposedly needs no primer, the only other brand I saw in B&Q was International which was a primer/topcoat approach.

Moneywise they worked out roughly the same.

After spending a little while looking into it because I could not believe it would be any good, I decided the best approach was to just use the plain white colour as then I wouldn't need to bother with grout lines and it wouldn't look odd. They sell grout pens, but I could not believe for a moment that was going to look any good at all.

Firstly, it was supposed to go on with a brush, however I found a short foam roller a much better bet, just cutting in with a brush.

Secondly, it was supposed to take a couple of coats and I did about five light roller coats (my tiles were patterned underneath, so you could easily get away with less on plain) - which avoided having to do any rubbing down in-between coats.

Also painted some tileboard with it and it makes a nice job of pipes too.

Overall it looks great now, and a lot less hassle than starting over.

Fine for wiping/cleaning - no abrasive cleaners though and if you dig your fingers in over the ceramic you could scratch it without too much bother, although to do a better job over tiles you would really need to use something to dissolve the existing glaze before painting them.

Very happy with my results, although again I don't like the idea of that grout pen thing.

If the tiles you have are sound there is no reason why you shouldn't tile over them. I guess any experience with other walls or tiles you have might give some indication of what's going to happen if you start pulling the tiles off. Careful use of a hammer and a wide bolster to ease them off should stop you hacking the wall about. If they are recent with a modern grout they might part from the wall okay, however if you hit cement then be prepared for a battle.

If the wall is a real mess you could always board it over with something modern like Aquapanel which will give you a waterproof and nice flat surface to work with again. Not cheap though. Cheaper, even OSB board or similar if you seal it. Or it's re-do the plaster I suppose...

Hope this helps.

Phil

RedOnRed

I used International's Tile Paint from Homebase which is self undercoating and it worked a dream. I didn't bother to fart around putting the white grouting lines back in, but as I picked quite a light colour anyway...it looks fine.

The only thing is, that being paint, it's susceptible to scratch marks. So just try and avoid putting anything abrasive near by it afterwards.

Galtizz

I tried this in the bathroom, used international tile paint and separate undercoat from B and Q and it looked fab when it first went on (use a 4inch roller for best results).

However, it has been on for about 18months now and it is starting to peel off. Everytime I go in the shower big bits (about 1" - 2" diameter) of rubbery old paint falls off! Now you can see the horrid old brown tiles poking out from behind the nice shiney white paint and it looks awful!!

Not sure if its because of the power of the water - it is only flaking off in the shower its fine above the shower head and behind the sink, the shower gel, me scrubbing it too hard (though I don't use abrasive cleaners on it), or the tilling being a bit wonky. Maybe different makes are better.

Overall I'd say a great tempory solution, but don't be suprised if it doesn't last too long in the shower.

squarecat

Before these things were readily available we did our parents bathroom! we used wire wool to key the surface and used car spray paint. As previously said it was only a temporary measure but did last for a good few years and is quite easily touched up.

hilstep2000

I did, Hated it! It looked so bad we had to re-tile the whole lot! However, we tiled over the top, didn't remove the old ones, and now it looks lovely!

corinne8

i used the international tile paint which your supposed to use a primer under and had no problems with it , but ive seen a new one advertised on telly , ronseal one coat tile paint not sure if all the diy shops have it in yet

wowwhatabeauty

Yes ive used tile paint on my bathroom and kitchen wall tiles, some already have a primer in it so you can just paint on straight away, they are available from most diy stores, and you can also get decorative tile transfers which give them a totally new look!!!