Painting ceramic tiles in the bathroom

Few people know that tiles in the bathroom or in the kitchen can be painted, but in vain. This will help you not only update the interior, but also save a decent amount of money. After this procedure, you will not see a pile of dust, which usually happens after replacing the tile. Painting ceramic tiles in the bathroom is the most profitable solution. Today we will tell you about the advantages of such an extraordinary way of painting, about how to paint tiles. We will also consider a step-by-step master class on staining a ceramic surface and introduce you to the basic design options for this material. Let's get started!

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Why paint the tiles?

Can I paint the tiles in the bathroom with paint? Everyone who hears of such a method, gets embarrassed by the fact that he would never have thought that it was really possible. Yes, this method is not clear to everyone, so we will highlight the reasons that you need to pay attention to in order to stop at this option of DIY repair:

• Profitability. When using this method, you do not need to spend money on the purchase of material, additional tools and other additional coatings for grinding putty and the like.
• Interior update. As we said earlier, painting tiles in the bathroom can not only update the overall picture of the interior, but also radically change it. This result can be achieved by painting the walls and floor using various design options, which we will talk about a little further.
• Redecorating. This is especially convenient when you decide to change old furniture to new, but do not want to change the old tile due to noisy construction work and a long installation workflow. By changing only its appearance without dust and noise, all these points can be completely eliminated.
• Decoration cover. When a brush appears in your hands, then with its help you can apply absolutely any thematic pattern to a ceramic tile in some places or a solid image over the entire surface.
• Masking defects. It often happens that the tile cracked or simply a large scratch formed on it. Many defects can be masked with paint, apply, for example, a dark pattern that will hide a visible flaw on the surface of this material.
• Ease of use. When replacing a tile, all plumbing is usually removed, and then mounted back. Immediately you do not need to do this. All furniture and sewer pipes can be covered with polyethylene, and calmly paint the tiles with your own hands.

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How to paint the tiles in the bathroom?

Tiles can not be painted with all colors, but only certain. The most important thing here is to choose the right color composition and adhere to some recommendations. Let's look at the most important nuances that need to be considered in the first place:

• Apply at least 2 coats of paint to the tiles.
• After each staining, you need to wait at least 12 hours, and after that, proceed to staining the next layer.
• If you want to paint the tiles in one tone, then for the opacity of the color, apply a third coat of paint, and after that - acrylic varnish.

So, what kind of paint to paint the tiles in the bathroom so that the paint lasts as long as possible, does not crumble?

Important! Eliminate completely the option of using water-based paint, since it is completely unsuitable for tiles, because it is transparent and is easily washed off with water.

When changing the color palette of the interior, such dyes are suitable:

• Acrylic
• Alkyd.
• Oil.
• Auto enamel.
• Latex based paint.

They easily fit onto ceramics, completely cover it, dry very quickly and do not have a sharp smell of solvent, unlike oil substitutes.

Important! In the bathroom, it is advisable to use oil paint to cover the tiles. She is not afraid of high humidity and temperature extremes. The rule of thumb is to apply varnish to fix and protect the painted surface.

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How to paint the tiles in the bathroom with your own hands?

Painting ceramic tiles is very simple for a person familiar with building skills. To do this, you need to have a little painting skills and a good command of an electric grinder.

Instruments

Before you begin, you need to prepare the following set of tools and materials:

• Paint to choose from.
• Solvent.
• Primer.
• Acrylic lacquer.
• Dye tray.
• Set of brushes.
• Roller.
• Cellophane or newspaper to protect surfaces.
• Masking tape.
• Alcohol.
• Patterns for patterns.
• Protective gloves, apron.
• Two soft and one metal sponge.

Important! The list is not small. This does not mean that the staining process itself will be so complex - on the contrary. Putting paint on the surface will be much easier than removing the tiles, processing the surface of the wall and going through all the other steps to complete your work.

We color the tile:

• We remove all dirt from the surface of the tile coating with a metal sponge. Clean with little physical effort. Our task is to remove even stubborn dirt. After cleaning the surface, wipe it with ordinary alcohol to degrease the surface before grinding.
• We cover the plumbing and furniture with plastic wrap, and the floor with thick cardboard.
• We completely remove the gloss. We pick up the smallest emery paper at number 0 or 1. A thicker emery cloth can leave deep scratches on the surface of the tile, and we only need to achieve its dullness. Slowly and gently grind the surface, moving to a new area only after finishing work on the previous one.
• After the surface of the tile is sanded, we collect garbage and wash the surface again, and after that - degrease it again and dry it well.
• We apply a primer to an already prepared ceramic surface.

Important! This stage is not mandatory, but recommended. The primer layer will significantly increase the connection of tiles with paint, which may affect the wear resistance of this type of coating.

• Getting to the painting. Do not forget that the foam roll will leave behind a “velvet coating”, and the brush - a characteristic texture of the application. Using masking tape, close all adjacent surfaces from the ingress of dye.
• In the case of using multicolor painting of tiles or drawing a picture of a different shade, we glue special stencils on the areas we need. We apply the glue very carefully, with a thin layer, so that when gluing on the tile we do not have its blurry traces.
• We take a brush and paint over the tile with the selected color. Do not push the tool into the wall, paint smoothly and not sweepingly. For color saturation, we apply several layers of paint, interrupted for a while to completely dry it.
• In order to prevent abrasion of the image, dried paint is coated with several layers of water-based varnish. This final coating dries very quickly, without a pungent odor, and after drying, a strong protective film forms.

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Design options

Let's talk about design choices. How to paint the tiles in the bathroom with your own hands? Now we will consider the main options for this design:

• Full painting.Capital replacement of the color of all ceramic tiles, that is, all the tiles are opened with paint.
• Color update. The previous color is partially complemented by various abstract, patterns or individual painted fragments.
• Create a pattern. The tile is decorated with a solid ornament or a partial pattern.
• Picture. Creating a small picture on a specific part of the wall, a variant of the image on separate sections of the tile is possible.
• Hand painted. Application of dye to the entire surface of the facing material. You can create any composition similar to the picture: landscape, still life, portrait, and the like.

Important! Do not forget that this option requires special training and art skills.

• 3-D effect. If you want to do something unusual, then this is just for you. To achieve this result, you need to take a gauze cut and cut out the desired patterns from it, stick them on the tile. Then comes the stage of painting the pasted pattern and tiles. It is important to consider that the second layer of paint, which will be on the tile itself, should be 2-3 tones darker than the previous one.

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Recommendations:

• You can only paint the wall cladding. To do such a procedure is impractical for flooring, since the floor is precisely the area where water constantly falls. If you paint the tiles on the floor, then the coating will quickly wash off within two weeks.
• Do not apply a thick layer at a time to the entire surface of the cladding. This must be done in several stages after drying of each layer. So you will achieve perfect saturation and brightness of the color, without smudges and other external distortions.
• Do not dilute ready-made dye so as not to get a transparent coating effect. The consistency of the paint should look like thick sour cream.
• Perform all the work in stages - preparation, grinding, painting, applying a protective layer, and then you will achieve the desired result.
• Use special electrically conductive paint for pipes, bathroom legs and washbasin fixtures. So you protect metal products from rust and other unpleasant surprises.

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Stock footage

Painting the old tiles in the bathroom will be the right solution for many comers who want to economically upgrade the old tile. In any case, you should try such an easy way. You will not lose anything if you do everything correctly according to our recommendations. We wish you a successful repair!