Painting and Home Decoration Tips: Protect Your Floor

It’s that time again. It comes around every few years – sooner if you’re a bit of a perfectionist. You can no longer ignore the cracks in the paintwork, the stains on the kitchen wall that stubbornly refuse to shift, or the colour you chose for the bathroom two years ago now makes you cringe every time you need to powder your nose. Yes, it’s time to redecorate. This means trips to the local DIY store, endless colour matching and the inevitable paint stains on the floor after you’ve finished. Or does it? In fact with a few simple steps you can safeguard your floor from stains and blemishes.

Protecting the wooden flooring

What you must do first of all is to cover your floor, whatever type of flooring it may be, with newspaper or another protective lining. But you knew that. The problem is that often this isn’t enough to stop the paint somehow finding its way onto your nice clean floor. Using double layers increases protection. It also helps to focus on one area or room at once, finish painting there, before moving on to the next area. When newspaper or linings are down for days or weeks, this increases the risk of shuffling and exposes your floor to paint damage.

Protecting the vinyl

The great thing about vinyl flooring is, you might be able to simply get it out of the way while you get on with your painting. Because vinyl only ever needs to be lightly stuck down, if at all, the best way to protect it while you attack the walls with your chosen shade of paint is to take it out of the firing line entirely. Once the paint is dry, move the furniture and the vinyl back into place, and admire your refreshed walls and beautifully unstained flooring.

Protecting the carpet

Carpet is a tricky one. The old newspaper trick applies, of course. But unlike vinyl, carpet is often difficult to remove and replace. It may be that you are considering replacing your carpet with an easier-to-maintain wood or vinyl floor, in which case this would be the perfect opportunity to remove it. Otherwise, lots of layers of protection and a healthy dose of caution are your best friends.

Protecting the tiles

If you have stone tiles, then you don’t need to be told that these can be both attractive and expensive. The last thing you need is unsightly paint damage ruining the appearance of your floor. Luckily, even if your carefully laid protection fails, paint stains that appear on tiles can be far easier to clean that those on carpets and vinyl.

Help! My floor is covered in paint stains already!

So despite your best efforts, you’ve detected the dreaded paint smears on your floor. But never fear. Often some white spirits, a cloth and a bit of elbow grease can be all it takes to make a stubborn stain disappear. This may take longer with carpeting, which often needs repeat attempts. Prevention is better than cure, however, so a vinyl or wooden floor combined with a healthy double layer of protection will give your floor the best chance of surviving the redecoration treatment.