Can I paint porcelain floor tiles to change the color?

Anita Springer
by Anita Springer
My kitchen is 30 years old and in need of updating. The cabinets were a pickled pinkish oak and I repainted them a light gray. They came out great! It looks good with my blue ceramic sinks and ok with the pinkish-gray granite countertops. But the tile floors are a dark dusty pink and scream out now. Want them to be a softer, more neutral color, like a whitewashed gray. Not sure if they are ceramic or porcelain, porcelain I think. Can they be painted and if so how?

  3 answers
  • Terra Gazelle Terra Gazelle on Jan 06, 2018

    Clean the tiles with a porcelain cleaner. Use a belt sander and lightly sand the tiles . Tape off in between the tiles. Get a good primer and primer each tile. Let dry, it should take about 6 to 8 hours. After totally dry primer again and allow to dry.

    Once 2 coats of primer are applied its time to paint the tiles. Paint using flat paint in the same way you put on the primer. Once the paint is totally dry, put on a second coat. Once that is dry apply a polyurethane gloss sealer..two or three coats. Let each coat dry . I recommend three coats for the best floor to take a hard use.


    I painted plywood for a floor in my work shop, that takes a beating. I did it about 10 years ago and its holding up really well.


    It's not an easy job..but if you want to change the color of the tiles without tearing them up , buying new ones and having to install them again..this works.

  • Allison Velez Allison Velez on Jan 07, 2018

    You can also put new tile over old of you want to go that route. We had several hundred sq feet and did not want to rip it out. We used multisurface bonding primer, easy roll down and it gives enough bite to hold new tile. Just a thought.

  • Anita Springer Anita Springer on Jan 07, 2018

    thank you so much! I had heard it was possible but did not know how.