Hi, idie, it's good to hear from you again!

I've done two plywood floors; one in our playroom (almost two years ago), which is also where we gather for family dinners. The floor takes a beating, and so far is holding up well. There have been a few dings and chips, but hardwood floors would have suffered the same damage. I used porch and floor paint, with a couple of coats of poly in satin finish. It is seems to be durable, but I've noticed that if I use a magic eraser to remove a stubborn mark, it leaves a dull spot. The spots are visible only from certain angles--I'm sure that no one else in my family has noticed them. As for maintenance, after vacuuming I use a damp spin-mop.

In September I had a small flood in that room when the inline water heater arced and burned a hole in the copper pipe. I turned off the main right away, but I was worried that the plywood around the sink cabinet might warp. I drilled holes in the toekick to ventilate, and had no problems.

The second plywood floor is in an upstairs bedroom. I used the same porch and floor paint, but because of the magic eraser issue, chose not to coat with polyurethane. That room doesn't have nearly as much traffic--in a kitchen I'd use definitely use the poly.

In both rooms I applied two coats of oil-based primer, and two coats of Valspar latex porch and floor paint in satin finish. Upstairs I use a roller, but in the playroom I used a brush on the second coat. I wanted it to have a hand painted finish to match the kitchen cabinets. BTW, the paint is also available in gloss.

My most important piece of advice is to make sure that you leave a space between each board, on every side. I used quarters for spacers. When the wood swells in high humidity (and it will--even with AC), it will warp without space to move.

After my success, my brother put painted luan plywood in his master bedroom. He and his wife are very pleased with their floor.

The plywood floors cost less than even the cheapest laminate planks+pad, and especially in a kitchen, would be so easy to repaint when necessary. Good luck, and if you have any other questions, I'll be happy to help.

Floor #1 (Baseboard is now finished.)

#2
{{gwi:2137681}}

Loretta, at MoccasinLanding I removed the sticky back tile squares which were on a big addition, and for 2 years I had it painted with white paint and a 2 inch yellow border for a design. I had many big bird cages in that room, and I was always cleaning up bird poop and other messes. It lost its shine, but the paint stayed stuck to the wood. If you plan to use the plywood as subflooring for a permanent floor later, then being worn down is a plus. I then installed sheet vinyl in a white creamy color for that big room, the kitchen, and out on the enclosed carport with a cement slab foundation. I did not take up the old asphalt tile in the kitchen, this went over it, and I was told it would come up easily if I ever wanted hardwood flooring to go down. But, I sold that house before that idea occurred to me.

The paint I used was Behr UltraPure White interior/exterior latex enamel, semi gloss. I chose semi gloss because it is a harder paint. You can seal it with a satin topcoat to knock back the gloss.

Wow, Mama! That looks fantastic! It looks like you cut the plywood into wide planks. Is that correct? With the gap between each board, is it really visible or does it fade away and blend in after painting? Does dirt/sand collect in the gap?
Did you use the more expensive hardwood veneer plywood? What thickness did you use?
I really love the way it turned out. It looks similar to the old wide plank floors I remember as a child.
There is only 2 of us here and not a lot of traffic, so I may give it a try.
ML, are you saying you did not add the poly as a final coat?
Thanks for any info, ladies.

Thank you! The floor in the playroom is 4x8 sheets of luan, which I scored to simulate seams. (My original thread.) I had forgotten, but in that thread I said I used one coat of primer--IIRC, my mother had given me a gallon of really good primer, which covered well in one coat. On the floor upstairs I felt that it need a second coat, because I was using white as a final coat.

Before starting the second plywood floor, I learned that Lowe's will rip sheets of plywood, so I decided to try it with 8' x 12" strips. It was easier and quicker, but I had to pay more attention to spacing the 'planks.' The biggest advantage was in loading and unloading the lumber--so much easier to carry the cut strips than a whole sheet of plywood, and since the second project was upstairs, that was a life (and back) saver. In both projects, since I knew I was going to paint, I used the less expensive 1/4" (3/16?) sheets.

Painting was the same for both methods--I made sure the paint covered the seams/gaps, but didn't fill them. Dirt collects in the grooves, but I vacuum instead of using a broom.

Make sure you lay your sheets, or planks, perpendicular to the floor joists--if your joists are spaced 16" on center, 8' sheets should line up. I used ring shank underlayment nails on the joists, and 1" finish nails or brads, on the edges in between (used a nail set where necessary). Also used lots of adhesive on each piece. Buy extra of all, and return unopened boxes/tubes.

ML, If I hadn't already cut away parts of the old vinyl flooring before relocating the appliances in the kitchen, I'd try painting that floor in a flash.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plywood floor album

Mama, you sound just like a pro!

May I ask about the brand of oil based primer?
And, you put latex over it? How long did you wait for it to dry before painting with latex?

The reason I ask is that we have about two spots in the house old walls which does not take the paint very well. I've peeled it off in layers, and someone told me it was latex over oil and that was not good. I felt that was okay to do. The problem is with perhaps oil on the wall, or moisture in the plaster. In my books by Jocasta Innes (PAINT MAGIC) she said that oil primer was great, and latex top coats were okay. And what YOU say confirms that it is appropriate too.

But I don't want paint peeling off the wall in my bedroom again. Your opinion or clarification is requested. Thanks.

Thanks so much for the info, Mama. I am going to begin to cost out the materials and see where it takes me. Then comes the issue of whether I think I could do the work myself. Getting up and down from the floor is not so much fun since my hip replacement. I could probably get my son to work on it, but you know how it is when people are doing you a favor on their free time. Looooonnnnnnggggg projects!

One last question, did you stagger the joints?
Going to look at your earlier posts.............

moccasin, my mother gave me the primer and poly for the playroom floor--I don't recall the brand of either. I used Valspar oil-based primer for the floor upstairs. I let it dry for a couple of days after each coat of primer, overnight for the latex, then kept traffic to a minimum (sock feet only) for a few days after the final coat of latex.

I've been told that if you have old oil-based paint on a surface, you need to prime it again with oil-based primer, before using latex. I used oil-based primer over the oil-painted kitchen cabinets, then latex, and have had no problems. (Used TSP to clean them first.)

idie, I'm sure my knees will never be the same again. If at all possible, have someone else do the nailing, while you prepare the planks (trimming and gluing.) And make sure the floor guy has a good set of knee pads. Except for cutting-in around the perimeter with a brush, you can paint with a log-handled roller. Depending on your neatness with a roller, and the thickness of the baseboard trim (3/4" + quarter round?), you might even be able to skip the cutting-in by hand.

I did not stagger the sheets of plywood, but made certain to stagger them over the sub-floor sheets, so that one seam wasn't directly over another. I centered the sheets on the opening from the kitchen so that the short seams weren't visible in the sight line.

With the planks, in the bedroom, I staggered the seams, but didn't deliberately try to keep the same pattern, mostly to avoid waste. In the longer part of the room the alternate seams lined up, more-or-less. You can see them in this pic, just at the edge of the bed:

mamagoose- You have inspired me! I think I'm going to do plywood planks in the master suite. We want to use reclaimed vintage lumber for flooring, but the cost is a bit steep. Nearly half of the house is the master suite, though. I'll rip plywood into 8" 'planks', and use a good sealer on all surfaces before I even lay it down. I like the idea of planks, because you can stagger the end seams to look more authentic.

We'll splurge on the reclaimed flooring for the public part of the house, which is only about 600 square feet.

Happy to help, Jay. Good luck!

As someone who lived in an entire house in Baton Rouge LA that was originally painted with oil-based paint, then later with latex, I will testify that there is no choice when you have oil based PAINT on the walls, to do anything else but re-prime the walls. Latex paint will eventually peel off of oil based paint. Maybe not immediately, but eventually, it will peel. It won't peel evenly. Some of it will fall off the wall as you walk by. Other parts will stick with a ferocious passion. All of it has to be removed, though, then the wall reprimed (I believe either oil or latex will do the trick). Then latex paint may be used on the wall.

I once hid paint from my ex-husband, who was going to simply re-paint the kitchen after the first attempt resulted in peeling walls. Since my lungs did not allow me to live in a home that had been painted in oil, and my hands did not allow me to scrape peeling paint for hours on end without dislocating fingers (it was another 20 years before I found out why!), I was divorced and long gone from that house before any more painting was done!

I Googled this house a few years ago and someone had painted the outside. My peach brick home was goose-poop green!