Are there non-toxic and durable floor paints?
Hello, We have painted our wood floors in the past and are looking to redo them. We weren't aware of the chemicals in the paints at the time so we would like to get it right this time around. What recomendations would you have for the most durable non-toxic floor paint? Should we put a sealer on top of the paint too?
Many thanks,
Lorraine.
There are a few ways to refinish your floors and have a durable healthy finish, which depends on how extensive you want to get. Unless you specifically sought out zero VOC paints, they more than likely did have toxic chemicals in them. The good news, is that most of the chemicals in the existing paint would have off-gassed by now, so simply painting over them but choosing a non toxic paint would pretty much give you the desired results, as I’m assuming you painted them recently enough that they do not contain lead. You can read more here about choosing safe paints for homes.
Another alternative would be to strip the floor down to the natural wood and refinish it with a non-toxic natural floor oil sealer.
Removing the existing paint would be quite a bit more effort and messier, as stripping the floor would mean bracing for a certain amount of dust in the home even when steps are taken to reduce it. It could be done by professionals with a drum sander and they can be quite clean about it, but it certainly is a larger operation than moving furniture to one side and painting it, then relocating it to the other side and repeating the process.
To strip the floor you’d likely need to remove all the furniture from all floor surfaces you want to refinish as a flooring repair company would likely ask that the entire surface be cleared. And the other issue with that would be what paint may be underneath. How old is the home? Is there a chance that there is paint below that contains lead? If so I think the safer option would be to put a new coat over top rather than risk introducing it to the air by stripping it. Once lead is painted over it really isn’t a problem anymore as it is through contact that it becomes a human risk. A few layers down below other paints it ends up being fairly benign in most cases.