How to Paint Ceramic Tile
Yes, you can actually paint ceramic tile! When we first moved into our house, the main bathroom was painted a soul-sucking shade of green we affectionately referred to as “gangrene”. Both the walls and ceiling were fully covered in this depression-inducing shade, complemented by the matching olive-green bathtub, toilet, and sink. The bathroom also featured a one-of-a-kind (we can only hope) green and tan splatter paint design tile on the bottom half of the wall. I knew painting the walls and ceiling would be an easy fix, but what was I going to do with all that horrific tile?!
Selecting Paint and Primer for the Ceramic Tile
After living with the tile for a few months (hoping maybe it would grow on us), I decided to attempt to paint it. I marched into the nearest Ace Hardware armed with my grand idea and proceeded to ask for a gallon of high gloss paint in Sherwin Williams “Pure White”. The paint salesman inquired what I could possibly be painting with high gloss paint and when I excitedly told him my scheme, he desperately tried to talk me out of my wild idea. “The paint won’t stick”, “it’ll start flaking off or bubbling up”, “it’s never going to look like right”, “you’re wasting your money on this gallon of paint”, were just a few of his arguments. Not one to be easily dissuaded, I proceeded with my purchase, along with a gallon of my favorite primer, Zinsser 123. I prayed my plan would work because I had a second bathroom with multi-shade blue tile that also needed a facelift.
Cleaning and Prepping the Tile is Imperative
When I got home, I scrubbed the tile with a bleach based cleaner and then rinsed all the walls down with plain water. Then using a 2” brush I carefully primed each grout line, making sure not to leave any extra primer sitting on the tile. I used a Purdy brand brush because I’ve found they tend to lose fewer bristles and precision is the name of the game when it comes to painting ceramic tile.
After priming all the grout lines and allowing time to dry, I took a 3” foam roller and primed the faces of the tile being careful not to leave excess paint pooling in the grout lines. I repeated this process over all the tile and grout lines a second time so there were two coats of primer.
Here Comes the Paint!
Once the primer coats were dry, I got out the gallon of high gloss Sherwin Williams “Pure White”. Using the 2” Purdy brush I painted the grout lines just like I had done with the primer. The high gloss paint takes much longer to dry between coats so make sure to read the directions on your brand of paint before you recoat. If you try to rush the dry time it will start to peel and create huge problems down the road.
After the first coat on the grout was dry, I used the 3” foam roller and carefully rolled on the first coat of high gloss paint making sure no paint dripped or pooled in the grout lines. During the painting phase it’s very important not to have any drips, brush strokes, or roller lines showing, because they will become very visible in the finished product because of the high gloss. If you do have any drips, etc. you’ll need to sand them down and reprime that spot twice before painting. Two or more thin coats will yield a much better end product than one thick coat.
How Has it Held Up Long-Term?
I used two coats of paint and then let them fully cure before testing their durability. The high gloss paint forms a sort of shell on the tile and is quite resistant to scratches. After using the bathroom for two years, I’ve only had to touch up two spots. One was compliments of my toddler and his potty chair, and the other I might have dropped the top of the dryer against it.
Overall, I will definitely paint ceramic tile again if we ever find ourselves in a house with hideous colored tile. It changed the entire look of the bathroom, saved my sanity, I didn’t have to rip out and dispose of hundreds of pounds of ceramic tile, and the whole project cost under $100.
I also made sure to tout my renovation success to the paint salesman at the local Ace Hardware too. Don’t ever tell a determined woman she can’t do something! Because really, it can’t be that hard, right?!
