How to Paint Tile | Ask This Old House

In this video, This Old House paint expert Mauro Henrique helps a homeowner avoid a costly and drawn-out project by painting his avocado green tiles with an epoxy paint.

Paint expert Mauro Henrique heads out on a house call to check out a beautiful kitchen renovation, the homeowner takes Mauro to the issue: an avocado green bathroom tile. Mauro first explains the options to the homeowner, explaining that he can either tear all of the tiles down and rebuild or simply paint the tiles. In light of budget and time, the two decide to paint the existing tile.

Difficulty: ⅖
Time: A weekend
Cost: Under $100

Where to find it?



All products can be found at local home centers.

Materials:

Tools:

About Ask This Old House TV:
From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.

Follow This Old House:

How to Paint Tile | Ask This Old House

[googeetzgageetz]

A lot of harsh comments but for $30 and a couple hours of time, he got what he wanted: white tile that will look 'decent' for years until he does a full bathroom renovation. The title of the video was "How to Paint Tile" and you clicked it so you got what you wanted as well; a video of someone doing a decent job painting tile 😄

[kerrymoutray]

Oh the bathroom is now definitely dated with that dark blue and white. Argh!! Should have kept the Sage Green and painted the wall White. It Could have been Stunning!

[cpassehl]

Not everyone has the money to tackle every project at once. When we bought our first house it had 1950s everything, and money for first time homeowners is not unlimited. This makes sense when you want to eventually retile in a few years, but don’t want to look at pink/yellow/green tile every day until then. It’s not a permanent solution, but it is a cost effective holdover. For a days work and less than $100 it works for a while.

[bngr_bngr]

I like the green tile. He should have just painted the walls white. The blue is to dark for the small bathroom.

[YerBrwnDogAteMyRabit]

I would have said "DON'T" paint tiles too, but SANDING the glaze down makes all the difference. I don't care what the manufacturer says; people don't wanna sand, so they say you don't have to. The bottom line is that better adhesion is achieved when you remove the sheen from ANYTHING.

[KSUGA-mose]

I love these videos for realistic weekend projects. I have a 1950's home, as well. I feel like I'm always updating something, but I can only do things a little at a time.

[myhonestreview]

Beautiful inexpensive way of updating ur bathroom! Looks great!

[TheBritishPatriot]

Wow! Second owner on a 1950’s house, the original family lived there for 70-ish years and it looks like they took good care of their home.

[srharris]

I have painted tiles similarly to the way showed. It works decently, but in my experience spraying it is a nicer finish. We sprayed all the tiles with an airless paint sprayer, I came back to the house around 2 years after and it still looked great.

[jelsner]

I'd leave the green tile and paint the upper wall white. Work with it! When I moved into my house the bathroom tile was painted beige over pink. The paint kept chipping off and it looked awful.

[Kraziken]

I would like to see what the tile looks like up close. With a roller or brush you'll leave a micro texture.

Airless spray you will have a smooth finish

[michaele]

There are a lot of comments, most say they would do it this way or that. I think the point of this video is that painting can be done. TOH knows there are several options.

[YaGirlOutside]

Shoot, this is exactly what I needed. A refreshed look

[samarperry]

I think it came out great but the blue is dark. I actually liked the green and would've painted the cabinet white and probably popped a new counter and faucet a new fixture with a mirror to tie it together but mine would have costed like $300 compared to the $30 but would've been a nice mid century modern feel. But congrats on getting it the way you like it! Beautiful result. 😊

[elizd]

so why do they clean before they sand? I mean, wouldn't everything come off during sanding anyway?

[akoznasovajusername]

That dark blue paint in the bathroom looks rather odd.
A bit depressive, actually.
Maybe a light blue would fit better.
Or better yet, leave the tiles green and paint the wall white.
Although the video shows us how tiles can be painted as well, it won't be long when the paint will start to chip and crack regardless it's an epoxy based paint, and then you need to sand it all down.

[edttt]

Awesome to know you can paint. I was always curious how it was done. But I wasn’t a fan of this dark blue.

[sylviarosario]

He should’ve invested in new cabinets and an entire new sink. Updated the mirror and painted the wall a lighter shade besides that tacky blue.
The tile came out beautiful.

[richardb.]

Green tile is beautiful - why paint it boring white?

[lowmanagain]

Im a licensed builder and a licensed collision tech. Im just going to spray it. I done it 100 times out of the 300 properties i have bought and sold over the last 30 years.