Should you paint walls before or after installing floors? That’s a question I get often, and I have some interesting thoughts on the subject, especially after experimenting and observing what industry professionals have to say.
If you had asked me years ago whether you should paint walls before or after installing floors, I would have told you to paint walls first. In my mind, it made sense because you wouldn’t want to risk paint splashes and droplets on new floors. But, after renovating my bedroom, I realized that it actually made more sense to install floors first before painting walls.
In this article, I’m going to share a list of reasons why you should install floors before painting walls, along with some tips on how to keep your floors and walls in pristine condition during such renovations.
Ultimately, it all boils down to getting the job done in a timely manner with the best results possible.
But, after you read some of my findings below, I think you’ll also agree with me that you should paint walls after installing floors.
Reasons To Install Floors Before Painting Walls
1. It’s easy to protect floors.
If you were to take simple precautions like laying newspaper across the floor and applying protective masking tape to the edges of the wall and floor, you should be able to paint freely without any fear of messing up or damaging the floor.
I know that it’s concerning when you have carpet or wood because it’s a lot more difficult to remove paint from these types of flooring.
But, again, you could protect the entire floor for just a few bucks, and you could save time in the process.
Even if the odd drop of paint manages to get through your protective layer on the floor, it can be removed if you have the right products. It’s even easier to clean up if you wipe up the paint immediately.
2. Wall repairs are time consuming.
I’ve always had to do some kind of repair or filling on walls before painting. These are minor issues that need to be addressed before you paint.
Whether you’re plugging holes, sanding down rough edges, filling cracks, or installing new baseboards, you’ll have to wait some time before the walls are ready to be painted.
That’s a lot of time wasted waiting for cement or fillers to dry and cure.
If you try to paint too soon, you’ll notice a wet spot, or the patchwork will appear visible to some degree.
That’s unattractive. It’s easily avoided by giving it time to dry before sanding and cleaning the wall for a fresh coat of paint.
Rather than waste hours or a day before doing anything else, you may as well install the floor first.
As mentioned earlier, it’s easy to keep floors clean if you place enough protective layers on the ground.
3. Removing old flooring causes damage to walls.
What I’ve noticed from removing pre-existing flooring and replacing it is that some degree of damage will occur to the surrounding walls.
It’s incredibly dusty and dirty to rip off carpeting, wood panels, and ceramic tiles. In the latter case, there’s a lot of dust that is dispersed from all the cement being struck or leveled down.
Imagine painting your walls first and then having this dirt and dust dispersed all over the walls. Left unaddressed or incorrectly cleaned, there’s a strong chance that it discolors the wall paint or at least damages the top coat of paint.
Then there’s the issue of wall edges getting chipped when removing tiles from the corners of the floors as well as the baseboards.
By the time you’re actually done with the flooring, you may have to refill certain areas of the wall and refinish the baseboards.
That’s essentially going to cost you more money while also forcing you to apply another coat of paint to the walls.
4. Improved color coordination.
In the home decor space, we often refer to the term “coordination” as an intentional decision to choose colors, furniture, and flooring that may be different but pair well with each other.
For example, you can coordinate black furniture with white walls or white flooring with gray furniture.
Painting walls is an easy and affordable task compared to installing or changing floors.
If you were looking to find the perfect color or shade of paint for a room, it would be advisable to pair and compare it with the floor.
For this reason, it makes a lot more sense to install the floors first and then paint the walls.
Final Thoughts
Taking all of the above findings into consideration, it really does make sense to paint the walls after installing floors.
You’d need to remove the furniture to tile the floors. You’d also need to remove everything before painting.
To save you the hassle of repeating this process, it just makes sense to remove the furniture once, install the floors, and then paint the walls.
I’m sure that there are some instances when you could paint the walls first. One could argue that if you’re installing carpets, it might be a safer bet to paint the walls before you do.
But, for the most part, I’ll stick with finishing the floors before painting.
With that being said, I hope you found this article to be concise, helpful, and convincing. If you would like to check out some of our other flooring articles, please visit the links below before you leave.
How to make laminate floors less slippery