Do not paint tiles, do not paint your bathroom tiles. I say this with all the love in the world but over my years of renovating bathrooms where there has been tile paint I can tell you it often ends badly.

I have spent my life looking at bathrooms where the owner decided they would try and paint directly on tiles and even unfortunately new owners who did not realize they were painted on and the frustration is real.

Painting Tiles Versus Tiling Over Tiles

Painting over tiles I am sure is not everyone’s first choice as painting bathroom tiles is much cheaper than retiling. The other practice people do is tiling over tiles which I do not recommend but CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION

Painting tiles or painting bathroom tiles especially is not a long-term solution. Whether six months or six years from now, the paint will begin to flake and chip.

When Is Painting Tiles A Good Option?

Painting is a quick and low-cost way to freshen up tile in the short term. But tile replacement is always the best option for long-term durability.

So the best time and probably the only time I would suggest painting a tile or painting over a bathroom tile would be if the next week you are going to sell the house.

I can almost guarantee that you will chip or the paint will flake the moment someone catches it wrong which changes that beautiful white finish and that cream or color stands out straight away.

Additionally, if you are painting some wall tiles like a splashback or skirting tile you can get away with it but you just need to be careful

If you are going to paint tiles or paint bathroom tiles my advice is only to do this for selling reasons if the goal is to spruce up your bathroom to make it more sellable or if you are painting tiles away from moisture or areas you will walk on.

Those two are the fastest tile paints to fade and will look like your tiles have something wrong with them which will make you think why did I even bother?

Whatever your situation and take this advice how you will but often these things end badly and are not worth it, in the long run, good luck and always enjoy the end product.

My Expert Tips For Painting Bathroom Tiles (If You Still Want To Do It)

Like any type of painting you do prep work is king and by far the most important part of the tile painting process. Below are three easy steps

1. Cleaner The Better

Firstly you want to start by giving your walls a thorough clean with some soapy water or sugar soap like this awesome Shelley product will do the trick and after everything is clean sand it all down with some 180 grit sandpaper.

Honestly, it is completely up to you with how much you sand but know if anything has heavy traffic you want that don’t correctly. Remove all the dust after sanding

2. Did I Say Cleaning

Twice for making it nice. Do the cleaning one more time maybe with some added white spirits to the cleaning process to make sure everything is perfect.

All this prep is the most important part just because you don’t want to get third into it and you can see a disaster happening.

3. Time To Get It Out and Paint

Whip out that paintbrush and get painting. Like painting anything wall-based get that roller working hard that annoying edges are done with a quality brush that lasts.

The first coat will look brutual but I would tell you three coats generally will work best when painting over tiles.

In terms of what type of paint just look out for tile paint in your local store or bunnings White Knight in Australia do a great range of tile paint and grout pens.

After these three easy steps enjoy and be careful with it.

If you are looking for a bathroom renovation quote and live in Perth, Western Australia just email us at smallbathroomrenovations@gmail.com

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If you have experience with painting over tiles just let us know below 🙂