Coating tiles: guide for painters and decorators

There is often only one thing that helps with unsightly tiles: lay new tiles or cover them with vinyl stickers. At least that's what many customers think. Coating with tile paint is not only cheaper and time-saving, but also more attractive and resistant than vinyl. To give tiles a new look, you do not have to be a tiler. Painter and decorators, can offer their customers a tile refurbishment by simply coating tiles instead of laboriously removing and then replacing them.

What is tile paint - and can it be sprayed?

Experienced professionals already know it: a paint is a coating material consisting of solvents and binders, colour pigments, fillers and additives. Tile paint is no exception, but the composition of these components is precisely tailored to the purpose of the paint. Tile paints are available for both vertical surfaces (i.e. walls) and horizontal surfaces (for floors), as well as for exterior tiles. Either way, tile paints must be particularly resistant (and weatherproof for exterior surfaces).

Tile paint is available in two versions: single-component paint and dual-component paint.

With the single-component paint, all components are already mixed and can therefore be applied very easily. This tile paint is used when customers want to redesign the colour of their splashback.
For heavy-traffic surfaces such as floors, dual-component paint is required, where the individually supplied components must first be combined and then processed quickly. This combination, which produces a strong, robust finish, makes dual-component paint more expensive and damages the surface of plastic rollers, making it difficult to apply with paint rollers. With dual-component paints especially, it is advisable to spray them with a WAGNER paint sprayer to save time, material and money.

But can tile paint be sprayed?

Yes! Tile paint is excellent for spraying instead of painting. Spraying has the following advantages over other types of application such as painting:

Time saving

On average, it is quicker to spray the tile paint than to apply it with a brush or roller.

Material savings

For the same area, less paint is used when spraying than when painting. This in turn also means a cost saving.

Cost saving

Because less material consumed means less expense.

Problem-free application with a flawless finish

Due to the contactless application there are none of the traces you get with a paint roller or brush and the surface finish of the tiles is preserved (for example with relief tiles).

Apply tile paint with WAGNER equipment

With WAGNER you can choose between the handy XLVP and the powerful airless devices.

For the XVLP (Extra Volume Low Pressure) devices, the regular HVLP technology has been further developed and the atomisation performance increased. Compared to other low pressure devices, the XVLP devices offer 60% more air and 30% more area coverage. The new turbine also allows more materials with a higher viscosity to be processed - such as paints, emulsion and even thixotropic coating materials that change their viscosity. The XVLP devices impress with their handiness:

The FinishControl 3500 is a hand-held device, while the FinishControl 5000 has a spray gun which includes the controls and weighs 800 grams (plus the weight of the material), which is connected to the turbine via a 5-metre-long air hose. There are also a lot of accessories that make your work easier: for example, the various spraying attachments developed for materials of different viscosities, or the Can Adapter, which makes decanting unnecessary by allowing you to screw the paint can directly onto the device.

The WAGNER airless devices are ideal for larger projects, even if you want to coat tiles. As the name suggests, no air is used for the atomisation of the material. Instead, the tile paint is pressed through the nozzle at a material pressure of up to 25 MPa, which splits and finely atomises the material. Both single-component and dual-component paint can be sprayed with the WAGNER devices. Due to the fast processing, the material-saving application and no need for one or more paint rollers, the cost savings with dual-component paints are all the greater!

Coating tiles in 7 steps

As with many painting and decorating jobs, preparation is half the job. If this has been done carefully, the tiling can then be coated with the spray gun easily by hand. We will show you how to do it and take a look at the video in a Munich hallway. Here our Unstoppables start painting the tiles.

Step 1: The preparation - repairs and cleaning

First of all, any damage to the tiles or joints should be repaired. Particularly in the case of heavily used surfaces such as here a wall in the hallway, holes and crack need repaired and filled.

The material used for this, for example filler, must then dry out completely before proceeding further - depending on the tile varnish, it may otherwise react with it.

Then the tiles must be cleaned. From silicone or adhesive residues to grease or household products in the kitchen and bathroom to dirt - all this must be carefully removed so that the tile varnish adheres evenly. Finally, in a final cleaning step, water must be used to ensure that the cleaning agent has been washed off completely.

Step 2: Masking

Now you have to mask. As with any other painting or varnishing project, make sure that all surfaces that are not to be coated are completely masked. Remove objects on the wall, like the handrail here. If kitchen tiles are to be painted and wall tiles go behind cupboards they of course must be removed.

Tip: If you are using an XVLP sprayer, use good quality masking tape. Otherwise the air can separate the tape from the wall and the tile paint ends up being sprayed onto the surface not to be coated.

Step 3: Sand the tiles and clean them again

Sand the tiles so that the paint adheres well. Remove dust and dirt again; microfibre cloths are ideal for this. Now the question is which coating product you use. If your tile paint also contains a primer, you can continue with step 4. If the tile paint is not a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 product, a primer should be sprayed first.

Step 4: Pour in the paint and adjust the sprayer

Now mix the tile paint according to the manufacturer's instructions. For an ideal colour result, material-saving and comfortable working, we recommend diluting the paint by 10 % with water. You can then adjust the spray gun: Direct Spray Control allows you to align the spray jet horizontally or vertically on an XVLP device, as well as adjusting the width of the jet. For this purpose, you can continuously regulate the material and air volume. On an airless machine, such as the SuperFinish 23 Plus with TempSpray shown below, you can also set the orientation, material pressure and quantity. Briefly test the settings on a piece of cardboard.

Step 5: Spraying paint and coating tiles

Now the actual coating process begins: the spraying itself. Make sure that the angle and distance to the surface is as constant as possible so that the paint application is even. For an even finish, work wet on wet in a crosscoat pattern to avoid edges or visible transitions. Remove the tape while the tile paint is still wet. If the tile paint is already too dry, it may flake off at the edges when the tape is peeled off.

Step 6: Sealing

Some surfaces require a sealant. These are tiles that come into permanent contact with water, like in the bathroom. Or the tiles in the kitchen near the stove and the sink - here there is a permanent burden of water and steam as well as grease splashes. However, even heavily used areas can benefit from the additional protection. For this purpose, fresh masking must be applied so that tile paint residues dried onto the old film do not come off and get into the sealant.

Step 7: Cleaning

Finally, all that remains to be done is to clean the device and to inform the customer how long the tiles in question need to dry out. For cleaning, you can simply disassemble the devices and rinse them with warm water. You can easily place the airless sprayers return pipe hose in a bucket of warm water and switch the appliance on, then it will virtually clean itself.

The result

The result of our Unstoppables and the tile coating in the Munich hallway is certainly worth seeing. Our before and after pictures show the hallway with new tile paint:

What should be considered when spraying tile paint?

Not every tile paint is also suitable for surfaces that have to withstand permanent exposure to water, such as bathtubs or sinks. Before application, check carefully whether the tile paint meets the necessary requirements!
For interior work: ensure good ventilation, but no draughts. Otherwise, dust will be blown up and settle on the tiles to be coated or on the freshly applied paint.
Unless you are applying a 2-in-1 tile paint that already contains a primer, you should definitely pre-treat the tiles with a primer.
Coatings are best processed when they are at room temperature. The container contents are then at their smoothest and most homogeneous, so that even application is possible. The tile coating is then particularly easy to apply. For this purpose, it is best to store the paint at around 22 degrees for about 24 hours. Ideally, the temperature should remain constant between 22 and 25 degrees for 5 days even during curing!

WAGNER TempSpray: useful addition to the spray gun

As we have already mentioned - tile paint should be at a uniform temperature and preferably at least at room temperature, if not a few degrees above. Especially for larger projects that are not indoors, a constant paint temperature can be difficult to maintain. A hallway is not heated, and outside, temperatures of over 20 degrees are only achievable in summer.

The solution is WAGNER TempSpray. Heating in the hose reduces the viscosity of the paint, making the tile paint less viscous - which favours an even spray jet and thus an even application. Our TempSpray System is directly installed in the SuperFinish 23 Plus (AL) TempSpray Spraypack, which you have already seen in action in the video: during the renovation of the tiles in the Munich hallway.

"Covering with vinyl is better" and other common misconceptions

When it comes to the renovation of existing tiles, there are still various misconceptions. One of them is:

"Laying new tiles is faster."

This is by no means the case. Nowadays there are paints that can be processed quickly. Many tile coatings, for example, only have a drying time of four hours, after which work can continue. All in all, the tiles can be prepared, primed, repainted and possibly sealed, all in one day. In addition to time, it also saves a lot of dirt, effort and money.

"Then I might as well roll it."

Applying tile paint with a special paint roller in principle of course is not wrong . However, you always apply the surface structure with a brush or roller. In the case of smooth tiles, this can result in undesirable brush strokes or paint drips. With relief tiles, however, the paint collects in the depressions due to the heavy application, which causes the surface texture to be lost. With a paint spraying system from Wagner, you apply the paint without contact, i.e. without unwanted patterns, and that saves material. It's also faster than the conventional paint roller. And cleaning a WAGNER spray device is also very easy, because it can be disassembled into its individual parts while the pump rinses itself with warm water.

"Covering the tiles with vinyl is faster and cheaper."

Also a false assumption. Film may be inexpensive, but it is far less resistant than special tile paint. In addition, spraying with a WAGNER paint spray device also saves a lot of material. The price difference may therefore not even exist. The tiles must be prepared and cleaned in both cases - and if the tiles have a decorative relief, it is not only time-consuming but also complicated to apply the film correctly.

"Customers prefer new tiles."

Many customers are not at all aware that it's possible to re-coat tiles. So if a customer expresses dissatisfaction with their current tiles and that they should be completely re-laid: talk about the possibility and inform the customer that repainting the tiles is possible. Most likely, customers will also prefer a new coating on the tiles as a time-saving and inexpensive alternative to re-laying!

Our TempSpray products at a glance