Tile Paints

I was thinking of having a go at painting my old kitchen wall tiles over the next few weeks.

As i've never done this before I was wondering whether anyone has actually used the paints and what they are like? Does it flake off / chip after a short time? I was thinking of using one of the paints that you can just paint on and not have to treat the tiles beforehand?

Any tips / experiences from people who have used them would be appreciated.

Thanks

Alison

Dont do it!:smt103

No matter what method you use to apply the paint-it will always look like paint.It chips fairly easy and then flakes off when water gets inbetween.Better to retile cos you'll never achieve the same finish with paint.You can tile straight over old tiles no problem which saves on the dirty,chipping off stage.Just be careful where the tiles end cos of the additional thickness on edges.

<whispers> I'll let you into a secret...buy your tiles from a small independent store cos you can barter the price.Most ceramic tiles have a mark up of 300-400% on them...but i havent told you that...

Now you tell us! We painted ours and although the finish is ok, it's not brilliant and was a pain in the a** to do. Trust me, OH was cursing it the whole time!

Couldn't agree more with Steve.

I painted two whole toilet blocks in my school with tile paint...sky blue, dark blue and yellow.

Catch them in the right light, they look okay. However, close up and you can see it's only paint! Even thinning the paint right down and applying it with a mini gloss roller didn't work.

Also, the dark blue was a NIGHTMARE, it took four coats just to cover over the old white tile.

I also found that it chipped very easily, even a kid scrapping a pencil down the tiles took the paint off. To combat their infatuation with removing the paint, I purchased a clear, high durability coating to go over the tile paint which worked well. However, at £120 for 5 litre, it's not cheap!

I'd go for re-tiling...every time.

Totally agree with Steve on this one, can't you tile over tiles? I had the bathroom done that way and it looks fantastic, old tiles gone, but underneath the new ones!

I also have to agree with Steve, don't do it, my friend painted over the tiles in her kitchen, and very soon they were flaking and looked awful, save your money

In addition to what i already said...

A good way of achieving a sophisticated look,but at a bargain price is to use cheap 4" or 6" plain white gloss tiles and then use silver decorative tiles to inject colour.You can get British made tiles by 'Candy' from most tile shops sometimes for as little as £5 per metre.Once they're up and grouted-you would never know their budget.

Apply a waterproofing agent afterwards to the grout and it will never get dirty.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I had a sneeky feeling that it was too good to be true and it looks like from the posts that its best to steer well away. Especially as i'm the first to admit that i'm not that good at decorating!

I think i'll try and go for the tile over tile option. My tiles are cemented into the wall (I live in an old house), when I took them out in the bathroom they took large chunks of the wall with it and I couldn't face that mess again!!

Thanks for everyones replies. Will definately be looking for the small tile shops.

Happy New Year

Alison