Do-It-Yourself Plywood Floor Painting

Remove everything in the room. Vacuum and sweep the plywood floor thoroughly.

Examine the floor for cracks or depressions. Fill in these problem areas with wood filler using a putty knife. Choose a color that is close to the color of your plywood. There are plastic-type wood fillers or compounds that can be mixed with water and dry hard. Consult the professional at the home improvement store for the available choices. Also, choose wood filler that can be painted over. Depending on the brand of wood filler you are using, it can take 15 minutes to 2 hours for it to dry.

Sand the areas with 150-grit sandpaper always going with the wood grain, never against it. The area can be sanded by hand or with a hand-held sander. Just be careful when using the electric sander so you don’t remove too much wood. You only want to even out the wood filler so it is level with the floor.

Vacuum the floor thoroughly to remove all the dust and debris. Wipe the surface with a tack cloth to ensure all the dust is gone. For a perfect paint job, the surface has to be free of dust and clean.

Fill a bucket with warm water and wash the entire area with a damp cloth. Change the water when it gets dirty or you will be redistributing the dirt on the floor. Allow the floor to dry overnight or longer if there is a lot of humidity in the air or if you used too much water when cleaning the floor.

Stir the primer with a drill fitted with a paint stirring attachment for 5 minutes. Paint the surface of the plywood floor with a brush or a paint roller. If using a paint roller, pour the primer into a paint tray and use a paint brush to prime the corners and along the wall’s edge. Start painting in one corner of the room, on the opposite side of the exit door, and work your way out

Allow the primer to dry for 24 hours.

Stir the paint with a drill fitted with a paint stirring attachment for 7 minutes or until well mixed. Apply the paint as you did the primer in Step 6. If you want to add several coats of paint, allow each coat to dry according to label directions and then repeat this step until you achieve the look you want. Allow the final coat of paint to dry for three days.

Stir the polyurethane to distribute the hardeners that have settled on the bottom. Stir slowly and carefully so you do not incorporate air bubbles.

Brush the polyurethane onto the plywood floor, going in the direction of the wood grain. A sponge brush will work better than a bristle brush as it eliminates the brush strokes showing. Allow this layer to dry at least 24 hours.

Sand the floor lightly using 320-grit sandpaper. Be careful that you don’t sand through the thin urethane coat.

Vacuum the floor to remove sawdust. Wipe the floor with a tack cloth to make sure you remove all the dust.

Repeat Steps 10, 11 and 12 for the second coat of polyurethane.

Apply a third coat of polyurethane onto the plywood floor repeating Steps 10 and 11. Allow the polyurethane to dry thoroughly before you move the furniture back into the room.