Painting Kitchen tile advice please

I only have experience of using tile paint in a bathroom in a previous house. All the prep was done as per the instructions, and it ended up looking, well, a bit shit. I wouldn't use it again.

Having painted the tiles in the bathroom - following the instructions to the letter I would say don't paint. 

The paint is falling off & it looks shite. 

If you don't want to retile I would look at sheet alternatives.

I've done it in the bathroom and its fine. Can't remember how I prepared the surface (15 years ago)  but used a small gloss paint roller to apply two coats.

I would use sugar soap. Get as clean as possible

Clean grout with a paste of bleach and bicarbonate of soda. Leave on as long as possible but at least an hour, then wash off. It will remove grime

Use zinser as a primer/undercoat

Appropriate top coats

Use a small roller

Don't skimp on the prep

Clean the tiles, prep them, undercoat with specialist paint. Carefully paint with the most expensive tile paint you can find.

Once it has dried, admire your work for thirty to fourty seconds, rip the tiles off and re tile.

Echo all the above, sugar soap, rinse with water, prime with appropriate primer, paint with good quality tile paint.

Then re-tile because it'll look like painted tiles and not last very long.

Painted the tiles in my old flat in Brum.  Prepped properly, spent a fortune on primer and the proper paint & after 6 months it all needed ripping off and re-tiling.  About as good as hammerite on a rusty Toys r Us swing. 

Our 18 year old kitchen is in need of updating.

18 years old - it's just getting bedded in.

I am however living in a house that has not had a lick of paint or a carpet...or anything not artisanally 'adjusted' by my rodent cohabitants since when the house was 'modernised' in 1982....so my standards might be a little low.

As to tile paint.....it's just a way to make tile replacement a necessity within 6 months rather than a long term aspiration. 

Have done it once and would never do again. Even with the most careful prep it is still a stopgap job at best and just wasted time and money.

Just shop around for some cheap or seconds tiles. Tile places can get quite fussy about selling a whole job from a matching batch, so if you aren't super fussed you can buy leftover boxes from mixed production batches. Very subtle changes in tile colour will still look miles better than any paint job (maybe mix the tiles up if it isn't too noticeable, or keep all one batch on one wall so light change hides a slight colour variation). 

You can get a reasonable diy finish by planning well (where cuts will fall) and going slow and careful, and you can work in small areas if you need to keep a functional kitchen. Cuts around sockets can be done by chain drilling and a tile hand saw blade and tile file. If you have lots of cheap spare tiles to go at then it really doesn't matter how many you break learning how to cut them. 

Dont do it, I spent ages cleaning and following the instructions. IT still look rubbish within 6 months. The colour yellowed even thought it was in a bathroom with no windows

Agree with all of the comments as I tried this on my old kitchen: the tiles looked old before I painted them, I did all the prep, took care painting them and the result was that the tiles looked old but badly painted ..end result was best described as "hmm...". Yes, re-tiling is a PITA but will look far better and probably masively improve the look of your kitchen.

Previous owner painted mine. 

They looked like someone had painted some tiles 

Wouldn't recommend. 

Did the kitchen last year and wasn't convinced it would look any good or be durable, based on testing it on some spare tiles. But we went ahead anyway. Used zinser as a primer. Turned out better than expected. Best results were with a small foam roller after brushing into the grout. Did all the recommended prep as above. Once the layers build up it starts to look more convincing. Definitely needed more than the recommended two coats! It's proven to be quite durable so far. I was concerned it would just chip off with minimal contact but it's proven me wrong. 

Posted by: convert

↑

it's just a way to make tile replacement a necessity within 6 months rather than a long term aspiration. 

Perfectly put

Why not just tile over the existing tiles, like the fella I bought my house from?

Why not just tile over the existing tiles, like the fella I bought my house from?

🤣 🤣 🤣 

OP I think the consensus is DON’T DO IT!

I have to agree. Painted tiles look horrid. 

you might be surprised how a thorough clean can transform them. The sugar soap scrub and grout sprucing regimens folks have described should see them at their best. 

If you really want to change them then remove and retile or replace with something like a glass or metal splashback sheet. 

I believe our kitchen tiling, worktops, and cupboards date back to 2008, 2009 at the latest They still work and I still like them. We did get the ceiling and walls a fresh lick of paint last year and updated the under-cupboard lighting with new LED strips to replace the old, faded and flaky LED strips. 

Get a small (tester) pot of paint the colour you want and paint it straight onto one or two tiles.

Allow to dry.

Stand back, say to yourself "what the hell was I thinking" and start choosing new tiles.