Brown Paper Floor Technique: FAQs
Our most viewed post and video, by far, is the Brown/Kraft Paper DIY Alternative to Wood Flooring tutorial: how to cover a floor in brown kraft paper to create a great, leather-looking surface. And after having this tutorial get published in Cottages and Bungalows magazineĀ in April 2011 (woot!), more readers and bloggers have tried it in their homes with great success.
It’s also the post I get the most questions about – here, on our You Tube channel, and through email. I thought it was about time to address some of the most common questions people have about this easy, affordable, and beautiful flooring option.
Before I get to the specific questions, I want to emphasize a couple of points that answer most general questions:
- ALWAYS do a test area if you’re unsure. If there is no out-of-the-way place to do it, get a piece of material that is the same as the surface you want to cover and try it.
- If you want to try something other than what I did, don’t be afraid to experiment with your ideas…on your test patch, or the actual floor if you’re a daredevil.
- I can only tell you my experiences– I don’t know exactly how this will work/hold up in your situation. That’s the nature of DIY, I’m afraid.
- This is pretty low-cost and low-impact, so I always tell people to go for it when they want to try something different- don’t be afraid to be creative!
Brown Paper Floor Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Can I do this on concrete?(the most-asked question, by the way- who knew there were so many concrete floors?)
- I haven’t done it myself, so I can only give my reader’s experiences. I’ve been told that using only the polyurethane to “glue” down the paper works for concrete – but not the 3:1 glue-to-water ratio that I use on wood-based sub floors. Paint the concrete with poly, apply the paper and then poly over the top. Again- I haven’t tried it, but I’ve been told this gives good results. If the concrete sits on dirt, there may be moisture issues and I’d do a test area.
- Here’s what one You Tube commenter said:
“Yes I just did it on concrete in my sons room, it looks great, I love it- about to do the hallway now. I just made sure to scrape it clean so it was smooth. But we love it, so glad I found this”
2. Can I do this on tile? Vinyl? Other subfloors like pressboard or plywood?
- See question #1 and general suggestions above
- My only experience has been with wood-based subfloors (specifically, particle board, but I’ve also done patches on plywood- more wrinkles with particle board, less with plywood) – I think putting this over tile would leave grout marks- not sure at all how that would look.
- If the linoleum is in good condition and there aren’t a lot of bumps and ridges in the surface design (most things show up when the paper dries) the paper should adhere. As always, I recommend to do a test patch in an out-of-the-way spot and see what it looks like!
- Here’s a reader comment who applied it to a painted floor:
“If you have a floor that already has a coat of poly on it (we had a painted floor), you can use poly for your glue and it works very well!”Ā
3. How durable is this? Does it last?(second most-asked question)
- Again, I can give you our experiences: in our former house, we did the stairs and the entire upstairs (400 sq. ft.) three years before we sold it. The stairs looked as good as the day with finished them – much to my surprise – and there was one spot upstairs that tore from moving furniture. I touched it up before selling.
- At our current house, it’s been two years since we finished our son’s bedroomĀ (at the time of this article) and it, too, looks just the same as when we finished it. I think it might be discolored where the bed feet are, but it hasn’t been moved, so I won’t deal with it until it’s needed.
- SO, I feel pretty confident in saying that it’s very durable – considering it’s paper. That’s the result of the polyurethane – I do four coats, but you can always do more, it’ll just cost more.
- UPDATE: see our video, below on how it’s held up after 4 years:
4. Can I do this in a bathroom? Kitchen? Dining room? Etc…
- I haven’t tried it in these areas, though I’ve heard from a few readers who’ve put it down on their bathroom floors. They report good results – one said her parents had it back in the 70s and it lasted more than 7 years. Another reader said after awhile it wore a little in front of the bathtub and they added more paper and poly and it continues to work for them!
- I would think kitchens may be the same, though they get a lot more traffic. My suggestion is to take a chance – for $60-70 and a few days time you’ll have a cool floor for awhile at least. And maybe longer!
5. Can I do this on stairs? On walls? On counters?
- See second point of question #4 – it’s cheap, so go for it and find out!
- As for stairs, as I said in #3, I’ve done it (and others as well) and they really look nice and hold up well
6. How long does it take to finish? Will the wrinkles smooth out? Is it hard on the knees?
- It takes a long weekend – about 3 days – to do the technique like I outlined in the video, longer if you want to stain the paper (more on that below).
- Yes, after the glue/water dries, the wrinkles will be much less noticeable, then pop up again after applying the poly. As the poly dries over the next week, they will lessen until hardly noticeable. Read this post about how I thought I failed, but then didn’t.
- Yes, it’s hard on the knees and the back! Be prepared…
7. Is it loud? Slippery? How do you transition to other flooring (ie, thresholds)?
- We don’t find it to be obnoxiously loud, but it does squeak more than carpet, as you’re walking on the subfloor.
- Yes, it’s slippery like any surface that’s been coated with polyurethane (wood floors, etc.). You’ll need rugs with pads under them and for little kids, those socks with the no-skid bottoms. *smile*
- We buy wood thresholds from the home store and stain them what we want to transition between the lower paper floor and our wood floors. Works for us.
8. How does it hold up with dogs?
- Our dog doesn’t go into the rooms with this floor, so I only know what I’ve read from others. I’ve had readers say their floor was fine with pets. As I’ve said, with the coatings of poly I believe it wears really well. The bonus is, if it does get pulled up in an area by pets (or moving furniture and such) you can simply tear a piece of paper to cover it and poly it down. Good as new, which can’t be said for many other floor treatments.
- That said, I’m not sure there’s any floor that dogs won’t put some scratches in (except carpet, but that has it’s own issues…), so you’ve got to be OK with that, I think.
- If you’re worried about your dog chewing, I’d suggest doing a Google search on dogs and the poly finish. There aren’t edges to be chewed, but you never know what a chewy dog will find.
9. Can I use a roller to apply the polyurethane? Does it smell? Do I have to sand between coats?
- You can use a roller if you want to – I use a brush as it’s easy for me and I can get into the corners and edges without cutting in later. Readers have told me they’ve used a foam mop-head type applicator as well as a roller. I’ve always heard that rollers could increase the bubbles in the finish, plus I have more control with a brush, so that’s what I’ve always used.
- The water-based poly has minimal smell- not at all like the oil-based stuff that is so strong and lingers for days.
- I’ve never sanded between coats. This isn’t a fine finish- just for protection, so I don’t bother.
10. Can I use other types of paper? Fabric?
- Sure! Use any paper you’d like. As with most other questions, I always suggest trying it first.
- I’ve never even imagined it with fabric- you may have problems with edges fraying as you brush the glue on, if it’s a loose fabric. Or not. Experiment!
11. Can I cut the paper into strips?
- I know of a couple of readers who’ve used strips, and they like it. I think it gets harder when the pieces are bigger, though, so keep the pieces easy to handle and glue down.
12. Can I use oil-based polyurethane?
- I DO NOT recommend it. I have had readers tell me it worked for them and I don’t know the difference, but when I tried it (it’s cheaper, and I succumbed…) I had awful oily splotches. I had to tear it ALL up and lay the paper all over again. And the smell- it was so bad, and for days. I’ll never use an oi-based product on it again.
13. Can I stain it? How?
- Yes, readers have successfully stained it. You stain it one of three ways:
- Stain the floor right after the glue/water mixture has fully dried, BEFORE starting the poly coats. Use the stain you’d like and apply it with a foam pad applicator or brush. Let dry fully before starting the poly coats. Here’s one reader’s technique (though I still don’t recommend using anything oil-based with the paper).
- Mix a water-based stain in the glue/water mixture, effectively staining the paper as you go. This is more time-saving than the first option, but you have to experiment with the mixture first to get the ratio so that the floor ends up the color you want.
- For concrete floors, since you’re not using the glue/water mixture, you’ll need to tint the polyurethane (some poly comes with stain in it- you can experiment with that).
14. Can I put another floor over the top of it later? Do I have to rip it up?
- I think that’s one of the nice things about this- if you ever want to install wood (or, heaven forbid- carpet :-), it would go right over the top with no problem. About the only thing you couldn’t do would be to paint it, although people surprise me all the time…maybe someone will do this one day!
- I wouldn’t bother removing it, but I suppose that depends on what you’re putting on top. Guess what? Yeah…do a test patch. *smile*
15. How do you clean it?
- I clean my paper floors like I clean wood floors: I vacuum with a canister vac weekly and use a slightly damp mop as needed (ours are in bedrooms- the need for mopping is not that great). Like wood floors, I never put a lot of water on them- just a damp mop is good. They really are easy care!
16. Can it be repaired if it tears? How?
- Yes, easily. Simply tear and crumple a new piece of brown paper to cover the area to be fixed. Use poly only and brush the floor with it, lay the new piece on the area and brush more poly over the top. Let dry and repeat for the number of coats you’d like.
17. What about resale value?
- As far as renovations go, this is a pretty inexpensive one, even if it’s just for a few years before you can afford something else. But as I mentioned in another question, we sold our other house with this flooring on the stairs and second floor with no problem. In fact, the new family thought it was cool (we sold it ourselves, so we heard all their comments). Everyone who’s ever visited our houses have thought it was a great floor and many of them have wanted to do it to their own floors. Each situation is unique, though, and I’m sure there are people who wouldn’t like it (they’re probably carpet people!).
- UPDATE: We’ve sold the house pictured here with no problems with the flooring, as well.
Whew! As you can tell, I really have gotten a lot of questions about this. If you’ve made it this far, you must be interested in trying this so if you have any more questions I haven’t mentioned, be sure to leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best (or our readers will!) to answer them here. I’ll just keep adding to the list.
And be sure to tell us if you’ve done this technique and leave a link if you’ve posted about it on a blog or website!
Can you do this on a concrete floor that is not heated during a Wisconsin winter?? Will the poly crack???
I’m not sure, Suzie, having never done it. š I’ve only read about warmer climates trying it, though. Is it possible to do a test area?
I did my bathroom floor and my counter top with wallpaper illusions wallpaper. I did it pretty much like the paper bags flooring was done.And it turned out beautiful! Now I want to do it on a concrete patio. I’m not worried about getting the paper to stick to the concrete. I just can’t find any info on what to put on top of the paper. The polyurethane won’t work because it is for interiors use. So I was wondering if anyone out there has any ideas what I could use instead of polyurethane that would work for outside?
That sounds really interesting, Sharon! I know there is an outdoor poly made to coat wood boats – I think it’s called ‘Spar’ or something? It’s probably oil-based, though, and you may run the risk of the oil splotches appearing that happened to me when I tried an oil based poly.
I used the poly for boats on my hard wood floor in my din ning room it lasted 25 years.
What a great idea, your floors are beautiful!!!!
I have cement floors in my living room and kitchen so I’m
going to give this a try.
Thank You for the tutorial,
Kathy
I’m sorry, I don’t have a reply re: the radiant heating issue…but yet, another question…There are wood floors (strips as opposed to squares) in this house…I am wondering if this technique can be used directly on top of the wood flooring or does it have to be removed?
I don’t have any experience with using this on floors with radiant heating, Gail, so I really can’t comment about that – sorry! I’m sure the paper could be applied over wood floors, but I would prefer to use the wood as flooring – this has always been our option for when we couldn’t put wood floors down! So, again, I haven’t done it, but I’m sure it could be done. š
We have poured terrazzo floors and the heat is built in the floors! So if any one has tried this technique please let me know if it worked ! We layed lament floor on top if terrazzo after we were assured it would work on concrete heated floors!! FYI… The heat doesn’t come through and the two rooms we did are usually colder than rest if the house and come spring when it starts to get humid , the lament floor rises like a big air bubble from the concert floor sweating !! I have to turn on air conditioning and then roll a flat piece of furniture over the huge “bubble”!!! We have ceramic tile over the terrazzo in the kitchen and it heats up well!! So any info if this technique works in radiant heat I would love to know!
Thanks
Tamy
Hey guys. Thanks a lot for all this useful information. The main question we have is the same as Carmen’s – can somebody please answer it for us – is it ok to do it with underfloor heating? Will the glue not go soft because of the heating? Has anybody tried it? Any ideas would be most welcome and appreciated! Seasons greatings and thanks again
Jami,
Wrinkles…….Ugggggg……..We mixed the glue …..3 parts water and 1 part glue because we were putting this onto a plywood subfloor in a bedroom where we had removed a carpet…we did as instructed, pasting the pieces and overlapping…..when the glue and paper dried (28hrs) we had quite a few wrinkles throughout the floor. We were going to glue down the paper and then wait till next weekend to poly. However, during the week we found ourselves cutting out wrinkles and pasting new paper over the top of several areas. We were wondering..What did we do that caused so many wrinkles? We did change our mixture to 50/50 on the glue and water when doing the patches because we thought it was better.
Now we are at the Poly stage and have read that that seems to wrinkle as well.(a bit fearful of that)…..What water based poly to you suggest?
Thank You for this great information and page!
Janet…
I always just cut my glue with water to the consistency of cream (like I mention in the video) – although lots of commenters have used more accurate measurements. š 3 parts water to glue, though, is too watery – I’m sure mine is almost the opposite, 3 parts glue to 1 part water.
Also using smaller pieces of paper helps with the wrinkles, I’ve found. The dried glue-paper should be pretty flat before the poly step, and yes, the poly causes it to wrinkle again, but it will flatten out over the next week as it dries thoroughly. Sometimes diy projects are trial-and-error – sorry! I sure hope you like the result as much as we do!
Can the Elmer’s glue be “Elmer’s Glue All” instead of the school glue?
Yes, Lisa – they’re interchangeable. š
We have radiant heat in our house (heat is in the floors). Aside from drying quickly, would the poly stand up to heating in the winter? I love this idea. Our basement floor has been unfinished for 11 years.
Hmmm, that’s the first question I’ve gotten like that, Sara – I don’t know, but since it’s basically sealed like a wood floor I would think it would work. Maybe do a test patch somewhere?
I am looking at doing this in my basement on concrete and I also have in-floor heating, I am wondering if you did this if it is working for you with the in-floor heat? Also my cement floor is painted, will just light sanding work to help things adhere down?
I wonder if you can use wall paper? I have a couple of rolls and would love to try them on the floor of my bedroom…
Since it’s basically decoupage, you can use any paper I would think, Debra. Go for it and let us know how it turns out!
I also wanted to add.. I seen someone online had used a mica glitter spray from a craft store over the dried paper floor before they Pollyed the floor and it looked beautiful ! The spray comes in gold copper and a coco chocolate brown color and u just spray it about 9 to 12 inches above the floor, it dries fast and it looked so nice after the Polly was put over it … Had a touch of glimmer š
Ok so I did the rite dye in the glue and water mixture ! It works great but I had to quit half way through due to my knees and back killing me and restart up the next day. The glue water and dye mixture was exact to the day before , so I finished the room went to bed … The next am there is this dark line going all the way down through the middle of the floor where I started back up to finish the floor. I found on lone someone who also had this happen and they said its from overlapping the dye where it had dried and then re dyed. So now I’m going to try and save the floor by experimenting and dyeing the paper first drying it and going over the bad dark lined area with just water and glue over the color matched rite dyed paper that’s fully dried and see if that works! Sigh so if your gunna use the rite dye in the glue and water mixture be sure u finish it all before it dries or don’t do it at all.
So sorry, Cindy! But thanks so much for letting us know and potentially saving someone else from having to deal with that, too. I sure hope your fix works!
I am halfway through the glue-down phase, using Home Depot Kraft paper with 1 part Weldbond glue to 4 parts water. I am dunking the paper briefly, letting it drip until most of the glue has dripped off, then I slap the paper down onto the floor and smooth it gently with my fingers from center to edges. I usually see a bit of glue squish out as my fingers approach the edge. I thought this was a good thing, as I was sure that the edges would have enough stickum. But this may have bit me when I was forced to do the floor in multiple steps.
After sticking down the straight-edged pieces around the perimeter (and running out of my first batch of diluted glue, I discovered that the 3 L bottle of glue I bought had solidified before it got to me. so ordering more and found myself delayed me for a week. Resuming work, I find after the new segment dried I had picked up a dark line on the first-laid paper outlining my new work. I assume that this is due to a second layer of glue as I squished it out from beneath the new pieces.
Any advice on how to deal with this? For today’s work I will attempt to squeegee off as much glue as possible from the transition pieces, and use a lighter hand as I smooth the work. I may also try a wet sponge or perhaps a dry paper towel to pick up any new glue I see on the already-dried pieces.
Thoughts?
Oh, Tim, I’m sorry to say that there is always a noticeable line between areas that weren’t done at the same time. I don’t really know why it happens, just that it’s pretty consistent. When it happened to me, I just started again, going over the top of the old stuff. Also you can try making the line really uneven to hide the inconsistency. š
I was wondering if anyone knows how paper floors are listed in a home appraisal. I’m about to do my entire house with paper floors (a litter of puppies had their way with my existing carpet and laminate), but I’m also working on refinancing our home. I read that painted concrete floors are considered unfinished and are listed as no flooring at all in an appraisal. I’m wondering how an appraiser would classify paper floors. I’m not even sure how to answer his question if he asks what kind of flooring I have. Maybe “decoupage flooring” because it sounds cool instead of “i glued paper to the floor.” Has anyone had a home appraisal with paper floors?
This is a great question – please let us know if you do this and have your house appraised! We sold our house by owner and they had a very picky VA loan appraisal and they didn’t say anything about the entire upstairs flooring being covered in paper. It’s like painting a wood floor – just covering it up. But it will be interesting to hear your experience.
I was wondering, could you use a stamp in a pretty design with paint on some of the paper pieces, random or in a pattern? Would this hold up? I think it would give you infinite possibilities. Designs for a child, such as animals, ABCs, dinosaurs, etc. I have wood sub floors and I want a more finished look, although the leather look is wonderful!!!
I don’t see why not, Gena – it sounds like a great idea to me! Since it would all be covered by the poly it should hold up just the same. If you do this, send some photos my way and I’ll feature them. š
The one I saw the lady said after staining her floors she had white spots. She talked about the paper having a shiny side and regular side. From redoing wood floor several times my guess is the shiny side goes down and the regular side goes up. Am I correct in guessing that? Thank you for your time and I love this and will do it in my living room and kitchen that connect together.
I haven’t noticed a shiny side on the painter’s paper I use, Yvonne, but you may be right if there is a shiny side. Glad you like the look!
Hey there!! I am in the process of laying down my paper floor now. My mother in law came up to help me and the pieces she laid down were covered in glue and she rubbed it raw… how do I fix this? Any suggestions would be fabulous!
Two things can work, Natasha: let the pieces dry that your MIL did and then scrape them out with a putty knife, getting as much as you can – then redo the area to look like the rest OR if the rubbed raw areas aren’t too bumpy, simply add new pieces over them. Let everything dry thoroughly before adding the topcoats and you should be good to go!
Thank you!! In some places I just added new pieces over them and it worked like a charm. In other places the paper seemed to bubble up, so I took a razor and cut around the bubble, took a small damp washcloth and wiped the bubble, and was able to easily remove the bubble and recover it. Just thought I would share my experience in case anyone else has this problem! Thanks again! š
So good to know, Natasha – thanks for taking the time to let us know how that worked for you!
Can this be done on the concrete on my front porch? In other words is it weather proof?
I haven’t tried, Barbara, but I seriously doubt it. š If you do a test, let us all know!
Hi, I haven’t seen any mention of using the technique on formica counters. Are there any special instructions for that?
Thanks!
I’ve had some readers tell me they’ve done counters – and even a refrigerator! – but they haven’t said they did anything different, so I’d assume it’s the same technique. My ongoing suggestion is to always do a test first. š
Hi Jami, thanks for your quick reply I started my floor today using the concrete method. It’s coming out awesome thanks to the you tube and this info. Really loving it.. Will do my bathroom next ..
Hi Jamie,
It was a huge sucess!! Floor is done and one coat of poly on 3-4 more to go. Concrete method is the way to go..Looks fantastic and I can see a few family, and friends may become paper bag floor owners soon. Your awesome and Love my new unique floor… š
Woot! So glad to know, Ann!!
Help! I’m not sure how to get in touch with you. Not sure how old this stream is. Just picked one after not finding what I need. I put the paper down (on stairs) and it looked great. Then put stain on (all 16!!!!!!). Didn’t realize I had used a stain with poly in it. It is awful!!! They now feel crispy crunchy when you walk on them! How do I take off then start over? I know, I know……….test, test, test!!
I always see new comments, Kathy, so this is a good way (you can also use the contact form from the link in under the blog header…). I’m SO sorry to hear about your mistake š I have no idea why that would’ve resulted in a “crispy” end – I would’ve thought that would save you a step! Yes, testing is important! As far as taking it off – finding some way to peel it off is the only way š May be a putty knife and softening it with more poly? I’m not sure, as I’ve never tried to take it off after the poly was applied – only after the glue and I was able to peel most of it up. Do you think you can’t just reapply more on top?
What exactly is the concrete method?
I’m not Ann, April, but if you follow the link to Lovely Crafty Home she details how she did this method (or her dad did, I can’t remember now) on concrete. Basically, my understanding is that they had the best result when skipping the glue-water mix and using poly to adhere the paper to the concrete before coating. The main difference is the cost, as you’ll be using a lot more poly.
How would I apply to a terrazo floor. I live in Florida, and its in every room. It’s clean, and any holes from removing the carpet and nail repaired. Should I use the elmers glue method, or skip it and use the poly as an adhesive? I can’t wait. thanks for your awesome advice and idea…
I don’t know, Ann – I’m not even sure I’ve heard of anyone doing that. My suggestion is the same, though – do a test area. Except try it both ways and see which works best. Let us know if it works for you!
I just spent the last week working on my basement floor doing it in craft paper. It took my 3 young adult sons about 1/2 an hour to rip out carpet in a 450 square foot room–glad to have their strong backs around! And soooo very glad to have the 20 year-old recycled carpet taken to the dump! Then we spent a day stripping the glue off the floor and cleaning with a concrete solvent. Borrowed a shop vac from a friend for this, used a deck scrubbing brush we had and a squeegy on an extension pole. This was a fairly easy process and it took up so much gunk off the floor. Had thought about renting a big sander but was scared off by the price. ( I had planned on staining it but there was just too much paint and other residue that would show through.) My 16-year-old tore and wadded paper for me for several hours and I spent about 16 hours piecing and gluing them down while I watched Downton Abbey streaming on Amazon Prime (highly recommend Downton and Prime). So I fell into bed at 12:30 this morning and when I got up there are still tacky spots. I set up a fan and am waiting to put the poly down until later today. I am not going to stain because the color already compliments the paint on the walls. (Another tip: If you live in Oregon you can buy Metro recycled paint thru Metro but also at all Miller paint stores. $11 a gallon or $50 for 5 gallons–I recommend it. It cover great and comes in a nice selection of colors but can also be tinted. Best value around!) Thanks for the advice on how to do this–I am excited and my boys can’t wait to have their friends over to our new video game/media room with an AWESOME floor!
So glad to read this, Amy! Good tip about the fan, too – it probably took longer to dry because it’s a basement. Good work!