I have just primed a wood floor and want to stencil it. After the priming do I paint the entire floor the background color then stencil?. What do I use for the final coat(s) to protect the floor and the stenciling?
i definitely would paint my backgound color first
Whenever you paint a floor, it is recommended to use an epoxy-based paint - it will adhere better and suffer much less wear and tear over time because it is more durable. Although, truth be known, I have used acrylic paints with no problems. Presuming you're using a simple stencil pattern to be applied on a solid-coloured background, your next step is to paint the background colour. Two coats should do the trick. Let it dry thoroughly before stencilling over it. Stencilling should be done with a stencil brush - a round brush with a perfectly flat tip. The paint should be thinly applied in a dabbing motion - do not brush it on. The reason for this, aside from the finished look, is that when you brush paint on it is more likely to get under your stencil and make a mess. If you're using more than one colour, you might want to cover the areas on the stencil for all but one colour with masking tape, and let each colour dry before moving on to the next. When you're all done, you could apply a clear coat. The oil or alkyd-based clear coats have a tendency to yellow slightly over time and take quite a while to dry. The water based clear coats won't hold over oil-based paint or emulsion. Check with your local paint supplier to find out which finishing product is best based on the paints you have used. Alternately, depending on the style you are going for, if you have used a durable enough paint, you might want to skip the clear coat so that over time you will have a nice aged and worn-in look to the floor. Good luck.
