My most viewed post and video 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.
After having this tutorial get published in Cottages and Bungalows magazine 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 water-to-glue 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!”
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 bedroom 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.
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!).
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!
This is linked to Tutorials and Tips, Saturday Nite Special, DIY Project Parade, and Remodelaholic’s Anonymous.
I believe a cottage can be anywhere or anything (condo, ranch, farmhouse) as long as you have a "cottage mentality" which puts people above things, celebrates imperfections, embraces simplicity, and finds joy in everyday life. Thanks for joining me!
Wow! this is great and very thorough!
I found your technique through YOUtube and I did it in my bathroom…to date…it is my 2nd most viewed post and running a close 1st! I’ve had my floor pinned and that made my day. I didn’t do an extensive DIY video but I linked you as my ‘go to’ research. I will definitely be linking this informative post to any future posts about my floor.
I love it. I’ve only had it a little over a month, but it is holding up pretty well.
I did my floor over vinyl and DID notice a couple of place that HAVE BUBBLED. As soon as it warms up enough to cut the propane water heater off again ( I used oil based poly) I’ll be cutting, Re-glueing, and patching. I’m confident it will be an inexpensive and EASY FIX!
Thanks for all your great info.
~Pat
Oh, yes, Pat – I remember your floor because you did it with strips to look like wood! I didn’t know you’d done it over vinyl, though. So glad you are adding to our conversation by telling us your experience with using it over vinyl! Thanks so much!
I want to know what sort of prep work needs to be done if my concrete slab has previously had self adhesive tiles on it? Does the entire slab need to be ground down prior to application? Or will the left over adhesive help to make the paper stick? When we purchased our house the previous owners had applied these “lovely” little tiles. We wanted to stain and poly the concrete floors but would have had to grind the slab to remove all of the adhesive. Will the paper bags cover this so that we will not have to do this? I love this technique but I am not sure if I can get my husband on board if it will require us to remove the leftover adhesive.
I’ve never done the technique on cement, Robin, so I can only give you my guesses. Any bumps on the floor show through the paper (little rocks/debris left before application), so if the adhesive is uneven and has bumps, you will see it and it might even make the paper wear there as you use it. You can try a test area, like I suggest above. Good luck with your project!
Thank you so much for all of this information! I have HIDEOUS linoleum in my kitchen but we can’t afford to replace it so this paper technique is one I’ve been contemplating. I’m going to pin this and your other information and if I get brave enough to do this, I’ll let you know!
i am curious to know how things worked out using the paper technique over linoleum.
I did it over a year ago throughout my entire house, 2 bathrooms and the kitchen were vinyl. One of the bathrooms I used the pages from a book about Victorian trade cards in one bathroom, pages from a vintage cookbook on the kitchen floor and I used laser printed pictures of cats in the other bath. They all turned out fine, except the trading card book bled a bit from the polyurethane. I put some strain over it, which I had also done in the kitchen, and now it just looks cool and antique. The bathroom I sealed with MOD podge (you can get it by the gallon – use matte) and it has held up as well as the rest. I got that idea from someone on Flickr who did her counters that way. Granted, the second bathroom doesn’t get the traffic of the rest of the house. I’ve saved cookbook pages for patching, and could always print more cats,I haven’t had to patch any of them but a few places of the plain brown paper floor where it wasn’t smooth enough in high traffic areas and the high spots wore off. Simple fix with another piece of paper, a bit of glue, and I patched with MOD PODGE. I love it all! I will mention I did not crumple the book pages, though I DID crumple the brown paper. Also, if your vinyl floor has texture it will show a bit, it doesn’t bother me, but I will note staining makes it less visible.
Awesome, Fran! Thanks for sharing your adaptations and how it’s worked in your house and traffic areas – I always get questions about this, so it’s really helpful!
When you decide to do your floor try this first, do a sample, wet your paper thoroughly, I let my paper sit in a bucket of water. And get good and wet, remove, take a damp cloth and wipe off the back, use white glue do not dilute and paint on and glue then lay down wipe with damp cloth to smooth off and no wrinkles. Also I base coat my paper white , I use paint and glazes over the base paint or you could just paint it, tear and apply, it will take longer to prepare but it works. I do walls, furniture, just about everything. If you can afford a roll of paper and a gallon of oops paint light in color, paint your roll of paper in strips let dry and when you can afford it do the next steps. I just roll the painted strips up and use as needed, this is very addicting as you will want to cover everything. Let me know.
Amazing finish! I’d love to try this on something! Maybe I’ll start with a wall or door… oh my… now my imagination has gone crazy…
Shared on FJI Facebook for SNS 127.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150759610031141&set=a.192514281140.164586.175378011140&type=1&theater
Donna
Saw this 20 years ago in a kitchen featured in Country Magazine. It had been down for over 10 years at that time so you know it’s durable even in a kitchen! They had torn the paper more in a circular pattern rather than squares plus smaller pieces, all from recycled paper bags, and it was stained a dark reddish brown. Beautiful. Truly looked like old leather!
Thanks for the link back, Jami! It looks like you and I get the same questions haha! I’m like you, I always recommend it because of the cost….but TEST TEST TEST!!! I’m loving mine still, people compliment it all the time. I wouldn’t go back to carpet. Thanks again for the inspiration!
Can I do in parts.. See the issue is, we are going to do our living room but ALL rooms lead into our living room. So we would have to do the hall 1st then the main living room.. Would I be able to get it like this??
Thanks so much for the help!
Sure – you just have to plan for the transition areas. If you leave a straight line there’ll be a, well…straight line.
If you’d like it to blend better, leave it looking uneven, like it would if you were just continuing in a regular room. Hope that makes sense…
Could you tell me if you can use a steam cleaner on them and is the floor as hard as hard wood or is it thinner since its paper but i love the look and thinking about trying it thanks
Hmmm, that’s a new question, Christy! I really don’t know about the steam cleaner. My gut reaction is no, but then I’ve never suggested doing the technique in a bathroom, either, but folks have and tell me the poly protects the surface from the water. It’s your call – you could test it I suppose, either on a test piece of wood or in an area like a closet or something.
As for hardness, it feels like the subfloor ’cause it’s only a thin layer on top, so yeah it’s like wood floors.
Hello Jami
I have enjoyed your video/tutorial and all of your FAQ’s… I just did one of our rooms and it’s all wrinkled- I know you thought you failed with your son’s room- do the wrinkles really go away?? I don’t want to spend the time/money on the poly if I should be doing something special before I apply the poly- any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Is it completely dry? If it is and there are big wrinkles you can put your finger in, then the poly probably won’t make it go back down. There shouldn’t be lot’s of wrinkles after the paper’s dried from the glue. It’s when you put the poly on that it wrinkles up again (and I thought it had failed), then as the poly dries, the wrinkles relax (1-2 weeks time to fully cure, I think).
Ok, I did two stairs today to see how it would look. After the glue dried however; it doesn’t look like there are any wrinkles at all. I haven’t put the Polyurethane on yet as I thought the steps had to dry before applying it. Right now, it just looks like any other step. If you look really closely, you can see wrinkles. But if I am just standing and looking at them, it looks like I just laid the paper over it. Did I not use enough glue on the step before applying the paper? Will the Polyurethane make them show more? Also, what color Polyurethane did you use?? Help!!! Thanks!
Traci, I have found that sometimes the kraft paper is thicker and doesn’t show the wrinkles as much. Two things – they will show up a bit more with the poly and you can try crushing them more on your other steps. And yes, the glue needs to dry before the poly. You can stain the paper if you want for color – I always use the clear poly – I didn’t know it came in shades. Hmmm – wonder if that would be easier than staining the paper? I can see I have another thing I can test out.
Wrinkles…I wet my paper first in a container of water first, lay face down and wipe off the excess water , then add glue, lay down, use a damp cloth to smooth out wrinkles and air bubbles. No need to paint over with glue after its layed down. Try on a sample first and you will see the difference. Let dry thoroughly before you poly. I have been doing this for years. Started with vases, walls then furniture. Next project floors, the process would be the same for all. Thank you for info on floor poly as can learn something new. I never seal the walls and put the paper up with starch as easy removal and never damages the wall. I also use 3color glazes which I mix myself and paint on before I tear and apply.
Thanks, Sharon for these great tips! I’ve never thought to paint the paper before tearing…
Hi Jami,
My hubby and I are working on this right now and I have a question. One of our steps (the tread) was cracking and we put 3 screws in it instead of replacing it. Long story, but that was our better choice of the two. Anyway, hubby wasn’t able to get the screws flush and I’m wondering if
a) will it tear the paper if we just try to paper over them
b) in the event they don’t cause the paper to tear, how noticeable will they be?
We also had to lay a thin board over the landing because it wasn’t solid and there is 1/8 of an inch difference from it to the next board. I used wood filler to make the transition a little smoother, but it will curve slightly. Will that be a problem? I can’t imagine that the floors have to be completely level before applying this technique, but wanted to ask.
Thank you! Love your floors!
Hey Tiffani! My experience is that anything sticking up will show through the paper – even a little something I missed when vacuuming – so I think you’ll see the screws for sure. I would assume the paper would tear as the stairs are used, but I don’t know this for sure. If there’s nothing you can do about getting the screws flush, then I’d build up around them with wood fill, smoothing 3-5 inches out to try to make it a lump, but maybe not as noticeable? I don’t know – that’s just a thought. The wood fill area should be fine, you’ll notice it a bit but probably not too much. Sure hope that helps!
Thank you! It does help! I’m thinking of putting a very thin piece of board across the front. Since the screws are on the front of the tread, not the part you walk on (but not the riser), they at least won’t be stepped on.
Thanks again!
Just wanted to say thank you for this FAQ’s page! I recently did this in my boys room, (over concrete with the glue mixture) and had great success. I linked to this FAQ’s page in my post cause it’s just so darn thorough and awesome
Here is a link to my post if you’re interested… http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2013/03/paper-bag-floors-a-tutorial/
Yes, I saw your results over on Hometalk, Ashley – great job! Glad that my FAQ page was helpful to you.:)
Oh geez, it kinda took on a life of it’s own on hometalk. I’ve been answering questions over there all week…the same questions over and over, haha. Anyway, I had to come back because I realized that leaving a link in your comments section was probably spammy and rude. Sorry about that, I swear I will not be even the tiniest bit offended it you delete it.
Ha! That’s why I had to create the FAQ page.
And thanks for thinking of that about the comment, however I’ll leave it, as folks coming to this page want as much info as possible, so being able to find another person who’s done it is a good thing. No worries!
My husband and I both have looked at these paper floors before and thought they looked cool. Since we are both musicians and have a grand piano in our living room, we thought it would be super cool to use old sheet music instead of brown paper bags. Of course I wondered if the paper would be thick enough. But he said “Well the paper is just the pattern. The durability is in the poly!” Smart man
We have carpeting in some rooms–miss our former home’s hardwood floors—so eventually we’ll get rid of that. Won’t be too long if the dogs keep wrestling around in there as they do! We do love this flooring technique/look!
That would look very unique, Connie!
I just have to say that I am so impressed by this floor!!! Kudos!!
Thanks for the idea/inspiration; I think am going to try it with a gray/blue stain.
Jen
This is awesome. I have wood look laminate floors. Thinking about doing this and will test in the laundry room I guess. Thanks for the detailed instructions and easy to understand questions and answers.