Faux Painted Floor

Custom faux-painted floor over extremely damaged maple hardwood.

We were originally asked to refinish a maple hardwood floor as part of one of our projects. Once we inspected the floor, it became clear that refinishing wasn’t realistic. There were quarter-inch gaps between boards, more than half of them were loose and cupped, deep scratches throughout, and countless other issues—leaving us scratching our heads thinking, what the…?

Further inspection revealed that the floor had been installed by someone who was not qualified to install hardwood flooring, and it had been installed directly over radiant floor heat. This combination caused excessive movement and resulted in all of the problems we were seeing.

We presented several solutions, including engineered hardwood designed for radiant heat and luxury vinyl options, but none of them resonated with the clients. They asked if the wood could simply be removed and replaced. Unfortunately, the floor had been glued down extensively, ran underneath all of the cabinetry and even some of the walls, and sat above active radiant heat tubing beneath the subfloor—making removal a financial nightmare.

With limited options left, we chose to embrace the damage rather than fight it. The goal became to make the floor look intentionally distressed and reclaimed. We beat it up further using rocks and other tools of the trade, sanded through the protective clear layers, and applied Sherwin-Williams floor enamel using layered faux-finish techniques. The floor was then sealed with multiple coats of floor polyurethane for durability.

The colors and tones were chosen to complement the rest of the home and its décor, and the result exceeded expectations. What began as a failed floor became a one-of-a-kind surface with character, depth, and a story of its own.